Freedom’s football team has a pretty good defense. Even the Patriots’ defense pales in comparison to the one that Parkland has put together.

In a battle of the two defenses, Parkland threw another shutout, its second straight, – to beat the Patriots 17-0 Friday night in Bethlehem School District Stadium.

The Trojans were especially tough on the Freedom rushing game Friday night, holding the Patriots to just seven yards on 20 carries. They were also tough on quarterback Joe Young, who was sacked five times by a swarming defense. The only thing approaching a positive for the Patriots was that Young, who is now Freedom’s all-time leader in pass completions, threw for 169 yards, completing 19 of 32 passes.

Teams may want to rethink trying to establish a running game against the Trojan defense, since its allowed just 46 yards on 47 carries over the past two weeks.

“We came in expecting a defensive battle, because they have a heck of a defense and we think we’re pretty good,” said Parkland head coach Tim Moncman.

That “pretty good” defense has now gone over 130 minutes of game time without allowing a point. The last time the Tojans allowed an opponent to score was in the second quarter of their win over Liberty in week three, a stretch of 10 quarters, plus another 10 minutes of another quarter.

The Parkland defense also took the ball away from Freedom five times, with two interceptions, two fumble recoveries and a little luck on a kick-off.

After Parkland went up 3-0 following an interception by Juan Salas that led to a 25-yard field goal by Brian Hanton, Parkland kicked off to Liberty. The ball appeared headed out of bounds, but took a strange bounce, stayed in bounds, and was recovered by the Trojans. From there, Parkland moved the ball down the field and capped the drive with a two-yard run by Frank Guida with 19 seconds left in the first quarter.

Parkland made it 17-0 late in the second quarter when Justin Lessel caught a pass from Michael Ruisch for a 28-yard touchdown.

Defensive lineman DJ Hohman was in on four of Parkland’s five sacks in the game.

“DJ never takes a play off,” said Moncman. “He’s one of the leaders on this team and definitely helps to drive the intensity of our team. He’s a heck of a football player and the kind of kid that you love to watch play, because it’s always at full-speed.

“The defense as a whole swarms to the ball. Really, we may be just a little undersized on defense, but we’re quick and we don’t leave guys to make plays one-on-one. It’s a team effort on just about every tackle.”

On the season, the Trojans have now outscored opponents 145-33 through five games, putting them at 3-1 in the EPC and 4-1 overall through the first half of the season.

Parkland is back at home Friday night to host Whitehall (2-2, 3-2).