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Freedom Prevails: Patriots Upend Phillipsburg

 
Tagged under: Beyond The Keystone, District 11, Gameday Hub, News, pfn

| September 12, 2026

In their first meeting since 1994, Freedom and Phillipsburg gave fans at BASD Stadium everything they could’ve asked for and more Friday night. Davyan Moore’s big tackle in the Phillipsburg backfield and Lashawn Johnson’s late heroics lifted Freedom to a 32-31 victory.

Dom Bracco and the Stateliners impressed early. After forcing a quick punt from the Patriots, Bracco quickly found David Pacewicz for an 18-yard hookup, moving the ball out near midfield. On 3rd & 8 in Freedom territory, he dumped one out in the flat to Markus Jordan. Jordan went down the far sideline for a 20-yard pickup, nearing the red zone at the 25. Three plays later, Bracco called his own number and fought his way through the line for an 18-yard touchdown run. After chewing up nearly 6:30 of the first quarter, the Stateliners led 7-0.

The Patriots then grinded their own 10-play drive. Mike Stofanak found Tyeir Chatman behind the defense for a 22-yard pickup to the Stateliners’ 19. Lashawn Johnson capped the drive with a 3-yard touchdown run, powering his way through the left side and falling into the end zone. That tied the ballgame at 7-7 after a quarter.

Early in Phillipsburg’s next possession, Bracco ran a draw play to his left and the ball came out right at midfield. Alexie Sangster fell on it to give Freedom the ball right back. The Patriots over these two drives sandwiched around the fumble ran 20 plays on offense to Phillipsburg’s four. The Patriots converted the turnover into points on a 36-yard field goal by Nathan Stannard that was right down the middle. With 6:20 to go in the half, Freedom had a modest 10-7 lead.

After a quick three-and-out for the Stateliners, Freedom’s offense was right back on the field and in business. Marquise Chapman caught a pass over the middle at midfield and added 25 yards after the catch to flip field position for the home team. He was then all alone in the back of the end zone for a 7-yard touchdown catch with 1:20 to go in the half. Freedom led 17-7.

Phillipsburg quickly zipped down the field and Hunter Garrison showed off one heck of a leg, converting on a 47-yard field goal to bring the Stateliners within 17-10 at the break. Along the way, Along the way, Tyeire Chatman nearly had himself a pick six, jumping in front of the intended receiver at the Freedom 35.

Two plays into the third, Bracco showcased his arm, lobbing one up 50 yards in the air to Amir Heath, dropping it perfectly into his hands. It took three plays for Campbell-Graham to plow his way into the end zone and tie the game at 17 all.

In a big decision for Freedom, head coach Jason Roeder elected to punt the ball away to the Stateliners on 4th & 3 at the Phillipsburg 40. The Liners had to boot it right back, as Bracco used the rugby-style kick to pin Freedom back at their own 14.

Lawshawn Johnson converted a big 3rd & 2, gaining 16 yards for the Pates. However, he had the ball stripped out and it was recovered by his counterpart Cambell-Graham. Just two plays later, Campbell-Graham popped through the line and took it 48 yards to the end zone. Now the Stateliners had the upper hand at 23-17 with 48 seconds left in the third. The extra point was blocked.

But Freedom responded in a hurry. Mike Stofanak spotted Davyan Moore all alone behind the secondary and fired him a 62-yard strike. One play into the fourth, the home team was back on top 24-23.

On their next drive, P-burg faced a 4th & 3 on the Freedom 40. Shane Moore, who had been doing yeoman’s work all night long, steadily compiling yardage, picked up six  yards and kept the drive alive. Dom Bracco and the offense executed the fake handoff well and Bracco held onto it, picking his way down the far sideline. He weaved his way to a 34-yard touchdown and then threw to Pacewicz who managed to avoid being sandwiched by two defenders. The score again put Phillipsburg ahead 31-24 with 7:20 to play.

Freedom did what it did best all night, though, and picked up a big yardage play. Lashawn Johnson high-stepped a defender and picked up 48 before a 6-yard touchdown run. In his postgame interview, he highlighted the fact that his fumble led him to play with anger and determination for the rest of the game. After a defensive offside on the extra point, Freedom opted to go for two and Johnson again got the call and the confidence, putting his team ahead 32-31 with just over half of the fourth quarter left.

Phillipsburg held the ball for nearly the entirety of the rest of the game, going to their bread-and-butter ground attack, trying to impose their will on the Freedom defense. But with traffic in the backfield, the Liners tried a handoff to Heath. It was quickly snuffed out by Sa’Haad Strickland who went untouched off the end of the defensive line, clobbering Heath for a loss of ten. A 4th & 20 pass went up from Bracco and was knocked away by Jahaire Hughes, who was on Donovan Samson.

Freedom’s victory marked the first time in 34 years that they had defeated Phillipsburg and provided a much needed boost coming off a week 2 loss to Parkland. The Patriots played a clean game, only being flagged one time and were able to overcome their lone turnover of the night. The road gets no easier, though, as they will be on the road at Nazareth next week. Phillipsburg dropped to 2-1 and will now return to New Jersey for the remainder of the regular season and host Hillsborough next week.

Freedom 32, Phillipsburg 31

Score by Quarters

Phillipsburg – 7 3 13 8 – 31

Freedom – 7 10 0 15 – 32

Scoring Summary

First Quarter

P – Bracco 18-yd run(Garrison kick), 4:31 11-72

F – Johnson 3-yd run(Stannard kick), :49 10-80

Second Quarter

F – Stannard 36-yd FG, 6:20 10-34

F – Chapman 7-yd pass from Stofanak(Stannard kick), 1:20 6-70

P – Garrison 47-yd FG, :10 8-45

Third Quarter

P – Campbell-Graham 2-yd run(Garrison kick), 9:25 5-70

P – Campbell-Graham 48-yd run(Garrison kick blocked), :48 3-66

Fourth Quarter

F – Moore 63-yd pass from Stofanak(Stannard kick), 11:52 2-62

P – Bracco 34-yd run(Bracco run), 7:20 8-61

F – Johnson 6-yd run(Johnson run), 6:15 4-61

Passing: Free – Stofanak 9-16-190-2-0; Phil – 8-16-158-0-0

Rushing: Free – Johnson 22-173-2, Stofanak 6-30, TOTAL: 28-203-2 Phil – Moore 26-133, Campbell-Graham 13-93-2, Bracco 8-76-2, TOTAL: 47-302-4

Receiving: Free – Moore 2-77-1, Herman 1-5, Chatman 6-107-1  Phil – Pacewicz 2-28, Heath 2-80, Sampson 2-19, Jordan 1-20, Bermingham 1-11

 

 
 
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