Barrington Secures Playoff Spot With Win Over Fremd

A combination of Barrington’s long, time consuming scoring drives, and a stifling Bronco defense, gave Fremd very little time to get into a rhythm and snapped the Vikings’ six-game win streak over their MSL West foe.

“Defensively, how many third (and fourth down) conversions did Barrington have those first couple of drives?” Fremd head coach Mike Donatucci said after Barrington’s 20-7 win.  “When you can’t stop the ball, you aren’t going to win.” 

“(Our defense) was out there forever,” he went on to say.  “We just couldn’t get off the field.”

“We wanted to come out and establish what we wanted to do and it started with our offensive line,” Barrington’s head coach Joe Sanchez said of the four for four on fourth down conversions that the Broncos were successful on and kept drives moving.

Barrington (6-2, 3-1) took the opening series and scored on a 13-play drive that consumed nearly six minutes.  Barrington’s senior quarterback Mark Bennett would start the drive connecting with fellow senior Sam Handler for 29 yards.  Handler would be targeted four times in the drive and he caught three passes for 49 yards. 

The Bronco wide receiver ended the game leading all receivers with four receptions (targeted 7 times) for 57 yards while Bennett was 7 of 13 for 85 yards and an interception.

After senior Mark Bennett capped the opening drive with his one yard touchdown giving the Broncos the early 7-0 lead, the Vikings were forced to punt after just six plays and 17 net yards.

The Broncos would take the ensuing offensive series and eat-up almost nine minutes in a 20 play drive capped by a 1-yard touchdown run by senior Chase Murdock that gave them a 13-0 lead after the missed extra point.  Murdock would end the game with two touchdowns, giving him 18 for the season in the game.

“(Murdock) was a real tough run,” Donatucci said of Barrington’s tailback that rushed for 137 yards on 29 carries.

“Our offensive line was really getting a great push, and that kept us running and the clock (too),” Bennett said.  “We just kept rolling.”                                                                                                                        

Fremd (3-5, 1-3) would be unable to get anything going on the offensive side of the ball before the half ended and was forced to punt again after a short 9 plays netted just 17 yards. 

“If you don’t have the ball, you are not going to win,” Donatucci said.

“Fremd was all about the run and we knew they liked to pound it up the middle,” Barrington’s senior linebacker Aaron Foley said.  “We just did what we had to do to stop those (runs) and the Fremd offense.” 

Ending the half with just 34 total yards (and 7:39 on the time of possession) and only 127 for the game, the Vikings saw a sharp contrast in their normally productive offensive that averages more than 272 yards of offense and produced 21 points per contest.  Fremd ended the game with 21:26 for their time of possession compared to Barrington’s 26:34.

“More than anything tonight our defense played lights out and was fantastic,” Sanchez said.

“The offense is what really helped the defense because they kept us off the field,” Foley said.  “(The defense) was only in there for two series that first half, and that left us rested and able to play at the best of our abilities.”

The Vikings’ struggles would continue to start the second half as a quick three and out forced another punt and set-up an 8 play drive the ended with a three yard touchdown run by Murdock giving Barrington a 20-0 lead midway through the third quarter.

Fremd wouldn’t have to contend with Murdock after that due to a costly personal foul a few minutes later that had him tossed from the game, but unfortunately the Viking’s were too far behind to capitalize.

The Vikings would get on the scoreboard late in the fourth quarter when sophomore Sam Beutler helped orchestrate a 10-play drive spanning 33 yards.  After a series of runs by Beutler and seniors Matt Metzen and A.J. McGhee, it was a 12 yard pass from Beutler to McGhee that would find the end zone and leave them trailing 20-7.  But that would be the last score for either team.

Beutler would end the game 10 of 17 for 68 yards, and edged out Metzen (4 carries for 19 yards) for team lead in rushing (13 carries for 20 yards).

Barrington’s next game is at Schaumburg (4-4, 2-2) next Friday, Oct. 21 at 7:30 p.m.  The Broncos, who are out of conference contention, will look to escape the last regular season game with a win and health, before entering the playoffs.

"We just want to keep this momentum going into the playoffs," Bennett said of Barrington's earning it's 8 playoff in the last ten years.