Olympia, you want to know the secret for beating Freedom next year? Score at least 40 points. Following Friday nights 38-29 victory by Freedom, coach Andy Johnson let his players in on a developing trend during his post-game speech. Last year, Johnsons birthday was on the day the Patriots played Olympia. He turned 37. That night, Freedom rallied to beat Olympia 37-28. This year, Johnson turns 38 today(Saturday). On Friday night, Freedom gave him a birthday present by rallying to beat Olympia 38-29. Next year is Johnsons 39th birthday. So Olympia, now you know what you have to do. Seriously though, Olympia (1-2) is a talented team. Ranked No. 5 in the Sentinel Super 16, but one thing that the Titans need to do is quit committing so many mistakes. Last week, the Titans fell asleep on a fake punt attempt against No. 1 Dr. Phillips and that play seemed to change the momentum in the game. Though Olympia turned the tables Friday night, running a fake punt of its own and turning it into a 55-yard touchdown run, there were too many penalties, too many miscues for the Titans to overcome. The most glaring of which: two consecutive penalties on an extra-point attempt that moved the ball inside the 1 allowing Freedom to convert a 2-point try and take the lead for good at 22-21; a slip on a squib kick that allowed Freedom to recover and go in for another touchdown; a dropped pass that surely would have been six points and a horse collar tackle penalty that set Freedom up in prime territory in what turned out to be the game-icing touchdown late in the fourth quarter. Freedom (2-1), the No. 16 team in the rankings, didnt play error free ball, either it has a fumble returned 30 yards for touchdown and a pass was intercepted in the end zone, but it played well enough to pull out the victory.

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The takeaway: Olympia mistakes prove costly in Freedom victory