It was not your typical Friday. There were just seven games with weather impacting the Central Region slate on this night. A night that saw a purple sky, tropical humidity and a nice breeze blowing through.

It was also a night that saw Deep Run coming in off a win and Freeman coming in off a loss.

From the start you knew it would not be the Wildcats night. Deep Run was flagged for a hold on the first snap and on the replay the Wildcats QB Chris Suber threw an INT to Jackson Rogish who took it to the end zone for a 21-yard pick six.

Defense would be just a fraction of the story on this night as Butter, Warrick 'Butter' Stephenson would steal the show. Butter fueled the Mavericks with 2 first half TD's although the biggest, 87 yards was called back due to a penalty. Freeman held just a 14-0 lead, Deep Run was not out of this thing... yet.

By nights end Butter would have 4 touchdown runs (that count) to go with 298 yards rushing on 30 carries. Only 1 of those touchdowns came in the first half, much of the work of Butter came in the second half as the Wildcats defense struggled to slow him down.

Adding insult to injury was another pick six when Alex Saunders had a 30-yard return. The defense of Freeman was somewhat overshadowed by the play of Butter as the Mavericks would hold Deep Run to just 169 yards of offense.

Deep Run had very little to hang their hat on on in the first quarter other than a 28-yard run from Jaice Tyler. The Mavericks on the other hand at least had a 7-0 lead after the roughest of starts from Deep Run.

Wildcats were called for a hold on the first offensive play and facing 1st & 20, Chris Suber saw his man but Jackson Rogish saw ball and he got ball. A 21-yard interception return was a dagger early for the Wildcats.

The Mavericks first offensive drive of the night stretched 67 yards into the second quarter down to the 10 yard line of Deep Run, score appeared imminent.

After Deep Run was called offsides putting Freeman at the 10-yard line facing 4th & 1, a first down, maybe even a score appeared imminent but this would be a rarity for the Mavericks on this night, a missed opportunity. Instead Freeman fumbled and Deep Run recovered.

That would be about the only break Deep Run would get in the second quarter. The Mavericks defense held Deep Run to a 3 & out twice. Deep Run on the one extended drive nearly had a breakthrough play when Chris Suber targeted Isaiah Stanley who caught the ball but could not come down with it. The Wildcats second first down came only when Freeman was hit with a personal foul.

Freeman on the other hand put another score on the home teams scoreboard when Butter Stephenson took a chunk out of 3rd & 9 with an 8-yard run but then followed that up on 4th & 1 with a 36-yard sprint to the house.

That would be the only offensive touchdown of the half for either team. Freeman's next possession was plagued with four penalties, one of which brought back an 87-yard touchdown run by Butter which would have been his second of the night.

Before the half came to an end Freeman would have another shot, George Davis and Nolan Chizuk hooked up for a 20-yard catch but the Mavericks would run out of time in the half. Douglas Freeman had the shutout and a 14 point lead.

The third quarter saw Freeman score twice and Deep Run continuing to catch no breaks.

Freeman scored on drives of 65 and 29 yards.

The Mavericks 65-yard drive saw Butter Stephenson carrying 9 times for 65 yards. A fumbled snap on the PAT instead saw a 2-point conversion pass completion.

After the Mavericks held Deep Run to a 3 & out they got a big time return on the kick from Liam Crawford to the Deep Run 29. Short field and Butter back on the field, it did not take long for the Mavericks to find the end zone yet again, now up 28-0 after the PAT went wide left.

Deep Run had moments, both good and bad not just in this quarter but in this game. Jaice Tyler fumbled on 1st & 10 at the 20 nearly giving the Mavericks another short field to work with btu he recovered. Chris Suber extended the drive with a 32-yard run and the Wildcats had their longest drive going of the night stretching 52 yards to the Freeman 29. The defense of Freeman couldn't let this continue, Michael Bannister had two tackles and Jackson Rogish & Hagan Robinson both went up to break the same pass and collided but got the job done. Deep Runn was forced to punt but a flag against Freeman gave them some hope and they chose to go for it on 4th & 10 at the Maverick 28. Chris Suber's pass fell incomplete and any thoughts of ending the shutout were extinguished.

I'm sure there are not many reading this who remember the Adventures of Ford Fairlane from the early 90's. In that movie Ed O'Neil played a cop who was a former disco singer who was a one-hit wonder with a song 'Booty Time'. Well on this night there was no 'Booty Time' but there was 'Butter Time', Butter Stephenson time that is. For his fourth and final touchdown of the night Butter carried the ball 50 yards on a 72-yard, 4-play drive. Butter could not be denied.

Deep Run knew defeat was inevitable but a score was still possible or was it? At their own 20 it appeared disaster had struck. The Wildcat QB had fumbled the ball and Freeman had recovered it. The Wildcats dodged a bullet however as a whistle had been blown inadvertently thus the fumble did not count. Stay of execution was only delayed, however, as Alex Saunders would get the INT and take it to the house to bookend 4 offensive Freeman scores with two pick sixes.

Deep Run would have the ball one last time but they would simply run out of time. Freeman would get the shutout,

How can you not start with Butter Stephenson who had a total of 5 touchdowns although only 4 counted with 1 called back for a penalty. Butter finished the night with 298 yards rushing on 30 carries.

Jackson Rogish had 4.5 tackles plus the 21-yard pick-six.

George Davis at QB completed 6 of his 11 passes for 88 yards keeping the defense honest.

Douglas Freeman has 3 shutouts in their first 5 games.

This was Freeman's fourth straight win against Deep Run.

This was the first Freeman shutout of Deep Run since 2016.

This was the second shutout of Deep Run in the last 3 games for Freeman.

This was just Freeman's 5th win at Deep Run improving to 5-6 on the road in the series.