Freeport tops Beaver in back-and-forth contest

By: Dave Mackall
Friday, October 31, 2025 | 10:58 PM

John Gaillot searched for the words. In the moment Friday night, all the Freeport football coach could think of was the sweet playoff victory his team just finished off at home against Beaver.

Never mind that the eighth-seeded Yellowjackets earned a date with unbeaten and top-seeded Avonworth in the WPIAL Class 3A quarterfinals. Nothing was going to interfere with the joy Gaillot was feeling on this night.

“We found some way to win it,” he said. “That’s all that counts.”

Amos Glenn scored two touchdowns, including a go-ahead 56-yard punt return in the third quarter, and Freeport’s defense, led by junior linebacker Bryson Paga, came up with some big plays in a 35-27 first-round victory.

Freeport (8-3) travels to Avonworth (10-0) on Friday night.

The defending WPIAL-champion Antelopes, who drew a first-round bye, finished as state runners-up last season for the second time in five years, losing to District 11 champion Northwestern Lehigh in overtime, 36-33, in the PIAA Class 3A final.

“Right now, I’m just happy for these kids, because they played their tail-ends off,” Gaillot said. “We’ve had some ups and downs (with injuries), and it really shook us to our core. This game certainly did that tonight.”

It was Glenn’s ninth return of a kickoff or punt for a touchdown this season. After a 20-yard run in the fourth quarter, giving him 87 yards on the night, Glenn retreated to the sidelines with a leg injury and did not return.

Quarterback Drew Ross, who scored the game’s first touchdown on a 2-yard run and ended up with 101 yards passing, was limping for much of the second half as well.

“They’ve both been hurt off an on, and tonight (Glenn) tweaked something,” Gaillot said.

The loss for No. 9 Beaver spoiled a spectacular effort by quarterback Travis Clear, who passed for 184 yards and rushed for 126 as the Bobcats (5-6) ended their season after qualifying for the playoffs with a late surge in the regular season.

“He just finished the greatest career, statistically, of any quarterback that’s played here,” Beaver coach Cort Rowse said of Clear, a 6-foot-1, 180-pound senior who was scheduled to visit Division II Shippensburg on Saturday. “I’m very proud of him. He’s a hard-nosed kid. I can’t say enough about his toughness, commitment and grit.”

The teams traded touchdowns in the first half and went into the break tied 14-14.

Clear’s 4-yard keeper to open the third quarter gave Beaver a 21-14 advantage before Freeport’s Dawson Gaillot, on his first carry of the game, scored on a 3-yard run to tie it at 21-21.

Glenn’s punt return with 1 minute, 51 seconds remaining in the third put the Yellowjackets ahead for good.

“It was back and forth, back and forth,” John Gaillot said. “We took the lead; they took it back. It was definitely a tense game.”

Clear’s 50-yard touchdown run tied the score at 7-7 in the first.

After Glenn gave Freeport a 14-7 lead with an 8-yard touchdown run later in the first, Clear found Philip Marino Jr. on a 15-yard scoring pass with 16 seconds remaining in the second quarter.

Freeport, aided by several Beaver penalties, including a game suspension to senior wide receiver/linebacker Sincere Sly, seized control of the game in the third.

Beaver closed within 28-24 on the first of two Ty Cosky field goals — a 35-yarder — before Gaillot raced 45 yards for another Freeport score to make it 35-24.

Cosky added a 26-yard field goal for Beaver.

“All the credit to them. Their kids played hard,” Rowse said. “They played a great game. Their coaches did a great job preparing them. They just executed a little bit more than we did tonight. Hats off to them.

“The penalties got in the way. The emotions kind of ran high, and it took a little bit for our kids to kind of settle down about that, not making any excuses.”

Paga, 5-11, 150-pound junior, made several impressive defensive plays, intercepting a pass in the second quarter to blunt a Beaver drive and later on blocking a punt to give Freeport great field position.

“He was everywhere, stripping the ball,” Gaillot said.

The victory kept Freeport unbeaten in four playoff games at its on-campus stadium in Buffalo Township, where the team moved after previously playing home games in Freeport.

The Yellowjackets entered the game having lost three of their past four starts after beginning the season 6-0.

It was the third playoff meeting between the schools, including a 20-14 Beaver victory in the 1972 Class 2A championship game at Pitt Stadium.

“We’re very comparable to what they do,” John Gaillot said. “They have a lot of great athletes on that team. I’m just very proud of our boys and how resilient they are.

“This is huge for us.”

Tags: Beaver, Freeport