Freedom gets back to business Saturday
Patriots meet 6-time district champ Parkland again in the district final.
Preparing for Liberty to end the regular season provides an annual challenge for the Freedom football team.
Playing the rival Hurricanes in backto-back weeks, the second time with the season on the line, gave the Patriots an added test this season.
Freedom survived a postseason push from Liberty, rallying for a win that moved it into the District 11 Class 6A semifinals for a third straight season. The top-seeded Patriots (10-1 overall) welcome a familiar foil Saturday when No. 5 Parkland visits Bethlehem Area School District Stadium to play for a spot in the district final.
The Trojans (7-4) have won six straight district titles, beating Freedom in the 6A final the past two years. With Liberty behind it until 2019, Freedom is ready to refocus on a goal coach Jason Roeder has chased since taking over the program — winning the school’s first district championship in football.
Parkland will feature a few personnel changes since Freedom eked out a 21-20 win over the Trojans at Bethlehem Area School District Stadium on Sept. 7. Junior Tanner Lewis has emerged as Parkland’s full-time quarterback after sharing time with Andrew Lee when the teams played in Week 3.
The Trojans also won’t have senior running back Joey Guida, who ran for 134 yards against Freedom before suffering a season-ending leg injury.
“They still play tremendous defense,” Roeder said Tuesday night. “No. 5 [Lewis], he’s a dual-threat kid who can run the ball and throw the ball. They’ve used a couple different backs, a couple different types of backs — some bigger, more physical backs and also some slasher guys that can hit a big one.
“They’re still Parkland. They’re big and physical up front. They come off the ball. And obviously, they’re extremely sound on defense and play very aggressively.”
Freedom has excelled most of this season at minimizing mistakes. The Patriots have a plus-11 turnover margin and have averaged 22.8 fewer penalty yards per game than their foes.
They are counting on continuing that trend against a Parkland team they don’t expect to come bearing gifts.
“They aren’t going to make blatant mistakes,” Roeder said. “We talked to our kids about that.
“We just need to understand it’s playoff football. It’s win or go home. Every play is going to be a contested battle.”
DISTRICT 11 CLASS 6A SEMIFINALS