Two thousand, two hundred and five days of frustration came to an end on Friday night in the Battle of the Tracks as Fremd (7-1, 3-1) took down crosstown rival Palatine with a 23-13 home victory, marking the Vikings’ first win in the series since 2019.

“It goes back decades and decades and decades,” said Fremd coach Lou Sponsel, who served as an all-state linebacker for the Vikings in 1995. “There’s so much emotion in this … it’s huge for our school, it’s huge for our team, our program, all the work that goes into it. This one’s always a special one.”

The ballgame also marked the return of Fremd standout quarterback Johnny O’Brien, a Northwestern commit, who missed last week’s loss to Barrington with a lower body injury.

“[Palatine was] the only team that I’ve never beaten in the co

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