FREEDOM PATRIOTS - LEHIGH VALLEY HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL PREVIEWS

Like many of you I can’t wait for the first night of the high school football season on August 27th, as this upcoming season should be a more “normal” season than last year. Ever since last season ended, I keep thinking what could have been. While it was the 100 percent the right decision that District Xi made to withdraw from the State Playoffs in football so that all the teams could have an opportunity to win a district championship, if you look at what some of the teams like Allentown Central Catholic, North Schuylkill, East Stroudsburg South and others could have accomplished it just makes me more excited for what is in store this season. Over the next few weeks I’ll be previewing the top Lehigh Valley High School football teams for the 2021 season, beginning with Freedom High School in Bethlehem, PA. FREEDOM PATRIOTS 5-2 (2-1) District XI 6A Runner-up

Last year Freedom finished the season with a 5-2 record. They were the number 2 seed in the district tournament and then lost to Nazareth in the District XI class 6A final by a score of 37-29. In the 2020 season, the Patriots had wins over Northampton, Bethlehem Catholic, Pocono Mountain West, and two wins over the Red Rovers of Easton. The only two losses for the Patriots were both to Nazareth on October 16th 21-7, and the aforementioned loss to the Blue Eagles in the District XI 6A Championship on November 20th 37-29. The Patriots should again be a formidable opponent this season with senior Bryan Taylor and junior Evan Neidig battling for reps at Quarterback. Last year Taylor started the year at quarterback and threw for 327 yards and 3 touchdowns along with 1 interception, but then was forced to miss most of the season. Neidig, who came in to replace Taylor, had some growing pains his first few snaps under center but would lead the Patriots to a 3-2 record as quarterback and throw for a team leading 543 yards, 3 touchdowns, and 2 interceptions. In the offensive backfield, the Patriots return their leading rusher from last year Deante Crawford. Crawford rushed for 589 yards and 11 touchdowns on 87 carries, but the Patriots did lose offensive dynamo Matty Russin to graduation. Russin is now playing Division I football at Furman University. As a senior at Freedom Russin was forced to miss some time with injuries but even with the time he missed Russin was still able to rush for 491 yards and 5 touchdowns on 89 carries. Replacing Russin is one of the major concerns on offense for Freedom this year but the Patriots should able to accomplish this with Crawford and company. At receiver the Patriots return their leading pass catcher from last year, Owen Johnson-McCormick, who had 16 receptions, 278 receiving yards, and 3 touchdowns. A.J Fletcher was second on the team in 2020 with 14 receptions, 238 receiving yards, and 2 touchdowns and Quin Hoke was the team’s third leading receiver with 12 receptions, 132 receiving yards, and 1 touchdown. Both Fletcher and Hoke are lost due to graduation. Aside from Johnson-McCormick, the Patriots next top returning receiver had 36 receiving yards, so head coach Jason Roeder is going to need to look for some new weapons through the air for this upcoming season. On the offensive line, the Patriots do lose four stalwarts in Jake Schwind, Marcus Kridler, Alex Rosado, and Ryan Frantz, but they do return Braelin Moore who is headed to Virginia Tech next year and is one of the top offensive linemen in the State of Pennsylvania. They also return Juan Feliciano. While they will have to replace three starters on their offensive line, they have two very solid pieces to build from going into this year. On defense, the Patriots strength should be the defensive line. They return two of three starters from last season in Braelin Moore who lead the team with 4.5 sacks and Juan Feliciano. They did lose Jake Schwind. At linebacker and in the defensive secondary is where you will see mostly new faces. The Patriots only return 2 of 8 players and those two are Owen Johnson-McCormick and Lorenzo Feliciano. The biggest piece the Patriots will have to replace is Marcus Kridler who led the team with 46 tackles and also had two sacks, forced a safety, and scored a touchdown. He was a fixture at linebacker for the Freedom defense the past three seasons. Also graduating was the whole defensive secondary including Matty Russin, Quin Hoke and A.J. Fletcher. So if the Patriots want to return to the District Final in 2021 they are going to need to have some big contributions by some new faces on defense. Though the cupboard is not bare, as guys like Lorenzo Feliciano, Tegan Ryan, Kyle Johnson, Jaden Feltcher, Vinnie Slepetz, and Deante Crawford all played as key roles for the Patriots in 2020 and will move into starting roles in 2021. Freedom will open up their season on August 27th with an EPC North V.S. South crossover game against the Canaries of William Allen High School at 7pm in Bethlehem Area School District Stadium.

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