Monday was another step in the process for football programs in the Bethlehem Area School District as Liberty and Freedom added pads to their repertoire.

With no scrimmages on tap for either team, preparing for each others Oct. 2 openers might seem near, but has always seemed distant with the uncertainty of the coronavirus pandemic.

Still, this week is another milestone for area teams and Liberty head coach John Truby was happy to keep the chains moving.

“To be completely honest, I didn’t expect to get equipment this year,” Truby said. “I do not know what the future holds for us, but it sure does feel damn good to be able to get outside with the team on Monday.”

Things could have been slightly derailed on Monday with news over the weekend that the school district had three positive COVID cases, one of which was at Liberty.

Fortunately, school officials determined the threat wasn’t severe enough to close schools.

“After the news was given to the team, most of the texts I got were questions of if we were going to get shut down,” said Truby. “My message is simple, trust the health care officials working with our district to make decisions, and I will see you at practice. As of now, it is just one case, and we are going to continue as planned and continue to follow the precautions.”

Freedom head coach Jason Roeder has been preaching the same message to his program since July and was happy to see his team in full pads on Monday.

“It’s another step in the process and it’s something that we take day by day,” Roeder said. “Our guys have done a good job staying focused and understanding the situation at hand. We can only control what we can control.”

The Pates expect to go full contact next Monday and Roeder is certainly excited at the prospect of his team hitting two weeks before their opener, but also understands it’s a daily process.

“We trust the decisions our school and health officials have put forth,” he said. “We’ve been following their precautions throughout this whole process to make sure our players and coaches are being as safe as possible.”

While both public schools are slowly moving toward their season opener, Bethlehem Catholic has been moving along. The Hawks have a scrimmage this Friday night at 7 p.m. at Saucon Valley and will open the season on Sept. 25 at Whitehall.

Truby and Roeder are looking forward to the opportunity to their first game action as well.

“Having a great team in Easton week one, is all the motivation I think this group needs,” Truby said. “We want our chance to show what we can do.”