North Fremont’s ground game pounds out a late win over Teton

ASHTON – It was the worst kept secret in town.

Well, maybe not in Ashton.

No matter who the North Fremont Huskies play, they will run the ball.

They’ll run up the gut. They’ll run to the left and to the right.

But mostly, they’ll just pound defenses up the middle until someone finds a way to stop them.

That was the case Friday when North Fremont hosted Teton in a game that lived up to its billing.

Down a point with 5:02 left, North Fremont ran the ball 11 straight times, took advantage of a Teton offsides penalty on fourth down, and sealed a 26-21 victory when Andrew Martin plowed into the end zone from three yards out with 29 seconds remaining.

“The biggest thing is our O-line and D-line,” North Fremont coach Jason Wright said.

The Huskies’ offensive line did its job as Martin finished with 156 yards rushing and three touchdowns, including a 65-yard scoring run early in the third when North Fremont capitalized on a Teton fumble.

Owen Reid finished with a hard-earned 71 yards on 18 carries, including a 3-yard scamper for a touchdown early in the second quarter that pulled the Huskies to 7-6 after the Timberwolves opened the scoring in the first quarter.

Teton also had a not-so-secret weapon as quarterback Luke Nelson has developed into one of the top dual-threat quarterbacks in the area.

It was Nelson who ran for a 36-yard touchdown with 7:31 left in the first quarter to get the Timberwolves on the board.

He connected with Drew Moss for a 12-yard score in the closing minutes of the half, and passed for the two-point conversion to put Teton up 15-14 at the break.

But, as Wright mentioned, North Fremont’s defensive line also stepped up, forcing Nelson to scramble and putting pressure on him when he dropped back to pass, while holding stout when he tried to run.

Nelson ran 21 times, but 12 of those were held to zero or negative yardage.

“Momentum is important going after this,” said Martin, noting the Huskies have played four 4A schools to open the season and are 4-0. “This being my senior year and being homecoming, I couldn’t lose. I haven’t lost any of my homecomings in high school and I didn’t want to lose this last one.”

Fun fact: Martin was also named Homecoming King at halftime.

Teton (1-2) faces Basalt next week, while North Fremont opens conference play against Salmon.