Freedom comes in on a 3 game winning streak, including sweeping their Christmas City rivals over the final two weeks of the season by a combined margin of 76-21. They’re riding the high of a 34-0 whooping of Liberty, despite the indefinite suspension of Dashaun Peterson, who led the EPC South in rushing. Backup tailback Cyrus Thompson exploded for 148 yards and 3 TDs in the rivalry win.
Freedom is the most experienced team in the playoff race, with senior QB Joe Young leading the way. It’s been a quiet year for Young, who has thrown for 1,409 yards and 14 TDs, a good, but not spectacular line for the three year starter. Alec Huertas has emerged as one of the best receivers in the Valley, catching 41 passes for 586 yards and 8 TDs. Peterson was the first player in the EPC South to crack 1,000 yards this year, but is done for the year after being suspended by Jason Roeder before the regular season finale. The Freedom o-line is the biggest non-Parkland front, but has struggled with pass blocking all year. Those issues look cleaned up based on recent boxscores, but is something to watch going forward.
Defensively, Freedom plays a 3-3-5, but hasn’t been the turnover monster this season that they have in recent years. With the takeaways limited, they defense has been on the field much longer, and has not been as productive as EPC leading defenses of the past two years. Linebacker Brady Hornbaker is still a monster though, racking up 90 tackles in the regular season, and Huertas is the best defensive back in the conference.
Nazareth has run hot and cold all season, with big wins over Emmaus, Liberty, and Whitehall, but losses to Easton, Freedom, and Bethlehem Catholic. However, the play of quarterback Travis Stefanik has been consistently excellent. The senior three year starter has thrown for 1,956 yards and 20 TDs (against just 6 INTs) and leads the Blue Eagles in rushing with 573 yards and 13 TDs. As a junior, Stefanik put up a 2,000/1,000 season, so this level of play isn’t unexpected, but with the transfer of Jahan Dotson, Stefanik has kept his team afloat. He’s also one of the best wrestlers in the country (ranked as the #27 overall recruit in the FloWrestling rankings for the class of 2017) and choosing between Cornell, Lehigh, Princeton, and Michigan to wrestle. His best weapon on offense is senior Villanova football recruit Julian Liaci. Liaci has 36 catches for 646 yard and 9 TDs. He was a state finalist in the 100 meter dash the last two seasons (finishing 6th and 4th) and ran the anchor leg of Nazareth’s state championship 4x100 relay team last year. All that is to say, he can fly, and is gone when he gets in the open field. An increased. His workload has seen a major increase with Dotson no longer at Nazareth and stopping Liaci is often the focal point of the defense.
The last time these two met, Freedom raced out to a 28-0 lead, but had to hold on for a 34-27 victory as Nazareth scored 21 points in the fourth quarter and just missed an onside kick recovery that would have given them the ball in the final 2 minutes with a chance to take a lead. Stefanik threw for 304 yard and 2 TDs and added 70 yards on the ground, while since suspended Dashaun Peterson ran for 161 yards and 3 TDs, so Freedom will need to replace his production. Joe Young was an efficient 11-17 for 132 yards and a TD and no turnovers. He’ll need to be more prolific on Friday, though if Cyrus Thompson and the Freedom run game can be as dynamic as they were against Liberty, they may not miss Peterson as much as anticipated.
I’ve thought Freedom has the most talent and is the most playoff ready team for most of the year. They’ve way underperformed compared to my expecatations, but in a year where there is no standout team, they’re as capable as anyone of getting hot and going on a run in November. I think they take the first step on Friday with a close but comfortable win over Nazareth.
Freedom is the most experienced team in the playoff race, with senior QB Joe Young leading the way. It’s been a quiet year for Young, who has thrown for 1,409 yards and 14 TDs, a good, but not spectacular line for the three year starter. Alec Huertas has emerged as one of the best receivers in the Valley, catching 41 passes for 586 yards and 8 TDs. Peterson was the first player in the EPC South to crack 1,000 yards this year, but is done for the year after being suspended by Jason Roeder before the regular season finale. The Freedom o-line is the biggest non-Parkland front, but has struggled with pass blocking all year. Those issues look cleaned up based on recent boxscores, but is something to watch going forward.
Defensively, Freedom plays a 3-3-5, but hasn’t been the turnover monster this season that they have in recent years. With the takeaways limited, they defense has been on the field much longer, and has not been as productive as EPC leading defenses of the past two years. Linebacker Brady Hornbaker is still a monster though, racking up 90 tackles in the regular season, and Huertas is the best defensive back in the conference.
Nazareth has run hot and cold all season, with big wins over Emmaus, Liberty, and Whitehall, but losses to Easton, Freedom, and Bethlehem Catholic. However, the play of quarterback Travis Stefanik has been consistently excellent. The senior three year starter has thrown for 1,956 yards and 20 TDs (against just 6 INTs) and leads the Blue Eagles in rushing with 573 yards and 13 TDs. As a junior, Stefanik put up a 2,000/1,000 season, so this level of play isn’t unexpected, but with the transfer of Jahan Dotson, Stefanik has kept his team afloat. He’s also one of the best wrestlers in the country (ranked as the #27 overall recruit in the FloWrestling rankings for the class of 2017) and choosing between Cornell, Lehigh, Princeton, and Michigan to wrestle. His best weapon on offense is senior Villanova football recruit Julian Liaci. Liaci has 36 catches for 646 yard and 9 TDs. He was a state finalist in the 100 meter dash the last two seasons (finishing 6th and 4th) and ran the anchor leg of Nazareth’s state championship 4x100 relay team last year. All that is to say, he can fly, and is gone when he gets in the open field. An increased. His workload has seen a major increase with Dotson no longer at Nazareth and stopping Liaci is often the focal point of the defense.
The last time these two met, Freedom raced out to a 28-0 lead, but had to hold on for a 34-27 victory as Nazareth scored 21 points in the fourth quarter and just missed an onside kick recovery that would have given them the ball in the final 2 minutes with a chance to take a lead. Stefanik threw for 304 yard and 2 TDs and added 70 yards on the ground, while since suspended Dashaun Peterson ran for 161 yards and 3 TDs, so Freedom will need to replace his production. Joe Young was an efficient 11-17 for 132 yards and a TD and no turnovers. He’ll need to be more prolific on Friday, though if Cyrus Thompson and the Freedom run game can be as dynamic as they were against Liberty, they may not miss Peterson as much as anticipated.
I’ve thought Freedom has the most talent and is the most playoff ready team for most of the year. They’ve way underperformed compared to my expecatations, but in a year where there is no standout team, they’re as capable as anyone of getting hot and going on a run in November. I think they take the first step on Friday with a close but comfortable win over Nazareth.