For the third straight year, Freedom will play for the District 11 Class 6A football title.

After losing to Parkland in each of the past two seasons, the Patriots advanced to this year’s title game with a win over the Trojans in Saturday’s semifinal at Bethlehem Area School District Stadium.

Freedom capitalized on four Parkland turnovers and Patriot quarterback Jared Jenkins threw for three touchdowns in a 35-21 win over the Trojans, ending their streak of six consecutive district titles.

“The biggest thing is we’re going back to play for another district title,” said Jenkins. “It’s been bothering us that we have two silver medals from the past couple years. We’re going to get prepared for next week and go play our best football game.”

Parkland scored first Friday night, but the Patriots responded with touchdowns on three-straight possessions.

Freedom got on the board with 2:09 left in the first quarter. Seven plays after senior linebacker/running back Tristan Wheeler recovered a Parkland fumble at the Trojans’ 30-yard line, Wheeler took a handoff and dove in from a yard out for a 7-0 lead.

The Patriots went ahead for good on a 50-yard pass from Jenkins to Rontay Dunbar (3 catches, 117 yards, 2 TD). After stopping Parkland on downs, Freedom made it 21-7 when Jenkins hit Vincent Reph with a 16-yard touchdown pass with 5:09 left in the first half.

Parkland cut the lead to one score two times over the rest of the game, but each time the Patriots answered with a score.

The Trojans used a long kickoff return to set up a two-play touchdown drive and get within 21-14 with 4:19 left in the first half. But Freedom forced a fumble and scored on a one-play possession when Jenkins hit Dunbar with a 59-yard touchdown strike with 1:26 left in the second quarter.

“It starts with the guys up front,” said Freedom head coach Jason Roeder. “We always say if we can protect Jared, he’s got the ability to make plays. And we have playmakers on the outside. That’s a total team effort when that happens.”

When Parkland cut the lead to 28-21 in the third quarter, Freedom took just three plays to get to the end zone as Matthew Russin (9 carries, 113 yards) broke free for an 87-yard touchdown run to make it 35-21 with 4:09 left in the third quarter.

Freedom’s defense took over from there, forcing two more Trojan fumbles and not allowing Parkland closer than 23 yards from pay dirt on its final three possessions.

The Patriots piled up 468 total yards in the game, including 275 on the ground as Russin and Jalen Stewart (20 carries, 102 yards) both ran for over 100 yards. Jenkins threw for 193 yards, completing eight of 17 attempts. He also ran for 55 yards.

Freedom, which set a single-season school record for wins Saturday, moves on to face Emmaus in this week’s district title game. Neither team has won a district title in school history.

The Patriots (11-1) beat Emmaus 32-31 on Oct. 12 thanks to a pair of touchdowns in the final two minutes of the game, a win that helped them earn the top seed in districts.

The No. 2 seed Hornets (11-1) feature a pair of third-year senior running backs in Lubens Myers (151 carries, 1,056 yards, 11 TDs) and Harvard-bound Sone Ntoh, who ran for 1,110 yards last season but missed some time with injury this year. He’s got 652 yards and 10 rushing touchdowns as a senior.

Former Whitehall quarterback Ethan Parvel leads the Hornet offense. He’s completed 105 of 171 passes this year for 1,627 yards with 27 touchdowns. He’s got capable receivers in Deonte Castro (43 receptions, 713 yards, 10 TDs) and Izaiah McPherson (28 catches, 478 yards, 6 TDs).

It will mark the Hornets’ first ever appearance in a district title game, while its familiar territory for the three-time district finalist Patriots, who had this date circled on their calendars since all year.

“It’s been in the back of my mind,” said Jenkins. “We try to take it week by week but we all know the end goal is to get that gold medal and that’s what we’re going to try and go do.”