Coming off last year's disappointing 4-6 finish, Freedom coach Jason Roeder decided to adjust his duties.

Roeder had always handled the Patriots' defense in the past. But after seeing how well his ideas meshed with defensive backs coach Greg Moore last year, Roeder elected to take over Freedom's special teams this season.

Moore, the defensive coordinator on Central Catholic's PIAA 3A championship team in 2010, was elevated to the same post with the Patriots. The move has worked fine so far, with Freedom playing two solid defensive games to open the season.

"We're both 3-3 stack guys and we work really well together, so it was a no-brainer to pass that off to him so I could focus on some other aspects of the team, big picture stuff," Roeder said.

One piece of Roeder's big-picture focus is pushing the Patriots (1-1 overall, 1-0 Lehigh Valley Conference) to return to the postseason. They will resume that drive tonight when they host Whitehall (2-0, 1-0) in one of two Week 3 matchups between teams that won their league openers.

With a young offense still finding its way, Freedom has needed its defense to carry it early this season. The Patriots lost their season opener to East Stroudsburg South, but their defense limited the Cavaliers to 203 yards. All but 67 of those yards came on two long touchdowns.

Freedom cut down on the big plays it allowed in last week's matchup with Central Catholic. The Patriots limited the Vikings to 130 yards of total offense, including just 29 on the ground, in a 14-7 comeback win.

An emphasis on tackling the football and pursuing every play has paid off. Freedom has generated six turnovers in the first two weeks.

Senior defensive back Jared O'Donnell intercepted two passes last week, returning one for the game-winning touchdown in the fourth quarter. Freedom's defensive line of Brad Romig, Taran Reinert and Cordell Cotto also played well against the Vikings.

This week's matchup against Whitehall will give the Patriots their toughest test yet. The Zephyrs boast the league's leading rusher in junior Saquon Barkley. He burst through Liberty's defense for four long touchdown runs last week.

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Freedom High School football team's defense off to strong start