It was one of those special games where Freedom players, coaches and fans will look back on fondly and remember how great a night it was.

The Patriots battled back from a 13-0 halftime deficit to Easton and came back for a 19-13 overtime victory.

Andres Santos punched in the final score in overtime from a yard out on 4th and goal to send Freedom into a frenzy following a harrowing victory over one of District 11’s toughest football programs.

“We obviously have tremendous respect for that program and to come back from two scores down at halftime, coming off a loss, I’m just so proud of our kids,” said Freedom head coach Jason Roeder. “I just couldn’t be more proud of our kids. The resiliency they showed all night was terrific.”

And the comeback trail started in the second half, as Freedom’s Alec Huertas led a defensive charge by intercepting Easton quarterback Ben Nimeh three times to spark a resurgence.

It helped when Pates’ QB Joe Young found Alkion Dunkins on a 36-yard TD pass with 7:40 left in the third quarter to cut the lead to 13-7.

It stayed that way until 2:07 left in the game when Santos plunged in from one-yard out to tie the game at 13. Easton blocked the ensuing extra point to give themselves life, but Freedom (8-1) never gave up.

After winning the coin toss in overtime, Freedom decided to let the Easton offense take the reigns to open extra time and the Rovers played into the Patriots hands, as Cordell Cotto recovered a fumble on an Easton handoff to give Freedom the ball.

The Pates then struggled to punch the ball in from the one yard line on second and third down, only to see Santos hammer his way home on the decisive fourth down to end the game and push the Pates into this week’s rivalry contest against Liberty with super-sized momentum.

“It’s all about the next play and that’s what we preached to the guys on that final series,” Roeder said. “We’ll enjoy this one, but we’ll go back to work. With Liberty up next, we don’t have much time to celebrate.”

One thing the Pates may be able to celebrate this weekend is a piece of the East Penn Conference South Division title, as a victory would give Freedom their first taste of a league title in school history.

“It’s huge for our program and we’re going to address it with the kids and then go back to our mantra of win the next day,’” Roeder said.