A year ago, Bryant Gourdie watched as teammate Todd Testo piled up yardage and ink as the Fremd tailback. And when Testo needed a hole, Gourdie was usually the one with a timely block from his fullback position.
”It was kind of like the apprentice hunger,” said Fremd coach Joe Samojedny. ”He didn`t get much of a chance to run last year. Every week, he got beat up a lot.”
Friday night, Gourdie did the beating. His 160 yards rushing, including touchdowns of 33, 1 and 70 yards, led the host Vikings to a 33-0 romp over Hoffman Estates.
Other Fremd scores came on field goals of 22 and 47 yards by junior Bret Goodwin. The 47-yarder tied a school record Goodwin set last week against St. Charles. Sophomore Dan Deeke`s 6-yard fourth-quarter run rounded out the scoring.
”They were outstanding,” said Hoffman Estates coach Jim Rucks. ”What else can you say? I was surprised at the play of Gourdie and their
quarterback, George Poorman. I didn`t think they would be able to do what they did. They just lined up and kicked our butts.”
Maybe the Hawks (1-1) didn`t know what Fremd (2-0) could do, but Gourdie showed them how.
”I don`t think people knew what we had, especially on defense,” said Gourdie. ”We`re working together as a team. Everything is going great.
”Last year, it was my job to work for Todd Testo. I was used to it, because I blocked a lot as a sophomore. This year, I came in knowing I was going to be at tailback. I was hungry.”
The hunger showed in Gourdie`s 33-yard run 3 minutes 17 seconds into the first quarter when he blew right through a shocked Hoffman defense. To show that play was no fluke, Gourdie reeled off a 70-yard run with 6:29 left in the third quarter, running through the Hawks` line and right through a defender.
”I like the one-on-one situations,” Gourdie said. ”It`s all mine at that point. It`s up to me.”
Poorman, who was 6 of 9 for 77 yards, helped, as did a staunch Fremd defense.
”We did what we were supposed to do this week,” Samojedny said. ”We only made one turnover. There were too many against St. Charles.”
And the coach had another good-natured jab at his newfound star tailback, whom he`ll watch on film Saturday.
”He did a good job today,” Samojendy said. ”We`ll see what he can do tomorrow.”
