TSCHETTER INJURED IN LOSS AT CORSICA

Freeman/Marion/Freeman Academy lost for the second time this season, falling to Corsica-Stickney 48-18 in Corsica Friday night, Oct. 7. The Phoenix dropped to 5-2 while the Jaguars improved to 6-1. Corsica-Stickney is ranked No. 3 in Class 9B.

The game was marked by an injury to freshman quarterback Riley Tschetter, who in the first half sustained what is believed to be a fractured collarbone, although head coach Dustin Tschetter said an X-ray was inconclusive. Tschetter played for most of the remainder of the Friday game and may play in the final regular season game against Florence-Henry (4-3) in Freeman on Friday.

The Phoenix are ranked No. 8 in seed points in Class 9AA while Florence-Henry is No. 10.

“We’re taking it one day at a time,” Coach Tschetter said of his oldest son and quarterback. “At this moment I’m leaning toward letting him play because I want to be home next week for the first round of the playoffs, but things could change. It might come down to how much pain he can tolerate.”

Tschetter ended up passing for 236 yards and two touchdowns in Friday’s loss that saw the Cougars go ahead 12-0 in the first quarter, lead 34-18 in the third before putting the game away with two more touchdowns in the fourth.

The Phoenix’s touchdowns came on an 8-yard pass from Tschetter to Matt Hagen, a 1-yard run by Tschetter and then another pass to Hagen, this one for 53 yards.

Rocky Ammann caught six passes for 107 yards while Hagen had 83.

Freeman/Marion/Freeman Academy finished with 281 total yards and gave up 427, 414 of which came on the ground. The Phoenix’s defensive effort was led by Ethan Balvin’s five solo tackles and 11 assists. Maddox Kihne had seven solo tackles and six assists while Dominic Sperling had five solo tackles and three assists.