Fremont's dual threat offense rolls Lakers

Sat, Sep 6, 2008    to del.icio.us

FREMONT — Fremont varsity football coach Mark Houston summed up his feelings of the Spring Lake-Fremont rivalry in a few blunt, stinging words.

"We've got a good rivarly here," Houston said. "Honestly, I know there's a lot of dislike between these two communities. I've only been (coaching) here seven years, so I've only experienced a little of it."

After Friday's contest, Houston has now experienced back-to-back victories against the Lakers, and it was thanks to the Packers' big-play ability through the air and on the ground.

Bruising tailback Matt Terveer plowed his way for 174 yards rushing and scored three touchdowns, and quarterback T.J. Davis — making his first varsity start at the position — completed a 75-yard touchdown pass for another score in Fremont's 28-7 victory.

Both squads are now 1-1 this season.

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Houston tipped his hat not only to his offensive stars, but the job turned in from his defensive front seven, which left little running room for Spring Lake's veer offense.

"Our front seven, that's a good core group of guys," Houston said. "Defensively, they did a heck of a job limiting Spring Lake. And really, they let us down last week in the second half (in a comeback loss to Ogemaw Heights). We need them to play inspired all the time."

Spring Lake looked like it was on it way to outstanding offensive ballgame right from the get-go, as quarterback Mark Rhem turned a broken play on what was supposed to be a fullback trap into a 77-yard scramble to pay dirt on the second play from scrimmage.

It was one of only a few bright spots offensively, as Spring Lake failed to get any momentum going its way the rest of the contest. The Lakers, who managed 228 yards of total offense, were hindered by a second quarter fumble inside the 15 yard line that ended a potential scoring drive.

They also failed to convert on three fourth down attempts in the second half, essentially assuring they'd be stuck on seven on the scoreboard.

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"You know, we're now in a new offense, and we've got to learn to how to do a better job of executing. It's as simple as that," Spring Lake coach Jerry Rabideau said. "Give credit to Fremont, though. They are better than I anticipated and they played better in every area than us tonight. We'll use this as a learning tool and hopefully come better prepared to execute next week."

After Rhem's stunning early score, the Packers wasted little time responding, using nine plays to drive 65 yards to the end zone. Terveer scored the first of his three touchdowns on a 2-yard plunge off the right tackle.

Fremont took the lead on the first play of the second quarter, capping another long scoring drive with another short-yardage burst by Terveer, this time coming from only a yard away.

"He's a horse. There's no other way to say it," Houston said. "It's nice because we haven't been a ball control team in quite a few years, but with his ability, it changes a lot of things."

The biggest blow Fremont sent at the Lakers occurred with 8 minutes, 5 seconds left in the half. Davis rolled left and looked like he wanted to pass to a running back in the flats. Instead, outside receiver Alec Beattie, who was lined up on the right, ran a picture-perfect post pattern and slipped past the Spring Lake safeties. Davis lofted a strike, which Beattie easily hauled in and ran untouched, giving the Packers a 21-7 lead.

"When they do pass, they max protect (on the offensive line) and only send out one or two receivers," Rabideau said. "But their receivers are some talented kids."

Terveer capped his outstanding evening with a 34-yard touchdown run in the fourth, as he broke through two Lakers' tackles and spun away from another before reaching the end zone.

Alec Howe lead the Lakers' run game with 87 yards on 21 carries. Rhem only managed one more positive run after his touchdown scamper and finished with 51 yards. He also completed only 2-of-12 passes for 36 yards.

Defensively, Chad Setterbo and Kyle Vanderschaaf each totaled 10 tackles, while Andy Skendrovic had a second-quarter interception.

Spring Lake hopes some home-cooking will do the trick next Friday, as Tri-County travels to Grabynski Field for the Lakers' home-opener.