If the unraveling events over the course of the second half of last week's contest against Freedom wasn't enough, a torrential downpour in the final minutes was icing on the cake for a bad night.

The Patriots (2-6, 2-5) ended a five-game skid by blowing open a 3-0 halftime lead into 28-second half points for a 31-7 thumping over Northampton.

Northampton turned the ball over on their first two offensive plays of the third quarter to set up 14-points for the Pates, which the winless Kids (0-8) could never recover from.

After a dry first three quarters turned into buckets of rain on the final whistle, Freedom head coach Jason Roeder didn't care that he or any of his players were soaking wet.

"It's a win," Roeder said. "It was validation for what we've been preaching to these guys for the past couple of weeks. We've needed to just continue to get better every week and to keep improving and we got it done."

The Patriots forced four turnovers against Northampton and took advantage of the ones in the third quarter the most.

Jared Bauer fumbled on the first play of the second half for Northampton to set up the Pates at the Northampton 39. Roberto Diaz would punch the eventual score from six yards out to give Freedom a 10-0 lead with 6:57 left in the third.

Kids' quarterback Nick Cook continued the second half downfall, as he was intercepted on Northampton's very next play.

Freedom took over on the Northampton 41 and scored four plays later when Joe Santos rushed from one yard out to suddenly give Freedom a 17-0 lead.

From that point on, Northampton's confidence was zapped and Freedom's kept rising, as Bryant Connor and Louden Klotz tacked on three and two yard TD runs respectively in the fourth quarter to build a 31-0 lead before the starters left the field with roughly five minutes left to play.

Freshman quarterback Joe Young may have not have scored, but he showed glimpses of a bright future, completing 9-of-13 passes for 123 yards.

It was the third start of the season for Young, who got christened to the LVC in his first two games in losses to Easton and Parkland.

It was a tale of opposite directions for both teams on the night, as the Patriots have harped about improvement, while the Kids have been pressing to get their first win of the season.

"The most disappointing aspect of the loss is that we matched up well with them," said Northampton head coach Jeff Brosky. "We've had an opportunity to step up against teams like Central Catholic and Freedom and we ended up having some of our poorest performances of the season."

Despite the loss and the anguish that comes with being 0-8, Northampton hosts a Liberty squad that dropped to 3-5 overall last week following an embarrassing 41-7 loss to Easton.

The Hurricanes may be in even more turmoil, as star wide receiver and Syracuse recruit, KJ Williams, is reportedly rumored to face disciplinary sanctions for this week's game, holding him out for periods of the first half, if not the entire game.

Brosky knows that his team will take any advantage they can rally around in their search to end this winless season.

"We just have to finish strong," he said. "We told the kids in the locker room that we are going to continue to coach and stay positive. It's a tough situation to be in, but we expect our players to go out and play hard and try to get this win."