It was an uncharacteristic game for the Parkland High School football team to open its 2026 regular season two weekends ago on the road at Phillipsburg. The Trojans, who normally don’t lose much during the regular season, not only dropped the game, but were outmuscled.

It was a different story in their latest game.

Parkland brought physicality and wouldn’t be denied of its first victory of the year, completing a second quarter comeback to defeat Freedom 41-21 last Friday night at Bethlehem Area School District Stadium.

Parkland trailed 14-7 early in the second quarter, but scored 27 unanswered points in the second and third quarters combined to take a 34-14 advantage heading into the fourth quarter.

The two halves were quite different for the Trojans’ offense and their game plan.

In the first half, it was quarterback Finn Coen throwing the ball all, as he completed 11 of 17 passes for 195 yards and two long touchdown passes to Blake Nassry of 58 and 37 yards.

In the second half, Coen didn’t throw a single pass. He handed off mostly to TJ Lawrence, who ran for 199 yards on 13 carries after halftime and finished the night with 255 yards on 22 attempts. He scored all three of his TDs in the second half, the latter a 71-yard scamper to cap the scoring in the fourth.

Andrea Giroudon connected on two second quarter field goals of 43 yards and 19 yards.

After Nassry’s first TD catch from Coen got things started, the Patriots answered with a 58-yard pass from Michael Stofanak to Davyan Moore to tie the score. Lashawn Johnson then hit the end zone from a yard away to open the second quarter and give his team a 14-7 lead.

Reshaun Jones had a fumble recovery in the end zone in the fourth quarter to cap the Freedom scoring.

Parkland finished with 475 yards of total offense. Nassry recorded 97 yards and the two scores and Jackson Geroulo caught five passes for 57 yards. Defensively, both Nassry and Justin Barnes led the unit with six tackles. Lawrence, Colby Hoffman and Cason Wong all had a sack.

Parkland completes its season-long road trip to open the season at Easton this Friday night. The Red Rovers are also 1-1, having lost their season opener 36-7 at Central Bucks West, and then bounced back last week to beat Pennsbury 32-7 at home.