Football is truly a sport where the season never stops. As soon as one season ends, players hit the weight rooms and focus on the upcoming year. As soon as weather permits, players take to the field and start to train. This can look like conditioning, scrimmages, various drills, weight lifting, footwork and even watching film. Intense practice sessions such as these carry on all summer with the Bulldogs constantly striving to be better both on and off the field.
On Aug. 25, the Freedom Bulldogs traveled to Quaker Valley, to take on the Quakers, for their first game of the season. After all four quarters concluded, the Bulldogs had emerged victorious over the Quakers by a score of 25-7.
“It felt great,” junior Wyatte Lewis said. “I was just glad to see everyone happy after the tough summer leading up to our first game.”
The following three games however, were all disappointing for the Bulldogs. The first loss came on Sept. 1, against the Ambridge Bridgers. The first half of the game remained scoreless. Coming out of halftime The Bridgers gained 14 points while keeping the Bulldogs to zero in the third quarter. In the fourth quarter, the Bulldog defense prevented any additional points to the Bridger’s score while the offense gained seven of their own points. In the end, their efforts were not enough and Ambridge held on to a 14-7 win.
Staying at home for the next game, the Bulldogs took on the Beaver Bobcats for the first home game of the season. Excitement and support grew for the Bulldogs, causing Jimbo Covert Field to be packed with fans. Cars had to be parked in grass fields after available parking spaces had been completely filled. The Bulldog defense came out of the gate strong, causing several fumbles early on in the game. Still, Beaver took 26 points in the first quarter leaving the Bulldogs in need of a comeback after halftime.
“We mostly just worked with each other and talked about what was wrong and picked each other up,” Lewis said. This was to little avail, as the end result of the game was in favor of the Bobcats 42-0. The Sept. 15, game came with the same result as the previous two with the Bulldogs losing 34-15 to Ellwood City. Things took a turn for the better at the Bulldog’s next home game against Riverside on Sept. 22. Senior Cody Patterson’s touchdown early in the first quarter helped the Bulldogs set the tone for the rest of the game. The fast pace continued in the second quarter with both teams adding seven points to their total. The Panther’s momentum left just as quickly as it came with the Bulldogs holding them to seven for the rest of the game. The Bulldog offense however, had no intention of stopping. The team grabbed another seven points in the third quarter making the score 21-7 in favor of the Bulldogs. A stalemated fourth quarter kept the score 21-7 Bulldogs to finish the game. Patterson finished with two touchdowns and six catches totaling 135 yards. Despite the team’s losing records thus far, the bonds shared by the Bulldogs both on and off of the field leave the team, and the Freedom Community, hopeful for the rest of the season to come.