FOND DU LAC – All the Fond du Lac football team wanted was for Sam Frederickson to have an opportunity.

Frederickson, the 6-foot-7 wideout known more for his basketball skills, was in position to make a name for himself on the gridiron on Friday.

He just needed the chance.

Frederickson used his height and hops to sky over a multitude of Hortonville defenders, catching a 28-yard touchdown pass from Jack Cole with no time remaining as Fond du Lac stunned the Polar Bears 20-14 in a wet and wild Valley Football Association game Friday night at Fruth Field.

“We were hoping Sam would have an opportunity to go and get it,” Fond du Lac coach Mike Gnewuch said of the final play. “He streaked out of nowhere and went up and got the ball. Sam made a heck of a play. Jack made a heck of a throw. In a game like this, you can’t say you’re surprised when something like that happens because it was just a bizarre game.”

Following a wild sequence in the final minutes of the fourth quarter, Fond du Lac (5-2, 4-2 VFA South) found itself with a chance to win a crazy contest against Hortonville (5-2, 4-2 VFA South) despite having allowed two backbreaking plays just minutes earlier.

With the ball on its own 28-yard line and under two minutes left in regulation of a 14-14 game, the Cardinals worked their way down the field with a combination of timely runs from Cole and a couple big completions to Peyton Nett.

Five seconds remained when Cole and company lined up from Hortonville’s 28. Receiving the snap from the shotgun, Cole avoided the early rush, rolled to his right and let loose from just outside the 30-yard line.

A group of about seven or eight players, Cardinals and Polar Bears alike, converged five yards deep into the end zone before Frederickson flew in like Superman, leaped, stretched and snagged the pass — sending the Fond du Lac sideline into chaos.

“I was out there on the line and the whole time I’m thinking ‘I’ve got to make this catch,'” Frederickson said. “I get into the end zone, I was a little slow to get there, but when I got there I saw the ball up and I was not going to let that ball hit the ground.”

Frederickson’s Hail Mary catch was the culmination of a wild fourth quarter in which Hortonville tied the contest twice after Fond du Lac led 7-0 through the first 36 minutes.

First, the Polar Bears evened the game at a touchdown apiece at the 7:47 mark of the fourth. With a steady rain falling for much of the night, Cole fumbled a shotgun snap deep in Fond du Lac territory and Hortonville pounced on the ball at the Cardinals’ goal line.

Elliott Luker punched it in a play later.

Fond du Lac did respond, with Cole hitting Nett for a 29-yard TD pass with just 2:15 left. But on the ensuing kickoff, the Polar Bears scored on a bizarre play in which the returner fumbled and the loose ball was picked up by blocker Bryce Smith and returned 65 yards for the tying score.

That set up the Cardinals’ final drive, which saw Fond du Lac overcome the adversity it just experienced and put itself in position to win.

“That’s what we preach every single day,” Gnewuch said. “On to the next one. It’s the next play. The kids buy in. You’ve got to wash it away, you’ve got to be gritty, you’ve got to be tough and you’ve just got to keep moving forward. We made enough plays at the end to punch it in, so I’m proud as heck of these guys.”

Added Cole: “That (kickoff return) was a crazy play and we just knew we had to make something out of nothing. That’s what we did. Crazy game, crazy things happen in football.”

Colton Wasieleski scored the only touchdown of the first three quarters, when he ran it in from five yards on Fond du Lac’s first drive of the game.

Fond du Lac outgained Hortonville 278-92 on Friday.

Keon Jefferson rushed for 84 yards on 10 carries, while Wasieleski finished with 73 yards on the ground. Cole was 6-of-12 passing for 90 yards and Nett had four receptions for 54 yards.

Charlie Schabo, who came into Friday’s game as the leading passer in the VFA South, finished with just 62 yards passing for Hortonville as the Polar Bears shied away from their potent air attack due to the wet conditions.

Luker added 57 yards on the ground.

With the win, Fond du Lac guaranteed itself at least a .500 record in conference play and officially became eligible for the 2016 WIAA playoffs.

Fond du Lac travels to Wisconsin Rapids for another VFA South game next Friday.

Hortonville 0 0 0 14 — 14

Fond du Lac 7 0 0 13 — 20

 

Scoring summary:

FDL— Colton Wasieleski, 5 run (Jared Scheberl kick), 8:25.

HOR— Elliott Luker, 1 run (Jake Buhler kick), 7:47.

FDL— Peyton Nett, 29 pass from Jack Cole (Scheberl kick), 2:15.

HOR— Bryce Smith, 65 fumble return (Buhler kick), 1:58.

FDL— Sam Frederickson, 28 pass from Cole, 0:00.

 

Team stats

HOR FDL

First downs 9 10

Total yards 92 278

Rushing 27-30 41-188

Passes (C-A-I) 9-18-1 6-12-1

Passing yards 62 90

Fumbles 2-0 1-1

 

Individual leaders

Rushing: Hortonville— Elliott Luker, 22-57. Fond du Lac— Keon Jefferson, 10-84; Colton Wasieleski, 21-73.

Passing: Hortonville— Charlie Schabo, 9-18-1-62. Fond du Lac— Jack Cole, 6-12-1-90.

Receiving: Hortonville— Kyle Allen, 1-17. Fond du Lac— Peyton Nett, 4-54.