There may have been some moments when Freedom's football team wasn't playing at their optimal level last week against Northampton, but at the end of the day, the Patriots came away with a convincing 34-7 victory.

Freedom (4-0, 3-0) got a three TD effort from quarterback Joe Young, who was 17-of-24 for 221 yards and two touchdowns, along with an interception.

Young also rushed for 38 yards and a score to continue the Pates undefeated start.

"I think our kids realized that we had some mental lapses that we need to fix," said head coach Jason Roeder. "Definitely some things that we need to clean up moving forward, but our kids realized that and we'll get back on track."

And Freedom will certainly have to pick up from that as they move to the midseason point, starting with this week's contest with Central Catholic (1-3) on Saturday night.

Through five games this year, the Pates opponents have a combined 5-15 record. With the Vikings this week, followed by a contest with Dieruff the following week, the Pates could set themselves up nicely to start 6-0 for the first time since 2011.

That's when the season heats up with Whitehall, Parkland, Easton and Liberty to close things out.

Roeder, however, isn't thinking about anything other than Central Catholic, who were hammered on the road by Easton 37-0 last week.

"I know it sounds cliche, but it's the mentality we have this year to take one game at a time," he said. "We know there's a lot we need to focus on and Central is the only thing we're thinking about right now."

The Vikings have been on the opposite end of the spectrum, as they're 0-3 in league play with losses to Whitehall, Parkland and Easton.

After losing to Whitehall 42-41 in overtime in week two, the Vikes have been outplayed against Parkland and Easton, losing by a combined score of 72-7.

Roeder knows that despite their results over the past two weeks, Saturday's test will be a challenge.

"Obviously, they have Mason Kholi at quarterback who is a dual-threat with the ball," he said. "He comes across on film as a tremendous competitor and they have good athletes around him. Easton played great defense against them and did a good job of tackling and getting pressure on the quarterback."

Now it's up to Freedom to keep that pressure going on the Vikes this week.

"It's week five and there's no doubt they've [Central] played teams that have had more success than our opponents this year," said Roeder. "We just have to go out and do our jobs because we know how important this game is to us."