It was a victory that will always stand out in the hearts and minds of Freedom following last Friday night's epic 29-28 win over Whitehall.

Joe Santos scored the game-winning two-point conversion in overtime to send Freedom's sideline into a frenzy, as the Patriots improved to 7-0 on the season, good enough to have them tied with Easton (7-0) for first place in the East Penn Conference South Division.

After quarterback Joe Young scored from six yards out to bring Freedom within 28-27 in overtime, the Pates always had their minds set for two.

Young's initial attempt on the conversion fell incomplete in the direction of Cordell Cotto, but a pass interference call gave Freedom one last chance at redemption. That's when Santos plunged forward into the end zone on the ensuing play to give the Freedom program an emotional and historic triumph.

"We've had some big wins in the past and program wins before, but when you go 2-8 and have to do this all over again, that's not always easy," said head coach Jason Roeder. "We've had big wins over Easton and Parkland before, but this is one of the best wins I've ever experienced."

Freedom trailed 7-0 at halftime following a 22-yard TD reception by Zephyr star Saquon Barkley, as he juggled a score in the back of the end zone with two seconds left in the first half to give Whitehall momentum heading into the second half.

Whitehall looked as if they were going to go up by two scores to start the second half, as Barkley rumbled inside the 10 yard line on a big run, but was stripped of the football to give Freedom possession at their own six.

That drive would mark the first of three 90-plus yard scoring drives the Pates would have in the second half, this one resulting in a three-yard TD run by Young to even the score.

Barkley, who ran for three touchdowns and 164 yards, got his first on the ground by breaking a 47-yard TD on the next drive to put Whitehall ahead 14-7 with 3:05 left in the third.

Freedom evened the score when Young threw a four-yard TD pass to Cordell Cotto with 10:59 left to play to make it 14-14.

Santos would give Freedom a 21-14 lead with 5:17 left in the fourth off a one-yard score, which was countered by a Barkley one-yard TD less than three minutes later.

Freedom won the toss in overtime and elected to defend, which allowed Barkley to score his fourth TD of the night, this time from three-yards out to give the Zephyrs a 28-21 lead.

That's when the magic and a little bit of luck happened for the Pates to leave Zephyr Stadium with a massive win.

"This is a big statement win and I'm just proud of all our guys," said Young. "I thought the game was over when we missed the two-point conversion, but I was so happy to see that flag come out to give us a second chance."

And that second chance helped pave the way for an emotional postgame celebration on the field, which became a remembrance for senior classmate Kiera Pheiffer, who was injured in a car accident last Saturday night.

"I said to the team we're not a school of 3,000 kids and I'm not sure if everyone [outside of Freedom] understands this 'Freedom family' thing," Roeder said. "We're a tight knit school and to see them to pull together and handle the tragedy they're going through, it's not easy."