It was a big game for Freedom's football program last week and the Patriots used their big boys up front to turn a halftime draw into a 35-14 victory over Emmaus at East Penn School District Stadium.

Joe Santos rushed for three touchdowns and 94 yards on the night, as Freedom collected three turnovers as well, en route to starting the season 3-0 for the first time since 2011.

The Patriots and Hornets went into halftime evened up at 14 apiece, but Freedom jumped on the hosts early when quarterback Joe Young found Alkiohn Dunkins for a 20-yard touchdown pass less than four minutes into the second half for a 21-14 lead.

Emmaus followed up with a three and out on their next series, which became even worse following a 19-yard punt to set Freedom up at the Emmaus 36.

Santos then raced his way on the ensuing drive from 19-yards out for the score to give Freedom a 28-14 lead with 4:52 in the third.

"We have a ton of respect for Emmaus and it's the first time our kids faced adversity this season and I was proud of how we responded," said Pates head coach Jason Roeder. "We made some adjustments at halftime defensively and we just had to fix some things. Good teams are going to find some weaknesses you may have, but we responded and the kids came out with great energy."

Emmaus head coach Randy Cuthbert saw his team lose grip of the contest in the first half after the Hornets jumped out to a 14-7 lead.

With Freedom grabbing a 7-0 lead in the first quarter off a 30-yard TD run by Joe Young, Emmaus responded 49 seconds into the second quarter, when quarterback Logan Kober found Matt Bisko for a 32-yard TD reception to even the game at 7.

Wyl Miller then broke an 85-yard TD run through the Freedom defense to give Emmaus a 14-7 lead with 6:38 left in the half.

Freedom came back with a one-yard TD plunge from Santos to even the game at 14 with 1:27 left in the half, but Emmaus put themselves in position to take a lead into halftime, as they drove into Freedom's red zone.

From there, however, the Hornets committed their third and final turnover of the night to kill momentum going into the intermission.

"I thought the turnover before the half changed momentum for our guys," said Cuthbert. "The second half we came out and didn't execute. I don't think we did a very good job blocking their linebackers in the second half. The penalties, turnovers and mistakes just can't keep happening. Teams in this league are too good and you can't come out and not bring your A-game."

Freedom now looks ahead to a 4-0 start when they host Northampton (1-2) Friday night. The K-Kids lost to Easton 35-7 last week.

Roeder knows that picking up another win would keep his team heading in the right direction.

"It feels great and we have a lot of smiles right now," said Roeder. "It's starting to feel like Freedom football again and we're all happy about that."