Colville tops Freeman in double-overtime football game
The Freeman Scotties and Colville Indians both came into Friday night’s Northeast A League football showdown with the ability to put up a lot of points, if their past games were any indication.
So naturally, the two teams squared off in a thrilling defensive battle that needed two overtimes before the Indians secured a 20-14 win at Freeman.
Colville quarterback Jack Hinds sneaked in from 1 yard out in the second overtime, giving the Indians the victory and a pleasant ride back to Colville. The Indians’ possession came after its defense picked off Freeman’s JT Neely on the opening possession. It was Hinds’ second rushing touchdown of the night.
Both teams scored touchdowns in the first overtime, with the Scotties sending the game to the second overtime after running back Jack Paukert took a pitch from Neely and threw an impressive touchdown pass to Kegan Luhr.
But it was the Colville defense that came up big throughout the game and in the second overtime.
“Our defense has been good all year long,” said Colville head coach Randy Cornwell. “We might give up some yards, but we don’t give up many points.”
Cornwell is right about that. The Indians shut out their prior two opponents and has given up just 28 points in their five wins this season.
The Indians took a 7-0 lead on the first play of the second quarter when Hinds decided to run in from 8 yards out after he couldn’t find an open receiver.
Freeman got on the board thanks to a Zach Trumble touchdown reception midway through the second quarter.
The Scotties had a chance to take the lead in the fourth quarter, facing a fourth-and-7 in Colville territory. The Scotties came up 1 yard short on a Nelly run.
“Our kids are pretty resilient,” Cornwell said. “Our kids are a tough bunch of kids.”
The teams combined for 11 punts throughout the game, and Freeman didn’t have a first down until the second quarter.
It was the kind of game Cornwell expected, despite both teams’ ability to light up the scoreboard.
“We told our kids, ‘All those games with 9 and 10 yards we’ve been getting, we’re going to get 2 and 3 tonight,’” he said. “Freeman has a great defense and we both know each other really well. We just knew it was going to be close.”
Freeman falls to 4-2 overall and 3-1 in league play, while Colville improves to 5-1 overall and 4-0 in league play.