Freedom took care of business last week in their 36-7 victory over a hapless Northampton side.

The Patriots used a pair of touchdowns from Andres Santos (34 yards) and a banner night from quarterback Joe Young, who went 6-of-7 for 162 yards and a TD, connecting on a 78-yard touchdown throw to Alkiohn Dunkins in the second quarter, as the Pates took a 29-0 lead into halftime.

With Freedom sitting at 4-0 this season, head coach Jason Roeder finds his team sitting atop the East Penn Conference standings with Parkland (4-0) heading into the midpoint of the season.

“We knew the expectations we had going into this year were going to be a little different from a year ago,” he said. “We’re just getting better everyday and that’s what we need to focus on heading into this week.”

The Pates may be facing their toughest challenge of the season this week when Central Catholic (3-1) heads into BASD Stadium Friday night for a pivotal clash.

The Vikings are fresh off a 26-24 upset win over Easton last week and present plenty of problems for the Pates this week.

“I think they may be the most balanced team we’ve seen so far this season,” said Roeder. “They can run the ball and throw. They have good size up front and they’re aggressive on defense. They played well against Easton and they’re a good team.”

Central quarterback Ethan Persa was 14-of-19 for 197 yards and two touchdowns in last week’s victory, as Tom Murphy was his favorite target a week ago, hauling in eight balls for 117 yards.

Alvin Pacheco balances out the Vikings offensive attack, as he ran for 122 yards and a score in the win last week.

With the individual talent Central has at their disposal, Roeder knows that fundamentals will come into play this week with the Vikings spread offense.

“We have to tackle well in space this week and be sound in our assignments,” Roeder said. “There’s going to be a lot of 1v1 matchups with their offense, so we need to tackle well.”

A win on Friday night would also prove that Freedom is right where they belong atop the conference.

“I don’t worry about that as much as what we have to do to prepare for Central,” Roeder said. “It’s going to be a good game for us this weekend and we just have to continue to prepare and get better every day.”

Freedom is off to the same start they had a year ago when they jumped out 7-0 before losing to Parkland in week eight.

If they can get past Central, Dieruff (1-3) and Whitehall (2-2) follow in the schedule before taking on Parkland (4-0).