Freedom rings up win against Apollo-Ridge

By: HSSN Staff
Saturday, October 20, 2018 | 12:00 AM

Freedom quarterback Zach Rosa completed a 14-yard pass to running back/receiver Jake Pail on the Bulldogs’ first play from scrimmage Friday night.

After two short runs, Rosa found Noah Yelk wide open for a 57-yard touchdown.

Less than two minutes into the game, Freedom had the lead on visiting Apollo-Ridge, and the Bulldogs built a four-touchdown lead at halftime en route to a 42-7 victory.

“The whole week and also before the game, we tried to get them focused on preparing for the playoffs,” Freedom coach Russ Barley said. “We just need to get better every week, no matter who the opponent is. That’s our mantra right now.”

Freedom (8-1, 5-1) returns to Midwestern Conference 2A play in Week 9 against Western Beaver with a conference title on the line. Mohawk closed its conference slate Friday with a win over Ellwood City to finish 6-1. Freedom needs a victory next week to clinch a share of the championship.

“We wish we could have that Mohawk game back,” Barley said. “But if we win next week, we get a share. That’s been our focus since (the loss to Mohawk) happened (in Week 3). The kids all came to terms with that. We just want to keep that ‘1’ in the loss column.”

Rosa completed 9 of 11 passes for 209 yards and had three total touchdowns. He added a 6-yard TD pass to Max Ujhazy late in the first quarter and connected with Pail on a 34-yard scoring strike with 6 minutes, 32 seconds left until halftime to give the Bulldogs a 27-0 advantage.

Cody Ross ran 12 times for 86 yards and had touchdown runs of 2 and 37 yards. Pail added a rushing touchdown in the second half and finished with 47 yards rushing on six attempts to go with his four catches for 104 yards.

Apollo-Ridge fell to 2-7, and the Vikings close the regular season next week at Charleroi, ranked No. 4 this week in WPIAL Class AA.

“For us, it again came down to execution,” Apollo-Ridge coach John Skiba said. “They capitalized on some of those things we didn’t do right, and they got it moving forward.”

The Vikings moved the ball into Freedom territory twice in the first half but turned the ball over on downs on one of the drives. A 30-yard field-goal attempt by Gavin Cole later in the half bounced off the left upright.

Apollo-Ridge sophomore running back and linebacker Logan Harmon returned to the lineup after missing four games with an injury. He led the Vikings with 51 yards on 17 carries. He was the workhorse on the team’s final drive of the game with eight carries, and he finished it with a 6-yard touchdown.

“Logan was able to get a little bit of success late and get back in the flow,” Skiba said. “That was nice to see.”

Vikings sophomore quarterback Klay Fitzroy completed 5 of 14 passes for 65 yards. He was intercepted once.

Senior lineman and linebacker Jacob Clark also returned for Apollo-Ridge after a multigame absence because of injury.

Michael Love is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Michael at 412-388-5825, mlove@tribweb.com or via Twitter @MLove_Trib.

Tags: Apollo-Ridge, Freedom