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Freedom Advances to District XI/II/IV 6A Semi-Final With Shutout Win.

Tagged under: District 11, District 2, Gameday Hub, News, pfn, Playoffs

| November 5, 2022

Three First half touchdowns propel Patriots into Semi-Finals against common foe.

BETHLEHEM- When two teams meet on the gridiron, that are unfamiliar with each other, there is a feeling out process to see what what your opponent’s tendencies are and to make the necessary adjustments and to get in a “comfort zone” of making proper reads and executing your game plan.

On the turf of Bethlehem Area School District Stadium Friday night in the opening round of the PIAA District XI/II/IV 6A sub-regional playoff, the Patriots of Bethlehem Freedom found their rhythm in the second quarter and cruised to a 38-0 shutout over the Cougars of Hazleton Area before a moderate crown on a comfortable night for football in the Lehigh Valley.

Hazleton, came into the contest at 8-2 but were without their stand-out quarterback Tyler Wolfe and linebacker Connor Kundrat due to injuries. The Cougars went with Matthew Buchman, moving him from his normal roll at running back to QB. Using a conservative approach and having success moving the ball early, kept the Patriot defense honest and more importantly kept the potent Patriot offense on the sidelines. Even though the had some success, they could not put points up on their opening possession and were forced to punt.

Freedom went on a 69 yard initial drive capped off by a 19 yard touchdown pass from quarterback Ethan Neidig to Jayden Colon on a fourth-and-three call, that found Colon open in the flat and scampered in at the four minute mark to take a 7-0 lead after Zeyad Rageb nailed the PAT.

The Cougars second possession found themselves facing a fourth-and-short of their own at the Freedom 25, but a run up the middle was stopped by the interior of the Patriot line and the offense came back out field. Freedom was without star running back Jaylin Fletcher as well, but Kyle Johnson, Angel Alamo and Jiovanni Richardson filled in nicely.

Facing another fourth down situation and needing two yards to keep the chains moving from the Patriot 44, coach Jason Roeder decided to keep the offense out and it paid off as Neidig hit receiver Justin Peluso in stride across the middle and outran the Cougar defenders down the near sideline for a 56 yard scare and a 14-0 lead with 6:10 left before halftime.

Hazleton’s offense then began to sputter, as the Patriots seemed to have gotten into a groove after going up two scores. The defense forced a three-and-out, and on the the third play from scrimmage Neidig connected on his third touchdown pass of the first half this time a 66 yard strike to Alexie Sangster who got behind the cornerback on the far sidelines and tipped the pass back to himself and kept his balance on his way to the end zone and a 21-0 lead with just under three minutes left in the second quarter.

Sangster would pick off a Buchman pass on the next Cougar drive and with time running down and again facing a fourth down situation, the Patriots decided to take three points this time on the leg of Ragab who connected on a 31 yard field goal that made it 24-0 at intermission.

Neidig completed 12 of 16 passes for 253 yards on the night as the offense went off for 449 yards compared to just 133 yards for Hazleton Area. Neidig sat out the entire second half.

Receiving the kickoff to start the second half, the Patriots picked up right where they left off going on a 71 yard drive as Johnson would plow his way into the end zone from four yards out making it 31-0 with 8:21 left in the third quarter.

Freedom would put and end to the scoring and set the game into mercy-rule with 5:53 left still left in the third quarter when Angel Alamo sliced in from two yards out and cementing a 38-0 lead. Alamo’s score was setup by a magnificent run by Alamo of 40 yards as he twist and turned his way near the pylon, but stepped out just short prior to his scoring play.

Freedom(9-2) will now advance to the semi-finals next week at Emmaus(10-1) The Green Hornets dismantled the other team from District 2 Wilkes Barre Area 42-14. The Patriots and Hornets faced each other in week one with Emmaus getting the duke 19-13. The other semi-final will pit the Parkland Trojans at Northampton Konkrete Kids.

Hazleton Area finished their season at 8-3 and have won the District 2 championship by beating Wilkes-Barre Area earlier in the season and finishing higher in the seedings. It’s the Cougars first title in Districts since 2009.

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