Yeager's pick--6 keys Findlay win at Ross

FREMONT – Findlay and Fremont were slinging haymakers like a couple of punch-drunk heavyweights on Friday. Hudson Yeager, though, may have delivered the knockout blow. Yeager picked off a pass and returned it 95 yards for a score, giving Findlay its third touchdown of 70 or more yards, a 49-21 lead, and more than enough cushion to outlast Fremont Ross 49-29 in the 101st meeting between the long-time rivals. Junior quarterback Ryan Montgomery threw for 399 yards and five touchdowns, Ja'vonte Hill snared 11 passes for 219 yards and two scores and Findlay hit the mind-point for the regular season with a 4-1 record. There were times, though, when the Trojans did not look like a team that, coming into Friday's Northern Lakes League cross-over contest, had rattled off three straight wins by running-clock margins. "We were just, I don't know, sloppy, sloppy, sloppy," Findlay High coach Stefan Adams after the Trojans gave up a number of big plays and a safety, allowed Fremont Ross to bust loose some long plays of its own, and was flagged 11 times for 117 yards in penalties, some of which killed potential drives. "We need to look at the film, figure it out and get it fixed." Montgomery capped Findlay's first drive of the night with a 4-yard TD run, then found Austin Hasselbach for 52- and 5-yard scoring passes. When Montgomery and Hill hooked on a 20-yard TD strike on the first play after Campbell Layne sacked Fremont Ross quarterback Karson Kayden, stripped him of the ball and recovered the fumble, the Trojans led 28-7 and seemed well on their way to a third straight dominating win. Fremont Ross got a safety with just over a minute left in the second quarter, though, then drove 56 yards in 53 seconds to score on the final play of the half. Two costly penalties – a horse-collar personal foul and a pass interference – kept the drive alive. "I'm glad we came away with a win, but we can't keep making those critical mistakes," Adams said. The first of Austin Yeager's two sacks snuffed a Fremont Ross drive to start the second half. A penalty then negated a big punt return by CJ Reid-Tisdale, but Montgomery would find Hill out on the left wing. Hill froze the defender with a quick jab step, then sliced around him and raced 71 yards for the score. That was just a sample of what kind of big-play highlight reel the third quarter would be. Ross answered Hills' TD with Kayden finding Elijah Simms on a 77-yard catch-and run score. Matthew Gutherie made a great catch on a 29-yard throw from Montgomery to pad Findlay's lead to 42-21. Nate Riegel recovered a fumble to put the Trojans back on offense, and Luke Weihrauch later intercepted a pass to snuff another Ross possession. The Trojans failed to take advantage of either turnover, though, missing a field goal and coming up short on a fourth-and-12 call from the Ross 21. "Yeah, we were kind of slugging it out," said Fremont Ross coach Chad Long. "It was two good teams, but I think broken plays were what cost us tonight. There were a lot of missed tackles out there, on both sides." Montgomery completed 23-of-37 passes – a touch off his 73.2 completion percentage entering the game. "We knew what we were getting out of Montgomery," Long said. "We knew they were going to be throwing it a lot We tried to confuse him. We knew we had to bring some heat, bring some pressure. "They're a good football team. And that No. 11 (Hill) was exceptional tonight. He's probably the best receiver we're going to see all year."Fremont Ross has some pretty impressive stats as well, with Kayden completing 21-of-33 passes for 265 yards and Simms catching nine passes for 180 yards and three scores. Friday's game ended the cross-over portion of the schedule for NLL schools. Findlay now begins league play with a Buckeye Division home game with Springfield on Friday; Fremont Ross, a member of the Cardinal Division is at Napoleon. Findlay 14 14 21 0 —49 Fremont Ross 0 15 6 8 —29 First Quarter FIN – Montgomery, 4 run (Sprague kick) FIN – Hasselbach 52 pass from Montgomery (Sprague kick) Second Quarter FR – Simms 20 pass from Kayden (Reiter kick) FIN – Hasselbach 5 pass from Montgomery (Sprague kick) FIN – Hill 20 pass from Montgomery (Sprague kick) FR – Safety FR – Simms 20 pass from Kayden (kick failed) Third Quarter FIN – Hill 71 pass from Montgomery (Sprague kick) FR – Simms 77 pass from Kayden (Reiter kick) FIN – Guthrie 29 pass from Montgomery (Sprague kick) FIN – H. Yeager 95 interception return (Sprague kick) Fourt Quarter FR – Moncrief 43 run (Simms pass from Kayden) FIN FR First Downs 22 18 Rushes-yards 22-771 21-99 Passing Yards 399 265 Comp-Att-Int 23-37-1 21-33-2 Punts-Avg. 1-61.0 4-39.0 Fumbles-Lost 2-0 3-2 Penalties-Yards 11-117 1-10 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING — Findlay, Guthrie 14-59, Montgomery 4-19. Fremont Ross, Moncrief 14-93, Kayden 6-6. PASSING — Findlay, Montgomery 23-37-1, 399 yards. Fremont Ross, Kayden 21-33-2, 265 yards. RECEIVING — Findlay, Hill 11-218, Hasselbach 5-75, Best 1-11, Little 1-20, Ragland 2-18. Fremont Ross, Brown 2-13, Patterson 1-24, Shanahan 5-39, Moncrief 4-9, Simms 9-180. FHS stats thanks to Jim Welch.