Freedom fell from the ranks of the unbeatens last week and Parkland helped keep its playoff aspirations alive following last Friday night's 21-13 victory by the Trojans at Frank Banko Field.

With the game being a defensive battle most of the night, it was fitting that a defensive play clinched the win for Parkland (6-2), when Preston Saylor picked off Pates' quarterback Jonah Gundrum in the final minute of the fourth quarter at the Parkland 30-yard line to seal the contest.

A play earlier, Gundrum lofted a pass to the outstretched hands of wide receiver Kylon Pretty, who was inches away from snagging the potential game-tying touchdown.

Instead, Saylor's pick ended the night for Freedom (7-1) with its first taste of defeat this season.

"It's a tough loss and the kids are heart broken," said Freedom head coach Jason Roeder. "We're going to feel bad for a little bit, understand what's ahead of us and get back to work."

Parkland scored all of their points in a second quarter surge, which saw them jump out to a 14-0 lead off a Saylor one-yard score, followed by an 83-yard touchdown run by Devante Cross. Freedom bounced back with a five-yard score by Joe Santos to make it 14-7.

Parkland, however, gained major momentum heading into halftime when Cross threw a jump ball for wide receiver Kenny Yeboah on third and eight from the Freedom 26-yard line.

Yeboah, who was the tallest player on the field at 6-foot-5, lofted over two Patriots to pull down the score and give Parkland a 21-7 lead with seven seconds remaining in the half.

Freedom's coaches refuted the call, since Yeboah stepped out of bounds before coming down with the catch, but the protests fell on deaf ears.

"I have no comment," said Parkland quarterback Devante Cross with a smile in regards to Yeboah being out of bounds. "That was a big score for us. We came out and wanted to just finish the game. Freedom is a really good football team and after having two losses already, we really needed this one."

Freedom played without starting quarterback Joe Young, who suffered a hip injury in its win over Whitehall two weeks ago and is out for the season. Gundrum stepped in and was 7-of-22 for 103 yards.

Gundrumthrew his first touchdown pass in the fourth quarter when he found Alkiohn Dunkins on an 82-yard TD to pull the Pates within 21-13 followed by a missed PAT. He had his chance for a second touchdown late, but Pretty's miss in the end zone led to Saylor finishing things off with the late pick.

"It's just good for us to beat a good football team," said Cross. "We didn't really think about Freedom being an undefeated team. We just looked at them as a good team and we wanted to come out and get a win over a quality opponent."