Field Goal

THE FIRST THING you notice about Delsea placekicker Frank Freijomil is his shoes. Understand, until last season, the 6-1, 170 pound Freijomil wasn't a football player. As a freshman at Delsea and then a sophomore at Gloucester Catholic, Freijomil played on a pitch, not a field. That's right, Freijomil was a soccer player until his junior year of high school. When he returned to Delsea, coach Rob Briles recruited him for the football team. "I fell in love with kicking last year.

Archbishop Wood's Catholic League Northern Division opener with host Father Judge on Saturday was as bleak as the autumn sky. The Vikings (0-3 overall, 0-1 league) showed little promise despite having some big boys up front and some good field position in the game, played at Northeast's Charlie Martin Memorial Stadium. They couldn't punch the ball in when they should have, they couldn't stop the Crusaders (2-1, 1-0) from doing so, and they failed to take advantage of turnovers they recovered.

Minutes after Cherokee High's emotional, 15-14 comeback win over visiting Shawnee last night, the victorious players gathered around their coach in the middle of the field and, in unison, turned toward the home stands and raised five fingers on one hand and a clenched fist on the other to signify the No. 50 worn by their beloved teammate, Anthony Farrace, who died in a car accident in July. The players and coaching staff made their gesture to Farrace's parents, who were sitting high in the stands.

Villanova looked like it had a chance to upset James Madison on Saturday in Harrisonburg, Va., but the Dukes, No. 13 in the Football Championship Subdivision national rankings, scored four straight touchdowns in the second half to run away from the Wildcats, 34-10. The Wildcats (1-6 overall, 0-4 Colonial Athletic Association) led 10-7 after a third-quarter field goal by Mark Hamilton before James Madison (5-2, 3-1) put the game away. Good news for Villanova saw redshirt freshman quarterback Dustin Thomas return to the lineup for the first time in five games.

Brian Taylor seemed to be in misery Saturday night. "It was a game that shouldn't have been like this," said the Central Bucks East senior running back, shaking his head in disgust. "We don't play like this, not at all. " And Taylor's team was the winner, 19-16 over Bensalem, in a stunning Suburban One League National Conference win. It was a game in which the decisive scoring drive totaled minus-6 yards and culminated in a 38-yard field goal by a kicker who may not have even been called into action if not for an earlier roughing incident that sent C.B. East's other placekicker, Olivia Martin, to the hospital for X-rays on her injured left leg. Taylor had every right to feel rotten.

Hammonton kicker Esteban Sandoval has been getting the star treatment by his teammates lately. Sandoval kicked a 17-yard field goal to win a tight battle, 16-14, at St. Joseph of Hammonton yesterday in the 48th annual holiday weekend game. Last week the 5-foot-9, 150-pound sophomore kicked a 26-yarder in overtime to beat Seneca. Both times he was swarmed by congratulatory teammates. "Two weeks in a row," said Sandoval, who kicked into a crosswind yesterday with 12 seconds remaining and the Blue Devils trailing, 14-13.

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - The Penn State kicking game accounted for more field goals (two) in Saturday's 34-6 win over Eastern Michigan than it had (one) in the previous three games. The Nittany Lions turned to punter Anthony Fera, who kicked a 29-yard field goal and four extra points while becoming the first Lions player to handle both jobs on a starting basis since Chris Bahr in 1975. Freshman Sam Ficken kicked his first career field goal, a 43-yarder, in the fourth quarter.

Despite finishing its nonleague season with a 1-5 record, Haverford School coach Ron Algeo said he never counted out his team against visiting Inter-Ac foe Germantown Academy Friday night. "We may have lost five games, but in every one of those games we never quit, and never stopped trying to come back. With that type of character, it's hard to ever think that we can't win. " Algeo was right. Playing its most mistake-free and spirited football of the season, the Fords defeated the Patriots, 23-21, when Jon Burling made a 21- yard field goal with 34 seconds left in the game.

The Schuylkill Showdown went into the final minutes once again Saturday night at Franklin Field. That was where Penn and Villanova staged another installment of the rivalry they have forged over the years, and a 30-21 victory for the Wildcats was sealed when defensive back Ronnie Atkins went 26 yards for a touchdown with 12 seconds left to play. Earlier in the quarter, 'Nova kicker Mark Hamilton nailed a 31-yard field goal to give his team the lead at 16-14, and Wildcats defensive back James Pitts intercepted a pass and took it 26 yards to the end zone to put Penn in a 23-14 hole.

The fireworks - the game-changing plays - came quickly in the first quarter. Safety. Sixty-eight-yard kickoff return. Touchdown. Interception. Touchdown. That was the sequence, taking place in a 2-minute, 43-second span, that put Abington ahead by 17 points in its 20-7 Suburban One League National Conference home win over Pennsbury on Friday night. There might not have been much else to put on the highlight reel, but for the 45-plus other minutes, Abington simply controlled the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball - neutralizing Pennsbury's vaunted "Ground and Pound" wing-T offense.

From time to time they skate into our view, the Blade Runners, the Boys of Winter, who keep their teeth in their pants and wear the scars of the stitcher's needle on their faces. Theirs is not for the timid. They are back with us once again, the Flyers are, in pursuit again of that gussied up punch bowl for which every ice hockey player would happily sacrifice multiple body parts. Lord Stanley's Cup. Thirty-five pounds, give or take. Three and a half feet tall, give or take.

With a late charge on Friday night, Penn Charter toppled previously unbeaten basketball power Malvern Prep, and Lower Moreland handed Holy Ghost Prep its first loss of the season. John Moderski scored 13 of his game-high 24 points in the fourth quarter and knocked down eight free throws as host Penn Charter topped Malvern, 56-44. Penn Charter (8-8 overall, 2-2 Inter-Ac) limited the Friars to just nine points in the fourth. Moderski added 15 rebounds. Malvern Prep (17-1, 4-1)

A season for St. Joseph's, which had resulted in more success than most could have reasonably expected for such a young group, has hit a lull, and Hawks coach Phil Martelli said it has his stomach churning. "Too passive. Too passive. Too passive," said Martelli, making certain his message got through to the Hawks after Saturday's 57-52 loss to Charlotte in an Atlantic Ten game at Hagan Arena. The defeat was the first at home for St. Joseph's (11-5, 1-1 A-10) after seven straight wins.

With little more than a minute to play in the first half, Dan Gevirtz looked up at a ball that was clearly overthrown. His reaction was one of the reasons North Penn beat visiting Pennsbury, 27-3, on Friday night in a District 1 Class AAAA semifinal. Gevirtz saw the ball, found another gear, leaped toward the end zone, and made an airborne catch at the 21-yard-line for a 44-yard gain. Every time North Penn (10-3) needed to make a play, it made one, and Gevirtz's catch was one of many that the senior made for the Knights.

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - No. 1 LSU gained the inside track to the BCS title game, beating No. 2 Alabama, 9-6, on Drew Alleman's 25-yard field goal in overtime after a fierce defensive struggle in which neither Southeastern Conference power reached the end zone on Saturday night. The Crimson Tide missed four field goals, including Cade Foster's 52-yard attempt after Alabama got the ball first in the extra period. LSU appeared to win the game on Michael Ford's run around left end after taking a pitch, but he stepped out of bounds at the 7. After two plays gained nothing, LSU (9-0, 6-0)

With Malvern Prep quarterback Tom Rumer injured on the field in the fourth quarter of a tied game, junior backup Bill Ford didn't have a lot of time to think. "First I was wondering if he was going to be ready to go back in," Ford said. "Then my coach was screaming in my ear to get snaps, so I did. I was trying to calm myself down because I was a little pumped up. " Ford gained his composure in time to lead the Friars down the field for the go-ahead field goal, enabling host Malvern Prep to edge Haverford School, 17-14, on Saturday in an Inter-Ac League game.

Villanova looked like it had a chance to upset James Madison on Saturday in Harrisonburg, Va., but the Dukes, No. 13 in the Football Championship Subdivision national rankings, scored four straight touchdowns in the second half to run away from the Wildcats, 34-10. The Wildcats (1-6 overall, 0-4 Colonial Athletic Association) led 10-7 after a third-quarter field goal by Mark Hamilton before James Madison (5-2, 3-1) put the game away. Good news for Villanova saw redshirt freshman quarterback Dustin Thomas return to the lineup for the first time in five games.

The fireworks - the game-changing plays - came quickly in the first quarter. Safety. Sixty-eight-yard kickoff return. Touchdown. Interception. Touchdown. That was the sequence, taking place in a 2-minute, 43-second span, that put Abington ahead by 17 points in its 20-7 Suburban One League National Conference home win over Pennsbury on Friday night. There might not have been much else to put on the highlight reel, but for the 45-plus other minutes, Abington simply controlled the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball - neutralizing Pennsbury's vaunted "Ground and Pound" wing-T offense.

PASSING ALONG some city high school football tidbits . . .  Tim DiGiorgio never dreamed he'd experience pass-happy heaven at Frankford. "I knew Frankford ran the wing-T since forever, so I thought things would be just like they were with the Frankford Chargers," he said, referring to the nationally known youth program. "I was always under center there. Threw some play-action passes, but mostly just handed off. The most touchdown passes I ever had was two. " In merely five games, DiGiorgio has become only the second Pioneer over the last 31 seasons (the Daily News began compiling stats leaders in '81)

ARLINGTON, Texas - Tony Romo's fractured ribs held up just fine. So did Dan Bailey's leg. Romo persevered through pain to lead drives that set up Bailey for six field goals, including a 40-yarder with 1 minute, 57 seconds left to give the Dallas Cowboys an 18-16 victory over the Washington Redskins on Monday night. Dallas' Anthony Spencer chopped the ball from Washington's Rex Grossman with 28 seconds left, and linebacker Sean Lee recovered it, allowing the Cowboys to tie Redskins for first place in the NFC East at 2-1. It was the first time the Cowboys had won the home opener in their three-year old stadium and the win guaranteed they would not repeat last season's 1-7 start that got coach Wade Phillips fired.