{"id":322903,"date":"2026-11-07T05:08:50","date_gmt":"2026-11-07T05:08:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/322903\/"},"modified":"2026-11-07T05:08:50","modified_gmt":"2026-11-07T05:08:50","slug":"freedom-hosted-easton-in-a-district-11-6a-football-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/322903\/","title":{"rendered":"Freedom hosted Easton in a District 11 6A football game"},"content":{"rendered":"

The District 11 football tournament began Thursday night, but some of the scores weren\u2019t very playoff-like.<\/p>\n

In the 3A bracket, there were scores of 79-0 and 64-0, and in 5A, top seed and unbeaten Southern Lehigh rolled 42-10.<\/p>\n

But if competitive postseason football was what you were looking for, Bethlehem Area School District Stadium was the place to be Friday night.<\/p>\n

For the second time in a span of three weeks, Freedom and Easton staged a back-and-forth classic.<\/p>\n

\"Easton'sEaston\u2019s Aiden River runs the ball against Freedom during a District 11 Class 6A football quarterfinal on Friday, Nov. 6, 2026, at Bethlehem Area School District Stadium. (Jonathan Broady\/Special to The Morning Call)<\/p>\n

On Oct. 23, Nathan Stannard\u2019s 23-yard field goal with two seconds left gave the Patriots a 38-35 win.<\/p>\n

Two weeks later on the same field, Stannard had another 23-yard field goal that proved to be the game-winner, but this one came with 8:46 remaining.<\/p>\n

This time, it was the Red Rovers who had the last chance at victory, but Greyson Baker\u2019s 30-yard attempt with 30 seconds left appeared to be partially blocked and Freedom was able to escape with a 18-17 victory in the District 11 6A quarterfinals.<\/p>\n

Not only did the win send the Patriots (8-3) on to face top-seeded Nazareth next Friday in the district semis, but it also extended their win streak to four games. And, remarkably, it gave the program a winning record for the first time in its 60-year history at 321-320-6.<\/p>\n

Jason Roeder, who is in his 22nd season as the Patriots\u2019 coach, has been on the sidelines for 159 of those wins.<\/p>\n

Perhaps few of his W\u2019s were more satisfying than the one that eliminated Easton\u2019s chances of winning a second straight district title, while it also extended the season to a 12th game after last year ended with a 26-14 loss to Liberty on the same field and in the same round of district play.<\/p>\n

\"Freedom'sFreedom\u2019s Jahaire Hughes runs the ball against Easton during a District 11 Class 6A football quarterfinal on Friday, Nov. 6, 2026, at Bethlehem Area School District Stadium. (Jonathan Broady\/Special to The Morning Call)<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been playing in some humdingers this year, that\u2019s for sure,\u201d: Roeder said. \u201cSpecial teams are important. There are three phases to this game and we came out on the plus side.\u201d<\/p>\n

Easton began its final drive at the 20 when a touchback was ruled on a punt that was nearly downed by Freedom\u2019s Davyan Moore at the 1 Red Rovers\u2019 1.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would have liked to have gotten that one down there, but it is what it is,\u201d Roeder said.<\/p>\n

In a game that saw the lead change hands six times, Easton appeared poised to flip it a seventh time.<\/p>\n

Quarterback Zahviay McGurn ran for 10 yards, and Akhir Brown broke loose for 15. Another 7-yard run by McGurn garnered a first down and a 15-yard facemask penalty and a 19-yard run by Brown put Easton in the red zone with a first down at the Freedom 11.<\/p>\n

But a 1-yard carry by Brown was followed by a holding call and then an incompletion. McGurn got five yards to the Freedom 14, but on fourth and 13, it came down to a field goal try.<\/p>\n

The ball never came close to going through the uprights as Freedom celebrated before taking a knee on their last snap to close it out.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really don\u2019t know if it was tipped or not,\u201d Roeder said. \u201cI don\u2019t think so. I have to look at it on film because I am not sure.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Freedom'sFreedom\u2019s Michael Stofanak throws the ball against Easton during a District 11 Class 6A football quarterfinal on Friday, Nov. 6, 2026, at Bethlehem Area School District Stadium. (Jonathan Broady\/Special to The Morning Call)<\/p>\n

Roeder was sure that his team played with a lot of heart and character in fighting back against an Easton team that came into the playoffs off an upset win over Nazareth in the regular-season finale.<\/p>\n

Lashawn Johnson was dealing with a hip injury that forced him out of last week\u2019s win over Liberty after one series.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had a lot of guys battling some stuff this week,\u201d Roeder said. \u201cIt was not an easy week for Freedom football and everyone here knew that. A lot of kids were battling stuff and I am proud of how they battled to come out with a win.\u201d<\/p>\n

Johnson finished, unofficially, with 171 yards on 24 carries, including an 18-yard TD run in the first half.<\/p>\n

But his biggest run came on the fourth-quarter drive that produced Stannard\u2019s go-ahead field goal.<\/p>\n

On fourth-and-1 at Freedom\u2019s 33, he broke loose for a 44-yarder to the Easton 23. While the Patriots couldn\u2019t get into the end zone, they got it close enough for Stannard\u2019s second field goal of the night.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was dealing with a hip injury, but I just had to push through practice and come through in the game,\u201d said Johnson, who 243 yards on 35 carries and scored five touchdowns in the previous win over Easton. \u201cI didn\u2019t practice at all. I was back on Monday and when it came to the game, I just had to do what I had to do. On that fourth down play, the offensive line did their thing and all I had to do was follow them and that\u2019s what I did.\u201d<\/p>\n

The series<\/p>\n

Easton entered Friday\u2019s game leading the all-time series at 41-17-2. The Red Rovers lost eight straight before back-to-back wins in 2024 and 2025.<\/p>\n

Did you know?<\/p>\n

The 56 points scored by Freedom in its win over Liberty last Saturday tied the record for points scored by the Patriots in the series. They also scored 56 in 1996, a 56-39 win.<\/p>\n

Tanner\u2019s time<\/p>\n

Whitehall\u2019s Tanner Dogmanits entered Friday\u2019s action against Stroudsburg with 2,068 yards this season, and 5,923 career yards. He also has 49 career TDs.\u00a0 His yardage moves him into the top 25 all-time in District 11 history in 23rd place.\u00a0 He moved ahead of Mark Borda of Bethlehem Catholic (5,740 \u2013 1999-01), Peyton Falzone of Nazareth (5,840 \u2013 2022-25), Dan Persa of Liberty (5,875 \u2013 2003-06), and Dante Carr of Minersville (5,891 \u2013 2022-25).<\/p>\n

Catching Carter<\/p>\n

Carter Vassa of Bethlehem Catholic enters Saturday night\u2019s game against North Schuylkill at BASD Stadium with 57 receptions for 1,371 yards and 15 TDs.\u00a0 The 57 catches match the 57 Bucky Godbolt caught in 1972 which is good for 2nd place all-time at the school.\u00a0 Freddie Simmons holds the single-season record with 58 receptions in 2014.\u00a0 Vassa\u2019s career totals have him catching 192 passes (3rd all-time) for 3,620 yards (2nd all-time) and 39 TDs (4th all-time).\u00a0 Vassa also entered the weekend with the District 11 lead with his 15 TD grabs, which is also a new school record.\u00a0 Simmons held the record when he caught 14 TD tosses in 2014. Current Becahi assistant Frank Trovato had 13 in 2002, and Stef Kern caught 12 in 1985.<\/p>\n

Freedom 19, Easton 17<\/p>\n

Easton 7 \u2013 3 \u2013 7 \u2013 0 \u2014 17<\/p>\n

Freedom 6 \u2013 3 \u2013 7 \u2013 3 \u2014 19<\/p>\n

SCORING SUMMARY<\/p>\n

FIRST QUARTER<\/p>\n

E: Akhir Brown 18 run (Greyson Baker kick), 9:52<\/p>\n

F: Lashawn Johnson 18 run (kick failed), 3:05<\/p>\n

SECOND QUARTER<\/p>\n

F: Nathan Stannard 28 field goal, 9:22<\/p>\n

E: Greyson Baker 35 field goal, 0:04<\/p>\n

THIRD QUARTER<\/p>\n

F: Jahaire Hughes 6 run (Stannard kick), 7:05<\/p>\n

E: Akir Brown 3 run (Baker kick), 1:16<\/p>\n

FOURTH QUARTER<\/p>\n

F: Stannard 23 field goal, 8:45<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The District 11 football tournament began Thursday night, but some of the scores weren\u2019t very playoff-like. In the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":322904,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[153,155,154,304,305,726,432],"class_list":["post-322903","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bethlehem","tag-bethlehem","tag-bethlehem-headlines","tag-bethlehem-news","tag-high-school-football","tag-high-school-sports","tag-sports","tag-top-stories-tmc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/322903","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=322903"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/322903\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/322904"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=322903"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=322903"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=322903"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}