Shillinger leads the way as Ludington runs past Fremont, 42-20

LocalSportsJournal.com

LUDINGTON — Sometimes, everything just comes together. Which is what transpired at Oriole Field when the Ludington football team cruised to an easy 42-20 West Michigan Conference Lakes Division victory over the Fremont Packers on Friday night.

It was never in doubt after the Orioles exploded out of the gate and scored the first six times they had the ball on offense. Big David Shillinger had three touchdowns, including one a bit of razzle dazzle.

First, quarterback Cameron Gunsell flipped a toss to wide receiver Gage Jones, who completed the play with a pass to Shillinger running free. Shillinger ran into the end zone on a huge 54-yard touchdown.

Photo/Joe Washington

“We put it (the trick play) in on Monday,” said Ludington coach Charlie Gunsell. “It’s just a double pass. Gage does a lot of quarterback in our system. Early in the night we had shown bubbles, so we knew that they (the Packers) would overreact to it.”

Ludington (2-1 overall, 1-0 WMC Lakes) forced a running clock to start the second half after taking a 42-6 halftime lead, but the Packers brought back the regular clock when they scored on a 60-yard run by Khai Noordyk on their first play of the fourth quarter to make it 42-13.

Fremont added another score later when quarterback Talen Reichert-Slater connected with wide receiver Owen Hertel on a pitch-and-catch that covered 66 yards.

“I didn’t know if we could move the ball against (Fremont’s) size and strength,” Gunsell said. “At times, we were decent between the tackles, but we knew we were going to attack the edges all night long.”

Cameron Gunsell finished the game an efficient 6-of-7 completions and also ran for 93 yards with a TD. Shillinger ground out 108 yards and had another 51 in receiving.

Joe Benz rushed for 100 yards and a score, while Deric Duncil found the end zone once.

Ludington’s schedule just gets tougher, with Oakridge — which lost to Manistee 20-15 Friday — coming to Oriole Field next Friday night.

Fremont (1-2 overall, 0-1 WMC Lakes) hosts Grant in a non-conference contest next Friday.