The Luxemburg-Casco Spartans could not stop Drew Kortz and the Freedom Irish Friday night in North Eastern Conference football falling 34-21 in the regular season finale.
Kortz threw for four touchdowns and ran for another one as the Irish kept the passing game pressure on the Spartans all night long with long passes.
Freedom struck first with a 10-yard pass from Kortz to Jack Bonnet with 6:58 left in the first quarter to take a 6-0 lead.
Both teams' offenses exploded in the second quarter, with four touchdowns scored in the first six minutes.
After a 28-yard connection from Kortz to Parker Jochimsen to make it 13-0, the Spartans got on the board with a 34-yard pass from Brayden Loritz to Landon Derenne to cut the lead to 13-7.
Kortz showed off his running abilities as he sprinted 59 yards for a score with 8:54 left in the half and Loritz responded for the Spartans with a 27-yard touchdown with still 6:41 left in the second quarter.
Freedom had a chance to score again late in the half, but an incompletion in the end zone kept the score at 20-14.
The Irish put the game away with two more scores in the third quarter as Kortz hooked up with Jochimsen from 33 and 29 yards out, respectively.
L-C scored with 7:34 left in the game on an eight-yard run by Loritz to close out the scoring as the Irish prevailed.
Thirteen Luxemburg-Casco seniors were honored after their final home game. The Spartans will most likely play on the road when the playoffs start next week.
The Spartans (4-3, 4-5 overall) will await their playoff fate while Freedom (7-0, 9-0 overall) stayed perfect and clinched the NEC championship with the win.
The Spartans will play next Friday after the WIAA releases the playoff field for the tournament on Saturday morning. The pregame will be at 6:45 p.m. on 104.1 WBDK, and the kick-off is set for 7 p.m. Paul Schmitt and Eric Fischer will provide the play-by-play, which will also be streamed on New Radio Sports Network.
(Photo courtesy of Ron LeCloux)
