Joe Young leads Freedom over Allentown Central Catholic

Written by: David Mika on Saturday, August 27th, 2016. Follow David Mika on Twitter.

BETHLEHEM – Last year at home Freedom won big 52-14 over East Stroudsburg South. Would that trend continue? The answer is YES.

Bethlehem Freedom’s senior quarterback Joe Young threw three touchdowns including a pair of 57-yards bombs as the Patriots defeated Allentown Central Catholic 31-8 Friday night at Frank Banko Field.

Central Catholic came into the game ranked # 3 in Class 4A by EasternPAFootball.com. Freedom was a team to watch in 6A and if you thought the game needed more hype, it was seen live on statewide television last night on PCN.

“We worked hard to prepare for a big game week 1,” said Head Football coach Jason Roeder. “Our kids came out and responded tonight.”

With all that media hype it was time to play some football. After a scoreless start the Patriots struck first. Joe Young’s first completion of the night was a 57-yard dart to Jake Petro who was wideopen. Xavier Garces’ kick made it 7-0 Freedom with 4:19 left in the first quarter.

After another three-and-out stop by Freedom’s defense they were on the move again. After a Cyrus Thompson run to the 43, Young threw his second 57-yard touchdown pass of the first quarter to Alec Huertas.

“Joe made nice throws. Our coaches made the right call and our receivers ran good routes,” said Roeder.

Huertas picked off Ethan Persa’s pass on the first play of the second quarter.

The Patriots converted the turnover into points. Graces added a 32-yard field goal and they led 17-0. Central Catholic drove down to Freedom’s 33 when Persa fumbled the ball and it was recovered by the Freedom defense.

Freedom went into halftime leading 17-0. Freedom’s defense made plays in the first half creating two turnovers.

“We took away the ball a couple of times defensively in the first half and made some big stops,” said Roeder.

Central Catholic’s defense came up with a crucial stop to start the second half. They got the ball on their own two yard line and went 17 plays taking nearly nine minutes off the clock in the third quarter, but couldn’t get the first down and came away with no points deep in Patriots territory.

The combination of Dashaun Peterson running and Young passing attack was too much. Young threw his third touchdown of the night. Jamal Williamson caught the 28-yard touchdown pass to extend the Patriots lead to 24-0.

“Our defense came up big with the stop. We were feeling it and closed to closing the door,” said Roeder. “But give them credit they battle us right to the end.”

The Vikings weren’t done just yet. Persa completed passes of 2, 13 and 40 yards setting up an Ameer Gonzalez two-yard plunge to cut the lead to 24-8 after Persa stretched over the line for the two-point conversion.

Freedom in the end was too strong and Peterson capped off the night with a 17-yard run.

NOTE: Joe Young completed 11 of 22 passes for 210 yards and three touchdowns. Dashaun Peterson rushed for 115 yards on 11 carries and one touchdown. Next up for Freedom is William Allen.

Ethan Persa led the Vikings with 19 of 28 passing for 168 yards and a interception. Darnell Ferrell rushed for 69 yards on 11 carries. Next up for Central Catholic is Pleasant Valley.

Follow EasternPAFootball.com on Twitter @EPAFootball

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