Freedom wins first SMAC football game

It was not always pretty, but Freedom High (3-6, 1-3 SMAC) edged East Rutherford High (3-6, 1-3 SMAC) 19-17 on Monday night in a makeup game from Friday's rainout.
"Well, I think they played great," Freedom head coach Mike Helms said of his team. "I thought we played a really good team in East (Rutherford). They've got some really outstanding players in (Adrian) Wilkins and (Tyler) Hamilton. Their defense was good, but we were able to do some good things on offense and we did equally well on defense."
After electing to defer to the second half, Freedom kicked off to begin the game. East Rutherford was able to move the ball into Freedom territory, but the drive stalled and they were forced to punt. On its first offensive play, Freedom quarterback Mike Helms fumbled the snap and East Rutherford recovered on Freedom's 12 yard line.
Freedom's defense stepped up and forced East Rutherford's Ryan Bailey to try a 38-yard field goal, which bounced off the bottom cross bar and kept the game scoreless.
After forcing Freedom to punt, East Rutherford ended up with great field position, starting on Freedom's 34-yard line. However, a 34-yard touchdown run by Tyler Hamilton was brought back because of a holding penalty.
Still, East Rutherford was able to get the ball deep into Freedom territory, but Freedom's defense held again. On fourth down, East Rutherford's Ryan Bailey connected on a 24-yard field goal to give East Rutherford a 3-0 lead.
Minutes later, Freedom capped off a nine-play, 55-yard drive with a 14-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Mike Helms to Dean O'Neil. Wesley Franklin's extra point gave Freedom a 7-3 lead.
Freedom didn't stop there, as it recovered a fumble on the East Rutherford 35-yard line seconds later. Helms hit O'Neil again in the end zone for a 35-yard touchdown pass. Franklin's extra point attempt was blocked, but Freedom remained in front 13-3 at halftime.
In the third quarter, East Rutherford was finally able to put the ball in the end zone. From its 30-yard line, East Rutherford's Mikhail Baxter connected with Hamilton on a screen pass, and Hamilton scampered all the way down to the Freedom 20 yard line for a 50-yard gain. On the next play, Baxter found Justin Barksdale in the end zone for a 20-yard touchdown pass. Bailey added the extra point, and Freedom's lead was cut to 13-10.
Early in the fourth quarter, Helms went three-for-four on a six-play, 47-yard touchdown drive. All three of his completions were to Patrick Hill, the final one being a 23-yard touchdown strike. Freedom's two-point conversion failed, keeping the lead at 19-10.
East Rutherford made a late charge as Adrian Wilkins put the ball over the pylon on a 1-yard run with less than a minute to play. Bailey converted the extra point to make the score 19-17, but Freedom recovered the ensuing onside kick and ran out the clock to preserve the win.
Freedom's leading rusher was Patrick Parks with 71 yards on seven carries. Marcus Kincaid was the only other Patriot who gained positive yards in the running game, but it was Freedom's passing game that really did the damage. Helms connected on 15 of his 26 pass attempts for 161 yards and three touchdowns. Hill and O'Neil were the leading receivers, and Clay Bryant, Parks, Tyler Hartsoe and Wesley Honeycutt recorded receptions.
East Rutherford found success on the ground as Hamilton finished with 98 yards on 18 carries, and Wilkins carried the ball 11 times for 97 yards. It also found success through the air as Baxter completed 13 of his 29 pass attempts for 258 yards.
"I thought overall it was our best performance defensively. Offensively we did well, we just turned the ball over probably a little too much," coach Helms said. "We put the defense in a bad situation, especially in the first quarter, and I thought the defense just responded so well by coming back and playing so hard and stopping them and holding them to just a field goal. So defensively, I thought we played real well. It was probably our best game of the year."
Freedom is back in action this Friday night against conference foe Chase High.