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Freedom's football season ends at hands of West Rowan

Jason Baker

sports@morganton.com

Published: November 14, 2009

Mt. Ulla - Freedom head coach Mike Helms' first season at the helm of Patriots football came to a close with a loss in the first round of the 3A playoffs to defending 3A state champions West Rowan High, 48-15.
"They're (West Rowan) defending state champions for a reason. They're a great football team and deserve lots of recognition," Helms said.
The first drive for Freedom didn't start off on the right foot. On the first play of the game Patrick Parks fumbled the ball away and the Falcons took advantage.
Virginia signee K.P. Parks finished a three-play drive with a 4-yard run for the 7-0 lead.
It didn't get much better for the Patriots, losing another fumble on the next kickoff. West Rowan went up 13-0, with a failed PAT, in two plays. Jon Crucitti caught a 13-yard touchdown pass from BJ Sherrill.
After Freedom's first punt, the Falcons didn't slow their offensive attack. Parks got his second touchdown of the game on a seven-play drive from 14 yards out. Parks got up another rushing touchdown before the opening quarter closed with a 36-yard run. Those two scores put West Rowan up 27-0.
Freedom got on the scoreboard with Patrick Hill's 11-yard touchdown reception from quarterback Mike Helms. Wesley Franklin's extra point was blocked to leave the Patriots down 27-6.
Franklin opened second quarter scoring with a 30-yard field goal.
The Falcons had no mercy on the Patriot defense with Sherrill throwing two touchdown passes, from 39 and 20 yards respectively, to Crucitti and KaJuan Phillips.
Parks got his fourth and final rushing touchdown of the game from two yards out to make it 48-9.
After a fumble recovery on defense by Jonathan Eure, the Patriots' offense got a final score. Helms threw a 42-yard pass to Dean O'Neil to make the final margin to 48-15.
As the first season with coach Mike Helms at the helm of Freedom football comes to a close, he feels they can use the offseason to build on what they started.
"We will need to hit the weight room (during the offseason) and build on what we started," said Helms.
Freedom finishes its season with a 5-7 overall record and a 3-3 record in South Mountain Athletic Conference play.