BELLEVILLE - Senior wide receiver Gavin Frey caught perhaps the most important touchdown pass of his career on Sept. 26, 2025, when he took a pass from quarterback Yale Weaver, and fought his way into the end zone from 21 yards out to give Edwardsville a dramatic and big 41-39 win over Belleville East at Charlie Woodford Field.
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It climaxed an incredible game between the two sides, in which the Lancers came back from being down 35-20 to take a 39-35 lead with less than a minute to go, only to see the Tigers go 80 yards in the final minute to win the game on Frey's touchdown reception.
Frey is a Spencer Homes Male Athlete of the Month for the Tigers for his last-second heroics against Belleville East and his performance overall in the contest.
It was Frey's third touchdown of the game, in which he caught 12 passes for 206 yards to lead the Edwardsville receivers, having touchdown catches of 65 and 20 yards in the first half. For the season, Frey has a team-leading 30 receptions for 450 yards and five touchdowns, including the three against East.
In his postgame interview, Frey agreed it was a great feeling to be the hero in an important win, which made the Tigers 2-3 overall, but 2-0 in the Southwestern Conference.
"Oh, yes, sir, it is," a very happy Frey said. "It's a great, great, great feeling."
Frey described the winning touchdowns as one of individual determination and effort.
""Honestly, I was having that mentality of I was not going down," Frey said. "I was getting in the end one and scoring."
It was also on a fourth down and two play as well, in which the Tigers had to convert the first down to keep the ball. it was going to be, one way or the other, decide the fate of the game for both teams.
"Just doing everything," Frey said to sum up the final catch "and leaving it all on the field."
In what turned out to be a game full of big plays by both the Tigers and Lancers, it obviously was the biggest play of the night,. It showed Edwardsville's character after falling behind late.
"Once again, just doing everything I needed to do," Frey said, "Even when they were starting to come back, we didn't pout or have our heads down, we just kept fighting."
The win sets up a big showdown on Oct. 3, 2025, when the Tigers host East St. Louis, in what will be the de facto game for the conference championship. It's a challenge that Frey and his teammates are eagerly looking forward to.
"Yes, it is," Frey said. "We're just showing in conference play how we do things over here."
The win is marking a great comeback from a 0-3 start for the Tigers.
With four weeks remaining in the season, Frey is optimistic of good things happening ahead for the team.
"I'm hoping we can get in the playoffs, that is what I'm hoping for," Frey concluded.
