Freeport jumps out of gate in rout of South Allegheny

By: Jerin Steele
Friday, September 1, 2023 | 10:34 PM

Freeport coach John Gaillot wasn’t going to kick to South Allegheny standout Cameron Epps under any circumstances.

So, on the opening kickoff Yellowjackets kicker Cole Troutman executed a pooch kick, and Freeport recovered.

It was an inadvertent spark to total domination.

The Yellowjackets went on to score on three straight possessions, force turnovers and do more damage on special teams on the way to a 47-0 victory over South Allegheny in a nonconference game.

“We were not kicking it to (Epps), and I told (Troutman) if the kick goes out of bounds that’s fine,” Gaillot said of the opening kick. “It was pure luck, but it worked. It was in the air, and we had three guys there and I’m screaming ‘pick up the ball’ and they did.”

After recovering the pooch kick, the Yellowjackets drove down the field and Drew Ross hit Madden Wisniewski with a pass in the end zone for a 20-yard touchdown.

Freeport got good field position again moments later after sophomore lineman Colton Mellish intercepted a screen pass by Malaki Myers near the South Allegheny 30.

Ross connected with Brady Sullivan on an 11-yard touchdown moments after the turnover to make it 14-0.

One downside for Freeport was an injury to starting running back Justin Jack early in the second quarter.

Colton Otterman came in for Jack and made an immediate impact, scoring on a 23-yard run to increase the Freeport lead to 20-0.

Otterman finished with 109 yards on six carries and had two touchdowns.

“First up, prayers go to Jack. We need him back ASAP,” Otterman said. “We don’t know the extent of the injury. I practiced at running back all week just in case, because we don’t have a lot of depth at that position. I was comfortable going in there when my number was called. The line … I’m at a loss for words at how good they were. They performed really well, and that made it easy for me.”

Penalties and a sack forced South Allegheny inside its own 10 on the next drive. That resulted in a punt from the end zone, which Cyp Selinger caught at the 36 and returned for a touchdown.

Otterman got his second touchdown on a 13-yard run to make it 33-0 going into halftime.

The Yellowjackets defense gave little room to Epps.

Epps rushed for 226 yards in a win over Yough last Friday, but Freeport held him to 18 yards on eight carries.

“Coach (Todd) Durand and his defense did a phenomenal job,” Gaillot said. “To hold a guy that ran for over 200 yards a week ago to 18 yards is pretty amazing. Our kids are going to be going nuts when I tell them that.”

Freeport (1-1) outgained South Allegheny, 176-3, in the first half. It held the Gladiators (1-1) to negative yardage for much of the first two quarters. It had a pair of sacks, and the special teams unit blocked a punt.

The domination rolled into the second half as Wisniewski returned the opening kick 73 yards to put the game into mercy rule.

Danny King found Anthony O’Donnell for a 30-yard touchdown on the final play of the third quarter.

Friday’s win was a strong response after losing 28-14 to Indiana in the season opener.

“You never want to lose, but I think we kind of needed that last week,” Otterman said. “After last year I think we felt we were going to come in and stomp everyone again, but we got humbled. That helped us so much this week, and we turned it into a 47-0 win.”

Jerin Steele is a freelance writer

Tags: Freeport, South Allegheny