Fruend leads balanced Blue Streaks in rout

Woodstock’s Cole Freund celebrates a touchdown with Michael Liedtke during their 42-21 win Friday against Crystal Lake Central. (Kristy Ann Mann photo)

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WOODSTOCK – Cole Freund already had established himself as a workhorse running back who can control games on the ground.

Turns out he can throw a little, too.

Freund ran for four touchdowns and passed for another Friday night to lift host Woodstock to a 42-21 victory over Crystal Lake Central in a Fox Valley Conference crossover game.

“This is huge,” Freund said. “They stomped us last year. They totally ran all over us last year, so we were coming in a little worried.”

The Blue Streaks picked up the pace after halftime, turning a 14-7 lead into a rout.

“Coach [Steve Beard] gave a great pep talk in the dome, and we came out knowing what we needed to do,” Freund said. “If we wanted to win, we had to hit them harder and harder every play.”

The result was a balanced output that featured 131 rushing yards from Freund, 153 passing yards from Derek Brown and 110 receiving yards and two touchdowns from Ryan Ortmann.

Ortmann’s first touchdown, on an option pass from Freund, gave the Blue Streaks a28-7 lead in the final four minutes of the third quarter.

Click here to watch highlights of the game

Rather than go for the field goal and a three-score lead, the coach decided to put the ball in Freund’s hands.

Freund rolled left, pulled up and threw to a wide-open Ortman. The pass was a bit short, but Ortman sprawled to make the catch.

Teammates jokingly began calling Freund “LT,” short for LaDainian Tomlinson, the Chargers’ running back who beat the Bears with a touchdown pass.

“I didn’t see that [play] coming,” Freund said. “I was a little nervous when we called that play. We haven’t even done that in practice. We’ve done it once in the summer during seven-on-seven [drills].”

Central (3-1) suffered its first loss despite getting a combined 201 rushing yards from Anthony Degani and Anthony Niemo.

“We couldn’t get anything going right at the start of the second half,” Tigers coach Jon McLaughlin said. “Then they hit us. We’re pretty young and I think our kids kind of got shocked and their heads hung a little bit. It’s kind of growing pains with a young team.”