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LEHIGH VALLEY WEATHER

Freedom blows out Central

It was the epitome of complementary football last week, as Freedom trounced state-ranked Central Catholic 42-7 in a mercy rule affair at BASD Stadium.

The Patriots scored in all three facets of the game last week en route to building a shocking 35-0 lead at halftime to runaway with the most surprising result of the weekend.

The win pushes the Pates to 4-2 on the season and in position to keep building their momentum for a run in the second half of the season.

“Every week you never know, I’m just proud of how we played,” said head coach Jason Roeder. “I feel it building with our guys in terms of the improvement and the energy. We want to be peaking at the right time.”

Freedom had everything going for them last week, as Deante Crawford ran for 107 yards and three touchdowns, but it was a blocked punt and fumble recovery in the end zone by Nick Ellis early in the second quarter that gave Freedom a 21-0 lead and a huge momentum boost.

They closed out the half with a 61-yard interception return by Connor Stofanak to kill any life that Central Catholic (4-2) had left.

“Turnovers and a score on special teams are all momentum changers,” Roeder said. “We were consistent on offense too and it’s the ultimate complementary football game. We just played well in every phase. It was great seeing that from the kids.”

After splitting their first four games of the season, Roeder feels like his team is figuring things out and last week’s statement game may have been the jump off point for the potential of what this Freedom team holds.

“We’re committed to improvement,” said Roeder of what he’s learned about his team this season. “We’ve handled the setbacks the right way and that’s a credit to this group. The energy in practice has been great and it’s been getting better every week.”

The Pates now regroup with a road game at Whitehall (3-2) Friday night with the hopes of pushing their win streak to three games.

“We aim for that week-to-week consistency, but we took a step with how we practiced last week,” said Roeder. “That’s going to validate things to our kids that if you practice at a certain pace, these are the types of results you’ll get.”

***

Liberty’s (1-5) slide through the EPC schedule continued last Saturday night, as the Hurricanes fell to Nazareth 17-6 at BASD Stadium. The Blue Eagles (4-2) ran for 241 yards on the night, led by Tyler Rohn’s 132 yards.

Rohn and quarterback Sonny Sasso scored on a pair of two-yard TD runs in the first half to build a 14-7 lead at the intermission.

The only points of the night for Liberty came off Kyndred Wright’s 22-yard interception return in the second quarter, as Nazareth bottled up Liberty to 82 yards on the ground.

Quarterback Tommy Mason finished the night 6-of-25 for 93 yards and three interceptions, as the ‘Canes lost their fifth straight game of the season.

The Hurricanes are back at home Friday night when they host Emmaus at 7 p.m.

Press photo by Mark Kirlin Freedom's Lorenzo Feliciano (3), Josh Ruela (4) and Connor Stofanak (17) look to recover a Central fumble during last week's game against the Vikings.