The Frankenmuth Eagles football team traveled to Freeland to start the delayed 2020 season with a convincing 41 – 3 victory over the Falcons.
On the first play from scrimmage in the the contest, Freeland connected on a 50 yard pass play from QB Bryson Huckeby to Alex Duley to put Freeland in scoring position but the Eagle defense stiffen holding the Falcons to a 33 yard Jacob Kundinger field goal. On the ensuing possession, the Eagle offense controlled the clock for over nine minutes before being forced to punt and Eagle punter Ethan Jacobs pinned the Falcons deep in their territory down to the five yard line. The Eagle defense forced a three and out and after a punt, Frankenmuth was in good field position. Four plays late, Cole Lindow danced the sidelines, scoring from 19 yards and Ryan Brenner would add the PAT and a Eagle’s 7 -3 lead. Midway through the 2nd quarter, Ben Reinert of the Eagles intercepted a Huckeby pass stopping a Falcon drive. The offense was forced to punt and again, Jacobs pinned the Falcons on their own 2-yard line with a perfectly placed punt.
The defense again forced a Freeland punt giving the Eagles the ball at mid field with a little more than a minute left in the opening half. The offense was able to drive down to the Falcon 9-yard line and with no time left in the half, Brenner nailed a 26-yard field goal, giving the Eagles a 10 -3 halftime lead.
With Frankenmuth receiving the second half kickoff, on the first play from scrimmage, Konnor Roche sprinted 69 yards for a TD, upping the lead to 17 – 3. On the Falcons ensuing possession, they drove down to the Eagle 24 yard line, but two fine pass breakups by Eagle defenders Reinert and Samuel McKenzie turned the ball over to the Eagles.
Late in the third quarter with the Falcons on their own 19-yard line, Ethan Jacobs recovered a Huckeby fumble after a quarterback pressure and pounced on the ball in the endzone for a Eagle defensive score and a commanding 24 – 3 lead. At the 10:54 mark of the 4th quarter, Eagle quarterback Davin Reif scored on a 54-yard keeper and Brenner’s PAT upped the lead to 31 – 3. On the Falcons ensuing possession, the defense again forced a Falcon turnover when Cole Jankowski forced a fumble recovered by Drew Titsworth. Eight plays later, Brenner added his second field goal of the game with a twenty two yarder. Frankenmuth would close the scoring with 2:38 remaining on a Hunter Leddy 45 yard scamper for the 41 – 3 final score.
The Eagle offense would total 346 yards with 312 in the rushing department while defense limited Freeland to 157 total yards. The Eagles rushing department was led by Roche with 90 yards on 5 attempts followed by Reif with 81 yards. The fine defensive effort was led by seven tackles each by Michael Carter and Ashton Benkert.
The Eagles will go on the road next week again to take on the Swan Valley Vikings who won their first game of the season with a 25 – 0 win over Alma.