**ARTICLE BY JOSH LONGSTRETH**
Coming off a dominant game in week 6, the Freeland Falcons would be welcoming in another hot team out of the TVC in the Swan Valley Vikings. Freeland bounced back in a big way last week against John Glenn. Swan Valley would come in winning four in a row after losing the first two of their season. The Vikings would be entering Falcon territory on Freeland’s Homecoming night. This one would not disappoint.
The hometown Falcons would get off to a quick start in this one, with a little trickery. Ty Fournier would hit Daniel Duley on a halfback option pass on the first play of the game. The Falcons would set up shop at the Swan Valley 18-yard line. They’d strike shortly after when Nathan Helmreich would find himself in the endzone. This point after would make this a 7-0 game, Falcons. It wouldn’t be long after when Sam Talaga would make his way into the endzone. It was all Freeland early, 14-0. Swan Valley would show some life on the next drive, however. The Vikings would put together a 14-play drive to gain some momentum. QB Colton Klein would go up top to big TE Drew Kaeckmeister to cut the lead to 14-7 with just 44 seconds left in the 1st quarter.
Freeland would provide an air show of their own early in the 2nd quarter. Talaga would throw an absolute dime to Ty Fournier in stride and the speedster would do the rest. This would give Freeland a 21-7 after another made PAT from Brooke Riffel. Swan Valley would strike right back on the ensuing possession. Klein would break loose and find nothing but daylight to make it a 21-14 ball game after one half of play.
Things would get chippy in this rivalry game coming out of the half. Helped out by a couple Freeland penalties, Swan Valley would put together their best drive of the night. They would put together a 15 play drive that would take up nearly half of the 3rd quarter. Backup QB Payton Guilbeaux throw one up to Kaeckmeister. He would do the rest, hauling in the TD pass to make it a 21-all game midway through the 3rd quarter. Freeland appeared to be destined for points on their next drive but a fumble deep in Vikings territory would give the visiting team even more momentum. It would be for not as Swan Valley would give the ball right back on the 2nd INT of the night by 6’4 Daniel Duley. We would stand tied after 3 quarters of play.
With about 6:30 left in the 4th quarter Freeland would pin Swan Valley all the way back at their 2-yard line on a beautiful punt by Eli Murphy. Two plays later, Freeland would jump back on top on a fumble recovery in the endzone. It would be 28-21 with the home crowd getting back into it. Swan Valley would bounce right back offensively. Guilbeaux would break off a longer gain when he found daylight that would set the Vikings up deep in Falcon territory. That’s when the Freeland defense would stiffen up. With the Vikings driving on the 6-yard line, Brendan Vigue and the defense would force a turnover on downs. Vigue led the way with 2 tackles for loss to limit the drive, one of which coming on a big 4th down play. Freeland would hold on and pull out a gritty win in the Mountain Trophy game, 28-21.
If this one didn’t warm you up on a cold October night, well, you might want to check your pulse. This one was everything and more you could expect out of a rivalry game. Freeland will move to 6-1 overall and 5-1 in TVC play. They’ll love to keep their momentum when they face a Birch Run team who has their eyes on a possible playoff spot in 2022. Birch Run is coming off a dominant win over Bridgeport in week 7. Birch Run sits at 4-3 overall and 3-3 in the TVC after the win. They’ll welcome in the Falcons when they face off in a 7:00 Friday night showdown in week 7. This one will hurt for Swan Valley. They’ll look to recover in a hurry when they face John Glenn in week 7. They’ll move to 4-3 overall and 4-2 in conference play on the year. John Glenn looks to see if they can give them a fight as the Bobcats have been outscored 0-90 over the last two weeks. They’ll make the trek over to Swan Valley for a 7:00 battle with the Vikings.
