FREDERICKTOWN — Mount Gilead played a solid three quarters of football Friday night. The Indians trailed 18-8 heading into the fourth quarter.
Bu the Freddies (1-4, 1-1) put three fourth-quarter touchdowns on the board in under four minutes to pull away for a 39-8 homecoming win.
Mount Gilead head coach Joe Ulrey was pleased with how his team started.
“We had a decent first half. We just couldn’t get out of our way offensively in that half,” Ulrey said.
Freddies running back John Robbins rushed 12 times for 165 yards and put the hosts on top 6-0 with a 42-yard score in the first quarter.
Mount Gilead answered with a big play of its own, a Nathan Rogers to Aaron Baer 60-yard TD strike. Mason Mollohan caught the two-point conversion for an 8-6 Indians lead.
Mollohan caught 4 balls for 64 yards. He recorded three sacks, two on back-to-back plays that stopped a Fredericktown drive in the second quarter.
Baer had 4 catches for 71 yards.
Turnovers hurt, including a fumble and an interception return for a touchdown late in the contest.
“We had way too many turnovers. Our defense did a decent job of bending, but not breaking, for most of the game.”
To that point, Mount Gilead held the Freddies on downs on four drives.
Rogers connected on 14-of-34 passes for 233 yards, with three interceptions.
“This offense is designed to throw it,” Ulrey said. “If they try to defend that we have a running game in our back pocket.”
The Indians rushed for 56 yards, with Nathan Weaver netting 27 of those.
Mason Finnell was the Freddies’ leading receiver, hauling in 4 for 60 yards and a pair of scores, from 21 and 5 yards.
Terry Fern connected on 12-of-20 passes for 216 yards. Jack Fitzpatrick caught 3 for 97 yards. The Freddies piled up 399 yards to the Indians’ 270.
The Indians (0-5, 0-2) host Highland Friday night. Fredericktown visits winless Danville.
“Highland is always tough. They like to run out of the Wing-T,” Ulrey said. “We just need to keep the focus on us and work on fixing us first.”
