Parkland entered this year’s District 11 Class 6A tournament as the No. 3 seed with three losses on its record.

They didn’t follow the same path as the past four years, but the Trojans finished at the same destination as they hoisted the district trophy for the fifth straight time with Friday night’s 24-14 win over Freedom.

“We probably weren’t expected to do this, losing the talent that we did,” said Parkland head coach Tim Moncman. “It’s a tribute to [this year’s players]. They worked their butts off, weight room and everything. Here we are. We get to live another week.”

Parkland fell behind 14-3 early, but the Trojan defense dug in after that and the offense scored three unanswered touchdowns.

Frank Guida caught a 15-yard touchdown pass to make it 14-10 in the second quarter. Nick Suriel (111 yards on 19 carries) ran in from two yards out to put his team ahead 17-14 with 1:05 left in the first half. Guida capped the scoring with a 21-yard run on his team’s first possession of the fourth quarter.

“I love having the opportunity to help out my team, anytime I can make plays I’m excited,” said Guida. “Our offensive line played well so I was able to get the ball and score because they were blocking phenomenally and so were our fullbacks.”

Parkland contained Freedom quarterback Joe Young, the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference South Division First Team quarterback. Young threw for 175 yards, completing 12 of 19 passes, and ran for another 37 yards. Patriots’ running back Cyrus Thompson ran for 69 yards on 15 carries in the game.

For more about the game see this week’s editions of the Parkland Press and Bethlehem Press.

The Trojans (10-3) advance to meet the winner of Saturday’s District 12 championship, either St. Joe’s Prep or Northeast.

Freedom, the No. 5 sees in districts, ends its season at 9-4 overall.