Fredonia wide receiver Nora Polhamus battles for the ball with Silver Creek/Forestville/Lake Shore’s Iris Muck to secure a touchdown catch in the first half of a nonleague girls flag football Thursday at the Orange Bowl in Fredonia. P-J photo by Braden Carmen

FREDONIA — The Hillbillies out-scored Mother Nature on Thursday, as Fredonia posted 59 points on a 44-degree evening.

The Fredonia offense wasted no time getting warmed up Thursday. With touchdowns on its first two possessions, Fredonia led the entire way in a 59-6 victory over the visiting Silver Creek/Forestville/Lake Shore Black Knights in a nonleague girls flag football contest on a muddy Orange Bowl field.

“I am so proud of our team. We read their plays very, very well. We prepared for them and we executed,” Fredonia wide receiver Madelyn Polhamus said.

Halfway through the contest, Fredonia quarterback Sophia Utegg had four touchdown passes — three to the Polhamus sisters — for a 33-0 Fredonia lead. Utegg had more touchdowns at halftime (4) than the Black Knights had first downs (3).

“It’s really a testament to these young women and the time that they put in on a daily basis,” Fredonia head coach Nick Bertrando said. “We’re fortunate we’ve got a bunch of athletes out here, but it really comes down to the work that they put in each and every single day.”

The Hillbillies had several standouts on Thursday. Utegg tallied five total touchdowns — four passing scores and a quarterback keeper in the third quarter — and Juliana Snyder had a 100-yard game on the ground with 13 carries for 110 yards. But it was the Polhamus sisters who led Fredonia early and often on both sides of the ball.

“It’s very fun. I get to play offense and defense with her,” Madelyn Polhamus said of playing with her sister, Nora. “I think we work very well together. We read each other on and off the ball. It’s really helpful having her out there.”

Fredonia scored on the game’s opening possession on a 5-yard touchdown run by Emma Perry. The defense followed by forcing a three-and-out on the first Silver Creek/Forestville/Lake Shore (2-8) possession to quickly get the ball back. Then, on the first play of Fredonia’s second possession, Utegg found Madelyn Polhamus for a 31-yard touchdown. Perry ran the ball in for the extra point to put Fredonia ahead 13-0 with 8:39 left in the opening quarter.

“We came out very strong. In some other games, we had to get into the game, but in this game, we got two touchdowns on the first two drives,” wide receiver Nora Polhamus said.

After watching her older sister score in the first quarter, the second period belonged to the younger Polhamus. With 7:36 left in the first half, Nora Polhamus battled Iris Muck for the ball on a pass down the middle of the field. She won the battle for an impressive 8-yard touchdown catch. The extra point put Fredonia ahead 20-0, but Nora Polhamus was not done. With 3:23 left in the half, Utegg found Nora Polhamus yet again for an 18-yard score. Fredonia led 27-0 after the extra point.

“I was cutting hard and making sure I could get away from my defender,” Nora Polhamus said.

Utegg kept the scoring coming for Fredonia, as she connected with Isabella Carmona with only 46 seconds left in the period. Fredonia held a 33-0 lead, and Madelyn Polhamus made sure it stayed that way by pulling the flag of Iris Muck on a deep ball as time expired. Muck accounted for all three of the first downs in the first half for the Knights, but the visitors remained scoreless at the break.

It turned out that the touchdown-saving flag pull in the final seconds was not the only big play Madelyn Polhamus made on defense.

After Muck intercepted a pass early in the third quarter, the Knights had the ball near midfield. A few moments later, Madelyn Polhamus recognized the Knights’ play call and jumped the route to intercept a pass toward the visiting sideline. She broke free with no one in front of her on the way to returning the interception for a touchdown.

“We knew their plays and we ran them right. I just read the play well and got there first,” Madelyn Polhamus said.

After Madelyn Polhamus took it back all the way, Fredonia led 39-0. Her sister, Nora, followed with an interception on the next possession, leaving each Polhamus sister with an interception and two touchdowns to her name.

“I definitely do look up to her,” Nora Polhamus said of her older sister. “She gets all the touchdowns so I try to learn from her and do what she does.”

Utegg ran one in herself for her fifth touchdown of the evening late in the third quarter. Then in the final frame, Peyton Wallace had a pair of rushing touchdowns for the Billies. The Knights got their one and only touchdown with four minutes left in the game as Tessa Ludwig broke free down the visiting sideline and took it the length of the field for the score.

“Look at the different pieces we have — we’ve got multiple running backs, we’ve got multiple receivers, we obviously have a quarterback — and the ability to pass and run the ball,” Bertrando said. “… It’s a really amazing group of young women here that are very talented, but also very intelligent too when it comes to football.”

Fredonia hopes to carry the momentum from such a sizable victory into Saturday night’s contest with the visiting Dunkirk Marauders. The evening will begin with a modified contest between Fredonia and Pioneer at 5 p.m., with the varsity game between Dunkirk and Fredonia to follow. Saturday night is also the program’s chicken barbecue fundraiser, with tickets still for sale. Dinners are available beginning at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday.

“We want to continue to trend in that upward direction. We have three games left before the Section VI playoffs. That’s what everybody looks forward to,” Bertrando said. “That’s what we’re working toward, and hopefully, if we can continue to build this momentum, we can hit it full steam and ride it as long as we can.”