Missed opportunities

Lincoln North Star running back Tyrone Lewis was happy that the Gators escaped Memorial Field Friday night with their sixth victory of the season.

"Fremont is a pretty good team," Lewis said following the Gators’ 28-7 win. "I don’t know why their record (1-6) is like that. They gave it to us just as bad as anybody has. They are physical and they have a couple of good athletes that I wish we had."

Lewis rushed for 128 yards and two touchdowns on 20 carries to help the Gators improve to 6-1. Teammate Michel Mikaya added 135 yards on 12 carries.

Lewis capped the Gators’ first two drives with touchdown runs of 7 and 24 yards to put North Star up 14-0.

"It’s always good to come right out of the blocks and score," Lewis said. "Our defense, for the most part, did a good job of holding them the rest of the way."

Fremont had its chances to score in the first half.

After Lewis’ second TD, the Tigers went on a 15-play, 57-yard drive. I-back Sam Pimper and quarterback Trevor Strong covered most of the yardage for the Tigers. The march included a 14-yard pass from Strong to Braxton Voss on third-and-11.

The drive stalled, however, at the North Star 23. A fourth-and-12 pass intended for Voss fell incomplete in the end zone.

The Tigers, however, got a break on the next play. Mikaya fumbled a pitch and Pimper recovered at the 19.

Faced with fourth-and-two at the North Star 11, FHS elected to go for it. Running back Keith Young was stopped for a 1-yard loss by Blake Hauser.

"We needed to score there and that would’ve helped our confidence," Fremont coach Kevin Meyer said. "We moved the ball in the first half, but we made some critical mistakes on some backside blocking. Their linebackers are athletic and fast and the create problems for you."

North Star increased its lead to 21-0 when Dillon Schrodt caught a 37-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Joe Hartley with :22 left in the opening half.

The Tigers’ defense caused havoc for the Gators in the second half. Voss intercepted two Hartley passes. After both turnovers, though, the Tigers were forced to punt after three plays.

"Our kids showed a lot of character defensively in the second half," Meyer said. "It was just disappointing that we couldn’t move the ball offensively."

D.J. Battiato’s 18-yard run helped the Gators go up 28-0 with 10:20 left in the game. The Tigers were forced to punt on their next series and the Gators fumbled away Michael Pickler’s kick. Senior B.J. Wilkins recovered for FHS at the North Star 30.

Strong directed FHS on a seven-play scoring drive. A key play was a third-and-four completion of 11 yards to Charlie Simmons. Strong capped the march with a 3-yard TD run with 5:05 remaining.

Pimper had 61 yards rushing on 16 carries while Voss had two catches for 21 yards for the Tigers.

Fremont plays Thursday night at Lincoln High.

Lincoln North Star 14 7 0 7 - 28

Fremont High 0 0 0 7 - 7

Scoring

NS - Lewis 7 run (Arrigo kick)

NS - Lewis 24 run (Arrigo kick)

NS - Schrodt 37 pass from Hartley (Arrigo kick)

NS - Battiato 18 run (Arrigo kick)

FHS - Strong 3 run (Larson kick)

Team Statistics

Rushing Yards: NS 293, FHS 115; Passing Yards: NS 90, FHS 29; Total Offense: NS 383, FHS 144; First Downs: NS 19, FHS 8; Penalties: NS 2-20, FHS 2-30; Fumbles-lost: NS 3-2, FHS 0-0.

Individual Leaders

Rushing: (FHS) Pimper 16-61, Strong 18-40, Young 7-14. (NS) Lewis 20-128, Mikaya 12-135.

Passing: (FHS) Strong 4-9-0-29; (NS) Hartley 4-9-2-90.

Receiving: (FHS) Voss 2-21, Simmons 1-11; (NS) Key 2-41, Schrodt 1-37, Mikaya 1-12.