Football: Bulldog Sophomore Tailback David Freeman Sees The Best Days Ahead For Bulldogs

BIG RAPIDS - Ferris State University's David Freeman is off to a solid start this season after rushing for 89 yards on 13 carries with a touchdown.

But, the sophomore running back from Westland is confident that he and his teammates are only scratching the surface of their full potential in the wake of the team's 34-14 non-conference home win over Tiffin University at Top Taggart Field on Saturday night. The improvement Freeman has made since the end of last season was on full display against the Dragons in Saturday night's season opener. Freeman ran hard, he hit the hole and was tough to bring down with the initial hit.

It looks like the Bulldogs have a nice find at tailback, but Freeman insists what fans saw on the turf at Top Taggart Field is hardly a finished product.

"I really think as far as our execution ... we're not there yet," said Freeman, who last year played in 10 games (started two) and rushed the football only 17 times for 30 yards. "We have a lot of talent on our offense, but we still have a lot of work to do if we're going to be playing, offensively, the way that we know we can play."

The Bulldogs did score 34 points, but Freeman (pictured) and others affiliated with the program know that the passing game will begin to hit its stride soon and that could lift the unit to another level - a much higher level.

As a team, the Bulldogs rushed for 258 yards and tallied 322 yards of total offense. The passing game was responsible for 64 yards through the air as quarterback Kyle Parrish completed 9-of-26 passes for 64 yards with an interception. Freshman Alan Freeman, David's younger brother, had three receptions for 12 yards, Matt Schuelke caught two passes for 14 yards while Aaron Olman and Keenan Bowman each had one reception.

"We have an offense that is capable of putting a lot of points up on the scoreboard as we keep working at it and we get more and more comfortable," said Freeman, the talented 5-foot-9 standout athlete who moved from the slot receiver position to tailback during spring ball. "We're going to get to the point where we're putting it all together with our offense to go along with our defense which played really well in the game."

It will be an exciting time when the Bulldogs put all the pieces together as these young players (and there are a lot of good ones - A LOT) continue to gain experience and get better and better.

Photo taken by Ed Hyde