Saturday night saw Bethlehem city rivals Freedom and Bethlehem Central Catholic face off in a key, early season meeting.

The Patriots beat East Stroudsburg North (68-14) in their opener, and the Hawks beat Dieruff (54-6) in theirs, and both teams hoped to keep their perfect record through two games.

This was a potential tone-setter for the rest of the season.

Freedom came out of the blocks red hot, jumping out to a 21-0 lead. Running back Jalen Stewart, scored all three touchdowns to give his team the advantage.

The Hawks then came back to score, as running back Tavion Banks found the end zone, but Freedom put up another score to go into halftime up 28-7.

Becahi came out of the half inspired and full energy. The Hawks clawed their way back, scoring two touchdowns and cutting the lead to only eight points, thanks to a rushing touchdown by Banks and another rushing score by quarterback Stefan Rollins.

Ultimately though, Freedom was too much, as they came out on top 37-20. Some great passes late and a touchdown in the third quarter by Freedom quarterback Jared Jenkins helped cement the win for Pates.

“This was a huge win for us. They were a good football team and we are happy to walk away from this with the win,” said Roeder.

Roeder made sure to stress it was only week two and that there is still a lot more football to play this season. He also talked about how his team still needs to improve if they want to reach their full potential.

“We looked good, but improvements across the board are needed if we want to be the best in the league,” Roeder said.

Stewart had three rushing touchdowns on the day.

“It feels great, That was a big win for us and we are all happy about it,” said Stewart.

While Stewart was a huge part in the win he made sure to give praise to his offense line.

“When my offense line makes holes that big in their defense, it’s easy for me to make big plays and score,” he said.

Looking ahead, next week the Patriots host the Trojans (2-0), so it’s another tough test.

Parkland beat Allentown Central Catholic 52-0 last week. Again, both teams are coming into this game undefeated.

Roeder and the team all know this matchup is very important, too.

“[The Trojans] are the gold standard for the league. We know this is going to challenge us but we’ll be prepared,” said Roeder.

As for Becahi, next week it will face off against Liberty (2-0). The Hurricanes beat Pocono Mountain East last week by a score line of 42-7.

Hawks head coach Joe Henrich was a little disappointed after the game but stressed that this was only week two and that it was just one game out of their long season.

“[The Patriots] are a good football team and showed that tonight. We started slow but came out strong in the second half. We have a lot of areas to improve on but it’s only week two. This one game won’t define our season,” said Henrich.

Becahi will need to turn things around fast with a list of tough games ahead. After Liberty, the Hawks travel to Parkland and then play Nazareth at home.