GREAT RUN ENDS
Freedom’s historic season finishes after loss in PIAA Class 6A quarterfinals
PHILADELPHIA — When Jared Jenkins passed to Vince Reph for a 5-yard touchdown on fourth-and-2 with 4:42 left in the first half Saturday afternoon at Northeast High School’s Charles Martin Stadium, Freedom thought it was back in the PIAA Class 6A quarterfinal against St. Joe’s Prep.
Just as quickly, the Patriots were out of it.
A 94-yard return by Prep senior Zach Bouggess on the ensuing kickoff restored a twotouchdown margin for the Philadelphia Catholic League power and the Hawks (11-0) rolled to a 42-14 victory to advance to the state semifinals.
Freedom finished its best season in school history with a 12-2 record and a District 11 championship. “You don’t need me to tell you how good a football they have; their track record speaks for itself,” Patriots coach Jason Roeder said. “I thought we prepared well and we came in with the right attitude and effort to compete, but they force you to play near-perfect football and limit your mistakes and we didn’t play near-perfect today.”
St. Joe’s Prep scored 14 points off turnovers.
Perhaps the most costly one was a fumble that came with a minute left in the first half.
It set up the Hawks at the Freedom 22. On third down, sophomore quarterback Kyle McCord hit Johnny Freeman for a 22-yard touchdown pass with 42.6 seconds left in the half and a 28-7 lead.
The mercy rule went into effect after St. Joe’s scored on its first two possessions of the second half with McCord throwing his third TD pass.
The sophomore quarterback, who is being noticed by Division I schools, completed nine of 14 passes for 160 yards.
The Hawks, who eliminated the District 11 champion in the highest PIAA classification for the fifth time in six years, play the winner of Saturday night’s game between District 7 champ Pine Richland and District 6 champ State College.
St. Joe’s Prep lost to Pine Richland 41-21 in last year’s state final after winning the title in 2016. The Hawks also won state crowns in 2013 and 2014.
Respect for Freedom
Hawks coach Gabe Infante felt facing Freedom will help get his
team ready for what’s next. The score may not show it, but his team was tested.
“Freedom had captured momentum on their scoring drive and that great play they ran on fourth down,” Infante said. “So, it was big for us to recapture momentum on the kickoff return. People will look at the final score and not realize how close the game was. It was 14-7 and I am sure they felt they were in it at that point. Then two or three plays make the difference.”
Infante came away with respect for Freedom’s offensive line and running game
“They have a very good football team and going against a run game like that and the amazing linebackers they have, that’s going to help us,” he said. “They did a lot of things to try and confuse us, but we tried to stay balanced and we were able to convert some big third-down plays. They took us to late downs a few times, but our guys stayed with the plan.”
Remembering the good times
Roeder told his kids in the post-game huddle how proud he was of them.
It was a breakthrough season for a program that had lost three times since 2008 in the district finals before breaking winning this year.
He expects his team to be playing post-Thanksgiving football again in the coming years.
“This one stings right now,” Roeder said. “It stings when you have to say goodbye to seniors who have given you so much. We weren’t just happy to be here. We want to keep going forward.
“But when we sit back and look back at this season, it will be very special. We’ve been in a championship mode since Week 2 when we played Becahi and then we played Parkland in Week 3. It’s a constant pressure-cooker, but I’m so proud of our kids. To get our program to the next level and not be deterred after getting silver medals the last two years, that shows the grit of our team.”
“We tried to play and coach not being scared,” he said. “We tried to play them as we would any other team, but we made a mistake on the kickoff coverage that’s on me. With any football game, there were turning points, but the better team won.”
Fitting ending
Sebastian Gibbs, one of the