Freedom football fights way to 3-score win over Central Catholic – lehighvalleylive.com

FULL STORY: Fletcher, Freedom flex their physicality to down Central Catholic

Freedom 32, Allentown Central Catholic 14 Rapid Recap

Freedom High Schools football team has righted the ship.

The third-ranked Patriots, who started the season 1-2, climbed back above .500 on Saturday night with a 32-14 Eastern Pennsylvania Conference South Division victory over No. 2 Allentown Central Catholic at J. Birney Crum Stadium.

Turning point: Both teams traded a combined four punts to start the game, but Freedoms offense gained traction during a 60-yard scoring drive.

Tailback Jalen Fletcher completed the series with a 10-yard touchdown on the first play of the second quarter.

Next, a miscue on a Central Catholic punt started the Patriots at the Vikings 45-yard line. Freedom found the end zone again when quarterback Ethan Neidig, with a defender hanging on him, tossed a 3-yard TD to Justin Peluso on fourth-and-goal.

Prajeet Santras PAT gave the visitors a 14-0 advantage with 6:54 remaining in the second quarter.

The Vikings fumbled on their next possession, and Neidig connected with wideout Owen Johnson for a 43-yard gain to put Freedom back in the red zone. A 2-yard score from Fletcher pushed the Patriots lead to 20-0 with 3:12 to go before the break.

Top performers: Fletcher finished with 163 yards and four touchdowns on 25 carries. Neidig threw for 121 yards and a score.

Johnson finished with five receptions for 82 yards.

Running back Caiden Shaffer led the Vikings offense with 65 yards and two TDs on 14 carries.

What it means: Freedom has won back-to-back games and is now 3-2 overall and in the division. The Patriots have their first cross-divisional contest next week when theyre back at J. Birney Crum to face Allen on Friday.

Central dropped to 3-2 overall and in the division. The Vikings also have a North Division foe Dieruff on deck Oct. 1.

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Kyle Craig may be reached at kcraig@lehighvalleylive.com.

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Freedom football fights way to 3-score win over Central Catholic - lehighvalleylive.com