Parkland football coach Tim Moncman put it in the most blunt terms possible when talking about his 28-21 season-opening loss at Phillipsburg last week.
“Last week, physically, we got punched in the mouth and we didn’t respond,” he said.
So, this week, Moncman said he went “old school” with his practice style.
Sometimes, the old ways are the best ways and it produced a 41-21 win over Freedom at Bethlehem Area School District Stadium in a nonleague battle of two of the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference’s best.
“It was bodies on bodies, and we picked it up and challenged each other,” he said. “The motto was just to win the week and get back in the winning column. Our kids played their hearts out because they knew we had to bounce back.”
Parkland trailed 14-7 in the second quarter before scoring the game’s next 27 points. The Trojans totaled 475 yards on offense and it was a 1-2 punch that worked well.
Parkland’s T.J. Lawrence is tackled by Freedom’s Jahaire Hughes on Friday, Sept. 4, 2026, at Bethlehem School District Stadium. (David Garrett/Special to The Morning Call)
In the first half, it was quarterback Finn Coen throwing the ball all over the place as he completed 11 of 17 passes for 195 yards and two long touchdown passes to Blake Nassry.
In the second half, Coen didn’t throw a single pass. Instead, he handled it off to TJ Lawrence who ran for 199 yards on 13 carries after intermission and finished the night with 257 yards on 22 attempts. He scored all three of his TDs in the second half.
Meanwhile a Parkland defense that surrendered two long scoring drives to P’burg a week earlier, regrouped after giving up a 58-yard TD pass from Michael Stofanak to Davyan Moore on Freedom’s third play from scrimmage and then a Lashawn Johnson TD run early in the second quarter.
“Our offensive line did a heck of a job and our defense played well once we settled down,” Moncman said. “I thought we tackled better and slowed them down a little bit. I am proud of the kids because we did go old-school on them, which is how I was raised and they responded.”
The night was particularly special for Lawrence, who suffered a fractured fibula on the same field 10 months earlier against Easton in the District 11 6A championship game.
“Obviously, I couldn’t do it without the offensive line, so a shoutout to those guys,” said Lawrence, a Villanova commit. “I am just proud of all of the guys for the bounce back.”
Parkland’s T.J. Lawrence is tackled by Freedom’s Jahaire Hughes on Friday, Sept. 4, 2026, at Bethlehem School District Stadium. (David Garrett/Special to The Morning Call)
Jason Brubacher, Nasir Kennedy, Ben Moll, Myles Lysek and Lyan Dume-Mirabal all earned the praise of Lawrence and everyone else associated with Parkland.
After protecting Coen in the first half, they created space for Lawrence over the final 24 minutes.
“The second half was really good because all the holes were really open,” Lawrence said. “Obviously when you can throw the ball like we did in the first half, it spreads out the defense and it felt like were running downhill in the second half.”
After Freedom took the lead on the Johnson run on the third play of the second quarter, Parkland scored on its last three possessions of the half. They got two field goals from kicker Andrea Giroudon, including one from 43 yards and a 37-yard TD pass from Coen to Nassry.
On Parkland’s first play from scrimmage in the second half, Lawrence ran 59 yards to the Patriots 1. He scored on the next play.
The Trojans then made it five scores on five consecutive possessions with a 10-play, 54-yard drive that featured six Lawrence carries, including a 20-yarder and another for 11. That drive ended with his 2-yard TD run with 14 seconds left in the third period.
Freedom stopped Parkland’s 34-point streak with a unique touchdown. Jahaire Hughes had a 14-yard run to the Parkland 3, but fumbled. Reshaun Jones picked up the loose ball and took it into the end zone with 8:56 left.
Parkland’s Justin Barnes returns the opening kickoff against Freedom on Friday, Sept. 4, 2026, at Bethlehem School District Stadium. (David Garrett/Special to The Morning Call)
But Parkland answered when Lawrence took off around the right side and put a punctuation mark on one of the best games of his career with a 71-yard TD run with 5:18.
Freedom had the ball the rest of the game, and drove to the Parkland 2 when time expired.
While Parkland plays its third consecutive road game next week at Easton in a rematch of last year’s district final, Freedom will host Phillipsburg in yet another renewal of a former EPC rivalry. The Stateliners’ EPC reunion has gone well as they followed up their win over Parkland with a 24-10 triumph at Emmaus on Friday night.
Series history
Parkland entered the game leading the all-time series 31-15.
The Trojans won the first meeting in 1978 by a 39-6 score but lost six of the next seven. Parkland won 12 straight meetings from 1994 to 2007, and then won eight in a row from 2009 to 2017 and took seven of the last eight, including an 18-7 win last Aug. 29.
They have met seven times in the district tournament, including three times in the finals. Parkland has won six of the seven postseason meetings, including all three of the district title games.
Did you know?
According to District 11 statistician, Fletcher Thompson of Williams Valley and Parkland’s TJ Lawrence have both scored 49 career touchdowns, which ties them for 80th place in district history. Also scoring 49 in their careers were Don Diorio of Pius X, Josh Snyder of Northwestern Lehigh, Eric Fiore of Bethlehem Catholic and Whitehall, Jarey Elder of Parkland, Justin St. Hill of Jim Thorpe and Trey Gretzinger of Palisades.
Scoring summary
Parkland 7 – 13 – 14 – 7 — 41
Freedom 7 – 7 – 0 – 7 — 21
FIRST QUARTER
P: Blake Nassry 58 pass from Finn Coen (Andrea Giroudon kick), 10:48
F: Davyan Moore 58 pass from Michael Stofanak (Nathan Stannard kick), 9:44
SECOND QUARTER
F: Lashawn Johnson 1 run (Stannard kick), 10:47
P: Andrea Giroudon 43 fied goal, 8:01
P: Nassry 37 pass from Coen, (Giroudon kick) 4:43
P: Giroudon 19 field goal, 0:14
THIRD QUARTER
P: TJ Lawrence 1 run (Giroudon kick), 8:32
P: Lawrence 2 run (Giroudon kick), 0:14
FOURTH QUARTER
F; Reshaun Jones 3 fumble recovery (Stannard kick), 8:56
P: Lawrence 71 run (Giroudon kick), 5:!8