Freedom validated the preseason hype that has surrounded them heading into their 2015 season following last Friday’s 52-14 mercy-rule victory over East Stroudsburg South at Frank Banko Field.

The Pates forced seven turnovers and scored on four of them directly en route to a thrashing win to open the season.

Alkiohn Dunkins returned two interceptions for touchdowns, including a 108-yard pick six in the first quarter to give Freedom a lead they would never relinquish.

The Pates scored 45 unanswered points following a 95-yard kickoff return by Cavs’ wide receiver Changa Hodge, which tied the game early at 7-7.

From that point on, turnovers doomed ESS, as Dunkins returned an interception 68 yards for a score before halftime, as well as seeing lineman Cordell Cotto recover a fumble 45 yards for a score. Brennan Reinart also scored on a 68 yard fumble recovery in the second half.

“I think we always work on creating turnovers in practice and we were fortunate to come away with that many,” said Freedom head coach Jason Roeder. “I think we got fortunate with some of the bounces, but our guys were opportunistic.”

Freedom will now look to carry that momentum into this Friday’s contest against Nazareth at Andrew S. Leh Stadium.

The Blue Eagles outlasted Stroudsburg 49-47 last week for a season opening win. Roeder knows that this week’s contest presents another challenge for his group as they head into East Penn Conference divisional play.

“They put up 49 points and they’re into their second year of the system with coach [Tom] Falzone,” he said. “We expect them to be a better team from a year ago and they have some weapons.”

One of those weapons is sophomore wide receiver Jahan Dotson.

Dotson scored last week on an interception return and a 47-yard TD reception.

In a contest that featured nearly 1,000 yards of total offense, Roeder and his staff had plenty to look at in preparation for Nazareth.

“I think there were 186 clips of film from that game,” he said of Nazareth’s game against Stroudsburg. “They play up tempo and were pretty balanced offensively. It’ll be a challenge for our defense now to show that they can play well.”