Freedom came into the district title game as the hottest team in the area. The Patriots had won five straight, including their last three games of the regular season and two district playoffs games.

But they ran into a team that seems to get hot every November. Parkland continued to roll through the playoffs when the four-time defending champs beat the Patriots 24-14 in Friday’s District 11 Class 6A title game at J. Birney Crum Stadium.

Parkland fell behind 14-3 early in the game, but the Trojans overcame that deficit to earn their fifth straight district champinonship.

“We were able to pound it late and wear them down,” said Trojan head coach Tim Moncman. “They’re a heck of a football team. They have a lot of weapons. I’m proud of our kids, especially our defense. They got a couple big plays but after that we came to play.”

Freedom (8-5) opened the scoring on its second possession when Cyrus Thompson got free for a 42-yard touchdown run to give his team a 7-0 lead with 5:28 left in the first quarter.

A Brian Hanton field goal made it 7-3 late in the first quarter.

The Patriots, which forced punts on two of Parkland’s first three possessions, took a 14-3 lead when quarterback Joe Young found Brady Hornbaker for a 61-yard touchdown with 8:07 left in the first half.

Parkland (10-3) responded by riding the hot hand of junior quarterback Michael Ruisch and it resulted in a 15-yard touchdown pass to Frank Guida that cut the lead to 14-10.

Ruisch completed five passes to four different receivers on the scoring drive, moving his team 69 yards in five plays.

The junior completed 16 of 26 passes for 177 yards and a touchdown.

“I’m so proud of him,” said senior defensive end DJ Hohman. “Being a junior quarterback and trying to fill the shoes of Devante Cross, he’s really starting to pick up his game and peak at the right time. It adds more stuff in the playbook for our offense.”

After forcing a Freedom punt, Parkland took the lead with a 10-play touchdown drive that culminated with Nick Suriel’s two-yard touchdown and a 17-14 Parkland lead with 1:05 left before halftime.

The Trojans stuck with their passing game on the touchdown drive as Ruisch completed three of seven attempts before handing off to Suriel for the score.

“We knew if we spread it out they’d be in a 3-4,” said Moncman. “We knew Michael was comfortable with that. He threw it around. It was a huge drive. The kids never quit. And we just kept plugging, kept plugging.

“In the second half our defense played lights out.”

A Guida interception three plays later put Parkland in position to attempt a field goal at the end of the first half, but Hanton’s attempt was just short.

The Trojans opened the second half with an 11-play drive that covered 74 yards and ended with a nine-yard Guida touchdown run.

With a 24-14 lead, Parkland relied on its defense to close out the win.

The Patriots put together three long drives in the second half, but they were unable to turn them into points. One ended with a red zone interception and another stalled on downs on the Parkland 30-yard line.

The Trojans limited the Patriots to just two big plays. They amassed 102 yards on their two scoring plays and had 181 yards of offense in the game.

“In the beginning of the game when they scored on those big plays, for a moment it was demoralizing,” said linebacker/running back Jahan Worth. “But we got together. We figured everything out.”

Parkland held Young to just 38 yards rushing. The senior completed 12 of 19 passes for 174 yards, but he also threw a pair of interceptions, one to Guida and another in the fourth quarter that was hauled in by Carrick Panella.

Limiting Young is always a key to stopping the Patriots.

“We had a linebacker on him usually,” said Guida. “Our whole thing was stopping the run game. We were able to stop them and force them to throw the ball. When they were throwing the ball, that’s when we made plays.”

This year’s senior class is the second straight that has seen the football team win district titles in all four years of their high school careers.

“I love winning,” said Guida. “I love being out there with a group of guys who would take a bullet for each other. We love each other. We have the same goals. Our goal was to make it five times this year. We fulfilled that now we have to get a state chip.”

Worth, a junior who has been a starter on the last two district title teams, said this one might be a little sweeter considering the expectations in 2015 and the fact that this team might not have the star power of last year’s squad.

“It feels way more special,” said Worth. “I love the guys to death from last year. We had three Division 1 recruits, all amazing football players. Everybody expected us to win districts, to go to states, to do big things last year.

“This year I feel like no one expected us to do anything because we didn’t have anybody going anywhere. It was a whole team effort. Everybody just came together. It’s an amazing feeling.”