They say defense wins championships and if there was one thing that Freedom took away from last weekend’s dominating 35-14 win over Central Catholic, it’s that their defense will be a tough out for any opponent over the next half of the season.

The Patriots (5-0) allowed 184 yards of total offense against Central (3-2) and recovered three fumbles, returning one for a score, to dominate a wet and soggy night at Frank Banko Field.

Things didn’t always look that way on Friday, as Darnell Ferrell took home the opening kickoff 95-yards to give Central an early lead, only to have the Pates respond the rest of night.

“Very proud of the way we responded after giving up the opening kickoff return,” said Freedom head coach Jason Roeder. “Happy we were able to have success and make game changing plays in all three aspects of the game. Liked the energy and enthusiasm we showed in a big game.”

Outside of the turnovers, the Pates blocked a punt for the second time in as many weeks and took command of the game and never let go heading into halftime.

Up 14-7 on a pair of TD runs by Andres Santos (117 yards), quarterback Joe Young found Jonah Gundrum for a 25-yard TD pass just before intermission to give the Pates a 21-7 advantage.

Young, who was 5-of-10 for 65 yards with two TD tosses and an interception, opened the second half with a 14-yard TD pass to Cordell Cotto to push the lead to three scores. That’s when Santos cemented the outcome, scooping up a fumble and taking it back 22-yards for the score to give Freedom a 35-7 lead in the third.

“I think this reaffirmed my belief that we play with a lot of effort and enthusiasm,” Roeder said. “We have an unselfish, team first, group in which different guys continue to take turns stepping up.

“I honestly believe we have not played our best game yet. Offensively, we need to improve our execution and continue to focus on an attention to detail. Special teams we have been doing a lot of good things but we can’t afford kickoff returns for touchdowns. Defensively, this may have been our best game to date.”

Friday’s win gives the Pates their second straight 5-0 mark to start the season, which Roeder thinks may be the first time in school history that Freedom has started undefeated midway through the season in back-to-back years.

Now, they have to turn their attention to Dieruff (1-4).

Despite the Huskies lowly mark, Roeder hopes his team doesn’t forget the same scenario they were in last year, as Dieruff nearly upset the Pates in a 21-14 contest.

“Our kids are locked in right now on focusing on the process of improvement ,” he said. “We have a lot to work on in order to reach our full potential. Dieruff took us to the brink last year when we were also 5-0. I am sure our kids remember that without my reminders.”