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PLAIN CITY — It's been a while since Fremont football had this much to celebrate.
The Silverwolves beat rival Weber 35-21 on Thursday to win their seventh straight game and to clinch a share of the Region 1 title.
It's the school's longest win streak since it won eight straight in 2014, and the first region title since 2016, all coming against a team rival it had lost six of the last seven games against.
"I love this team," Fremont senior running back Owen Simkins said. "Complete culture shift, it's just been awesome and fun, fun season.
"From two wins to now, seven in a row, chance to win region, it's been awesome."
Keying Fremont's (7-2, 4-0 Region 1) win streak has been its defense, allows an average of 19 points per game and just 13.6 per game during the win streak.
"We've told them over and over, like, 'Hey, if you make a mistake, don't worry; we'll coach you up and put you back in,'" Fremont coach Nate Tuatagaloa said. "So it took the first two games for them to actually believe and trust it; after that, if they make a mistake, we know that they're flying 100% and we can coach 100%."
The run defense has been particularly stout, led by defensive lineman Ridge Lindley, plus linebackers Brant Koford and Krew Hassell.
On Thursday, they had to stop Weber (5-4, 1-3) speedster Dyson Parker.
"Our job was to not make anything easy, to take on the blocks as physical and as violent as possible, so our other guys should be there to make the play. So we just trusted that," Tuatagaloa said.
They did well enough to force the Warriors to throw, and Fremont cashed in with three interceptions.
Junior receiver/safety Salesi Moa, who transferred to Fremont from Weber this offseason, alertly caught Weber quarterback Crew Cacciacarne's tipped ball on the second play from scrimmage and ran it 25 yards for an interception return for touchdown.
Weber's Tyson Higgs caught a tipped Fremont pass for an interception, and the Warriors leveled the game a few plays later with Parker's 1-yard rush.
Fremont hit back with a 10-play drive, featuring a 36-yard throw from Manase Tuatagaloa, who evaded multiple pass rushers, to Zach Masters. Simkins ran for a 1-yard touchdown, the first of his three scores, a few plays later and the Silverwolves led 14-7.
Koford picked off Cacciacarne, setting up Tuatagaloa's perfect 18-yard TD throw to Masters for a 21-7 lead.
Three Fremont penalties negated an interception return for touchdown and gave the Warriors life late in the first half. Four plays later, Cacciacarne found a hobbled Ian Elmore for a 20-yard TD pass in tight coverage.
The two main battles were between both teams' respective rushing offenses and defenses; Fremont's run defense and Weber's run offense have excelled, while Fremont's run offense Weber's run defense have struggled.
In the first half, both teams struggled to run, but found success through the air.
In the second half? Things improved for Fremont, but not for Weber. The Silverwolves, leading 21-14, started a third-quarter drive on the 1-yard line, then journeyed 99 yards for a touchdown.
They got 31 yards on a third-down conversion, 38 yards on a fourth down, and then Simkins jogged in for an 8-yard TD.
After a Weber punt, the Warriors pressured Tuatagaloa, who dumped the ball to Simkins, who ran the remaining 70 yards for the symbolic locking of the door.
Slade Parker bagged Fremont's third pick of the night, and Cacciacarne got Elmore on a 43-yard TD pass in the final minutes for the final score.
Next week, Fremont heads to Farmington where a win nets the Silverwolves the outright Region 1 title, and a loss means a split title with Farmington. Weber visits Layton.
