Patriots’ rally secures city championship
Stewart touchdown, defensive stand key in denying Hurricanes
Eighty yards and 2 minutes, 42 seconds separated Freedom from a third straight regularseason loss to Liberty.
The Patriots weren’t willing to suffer another setback to their rival.
A 44-yard pass from Jared Jenkins to Vince Reph moved Freedom into the Hurricanes’ half of the field with plenty of time to score. Jalen Stewart put the Patriots ahead to stay five plays later with an 8-yard touchdown run.
One final defensive stand secured celebration time for Freedom, which rallied for a 23-19 win in an EPC South football game Saturday afternoon at Bethlehem Area School District Stadium. The victory gave the Patriots (9-1 overall, 7-1 EPC South) the Bethlehem city championship they failed to secure in 2017 and 2018.
“It’s just so sweet,” Stewart said after running 20 times for 122 yards and all three Freedom touchdowns.
“Seeing some of the alumni guys that played
my sophomore and junior year and couldn’t quite get the job done and being able to finally touch that trophy, it just means the world to us.”
Added Freedom coach Jason Roeder: “We’ve got to enjoy this. We put too much work into this game. It means so much to our school and our community. Let’s face it — you hate to let those people down.
“We did that the last couple years. To see all these people out here in black and gold and white, and you see them smiling, it means a lot to us and our people here.”
Fight to the finish: Freedom led for most of the afternoon but never put a stranglehold on the game. Liberty (3-7, 1-7) forced two turnovers and used the left leg of kicker Sander Sahaydek to hang around.
Sahaydek finally gave Liberty its first lead when he connected on his fourth field goal in as many tries, a 32yarder that pushed the Hurricanes
ahead 19-17 with 2:42 to go. He also hit on kicks of 39, 45 and 36 yards.
“Sander, I had no question whatsoever what I was going to do at any time with the field-goal unit,” Liberty coach John Truby said. “He’s been a rock all year. He’s a great kicker.”
Sahaydek booted the ensuing kickoff into the end zone to leave Freedom needing a long drive for points.
Jenkins, who had thrown for only 111 yards on his first 20 attempts, lofted a perfect sideline pass to Reph on Freedom’s next offensive snap to give it a jolt.
Jenkins added an 18-yard scramble on the drive before Stewart covered the final 15 yards on two carries. Stewart also went over 1,000 rushing yards this season.
“First off, I want to tip my cap to them,” Stewart said. “Every year they come out and they play with their hearts out. They’re a team, they’re just never going to quit.
“When we were down, we knew exactly what we had to do. We practice this situation every Thursday before a game. I just knew if our guys did their responsibilities we were going to the end zone.”
Statistically speaking:
Jaiden Canada ran 23 times for 138 yards to pace Liberty. He also caught three passes for 81 yards.
Canada’s biggest play ended in Liberty’s lone touchdown.
The Hurricanes ran a double pass, with Kendrick Wesley catching a lateral from quarterback Dallas Holmes and then lofting a ball down the field. An uncovered Canada caught it and fought off a Freedom defender for a 65yard touchdown grab.
Matt Russin amassed 132 yards from scrimmage for Freedom.
“I just knew if our guys did their responsibilities we were going to the end zone.” —Jalen Stewart