It was supposed to be Ethan Heller against Luke Fargus, a battle of two strong arms in a league built around short passes and power running.

What fans got was the best game this season for Aidan Fritter.

Coming into Friday night as mainly a scrambling threat for the Scotties, the sophomore attempted 25 passes against Sheridan — nearly doubling his passing attempts for the entire season up to that point. But given his inclination to be more of a mobile, check-down artist, fans might be surprised by his 18 connections with pass catchers.

This was not a game featuring his legs doing the only talking, nor was it a game where Tri-Valley used a grinding rushing attack to earn yards.

Instead, it was a contest where Tri-Valley fans finally saw what kind of attack Fritter can bring. Even though he classified himself as a “running-style quarterback” after the big win Friday, it’s obvious the passing ability is there for the backup.

Fritter said following the game home field advantage played a factor in the Scotties performance.

“We were kind of the underdog throughout the week,” he said. “Everyone expected … I saw tweets all week about how we were going to be the underdog and it shouldn’t (be) close, and that really had us fired up. I mean, they’re coming to our place, and you see our line (along the fence) down there, we’ve won seven straight (conference titles). We didn’t want to change that tonight.”

Even though defensively Tri-Valley had a quality night, the game management of Fritter was the most impressive aspect of the game. Connecting with receivers 70 percent of the time is one thing, but not turning the ball over and consistently moving the ball against one of the more intimidating defenses in the MVL is another.

Oh, and there is the fact Fritter converted a large portion of the team’s 11 successful third down attempts.

“Aidan hit a lot of third down passes,” said Tri-Valley coach Kevin Fell. “A couple of them were really great calls, but he actually just made great plays. He hit I don’t know how many big third downs. It was just one of those games where the right kids were in the right spots.”

The biggest play of the night for the young signal caller could have been his 15-yard connection with receiver Rob Wachter in overtime to set up the Blake Sands touchdown run, or his 33-yard connection with Keaton Williams off a double pass. Or maybe even his 28-yard scramble for Tri-Valley’s first touchdown where he seemed to bounce off every Sheridan defender.

That list of highlights, among others, are a big reason Fritter has now been thrust into the limelight with so few weeks left in the season. While he will likely continue to split time with the more veteran Fargus, the sophomore has made a name for himself before even taking over the reigns of the Scotties offense.