It was two tales of the spectrum at BASD Stadium over the weekend, as Freedom suffered a disappointing, 21-7 defeat at the hands of Nazareth Friday night, while Bethlehem Catholic survived a 7-0 defensive battle against Easton Saturday afternoon.

It lines up perfectly for both teams as they head into the first edition of the city rivalry series this weekend when they square off at BASD Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m.

As Freedom head coach Jason Roeder saw his team witness a boisterous Nazareth celebration on their home field last week, he hopes the sounds and images resonated with the team heading into a pivotal matchup against the Hawks this week.

“We’re going to get back to work and get ready for a city rivalry,” Roeder said. “If these types of games don’t get you right, there’s not much more to say. This is a big game for both schools and we’ll be ready.”

The Pates struggled to get their offense going throughout much of the first three quarters behind the first varsity start of sophomore Ethan Neidig, who only had a few days of practice prior to the showdown after starting quarterback, Brian Taylor, was ruled out due to a residency issue.

Neidig gradually became more comfortable as the night went on and finished 13-of-23 for 146 yards and touchdown, but also threw a second quarter interception that sparked Nazareth’s control of the game early on.

With the Blue Eagles ahead 7-0 in the second quarter, Freedom faced a fourth and goal from the five-yard line, but the red zone opportunity turned into a turnover, as Neidig was picked off by Alex Kwiatek to kill the drive.

Nazareth then went on a 11-play, 89-yard drive that was capped off by quarterback Matt Bugbee’s one-yard TD plunge to put Nazareth ahead 14-0 with 2:07 left in the half.

Bugbee showcased why he’s the top QB in the league, as he went 17-of-26 for 260 yards and two touchdowns, as Nazareth never looked truly threatened in the contest.

Roeder knows his team will need a better performance moving forward and hopes they can match the intensity over the next two weeks.

“You got to play four quarters, limit big plays and win the point of attack,” said Roeder. “It just wasn’t our night. We all feel terrible about it and we’ll turn the page and move on.”

Becahi used a defensive gem from their players and staff to shutout Easton on Saturday, using a 13-yard Jared Richardson TD run in the second quarter to stand up as the game’s only points.

The Hawks held Easton star running back Nahjee Adams to 130 yards on the ground, but limited the passing attack to only 51 yards.

“We have too many new players on defense to know we’d be capable of something like this,” said Henrich of the shutout. “We had to change our defense from a 3-3 to a 4-2 coming into the year after Clayton Basile (linebacker) got hurt. I give our coaches a lot of credit with having four sophomores out there on the defense.”

The Hawks now have to figure out how to get their offense going, as they only amassed 126 yards against the Rovers.

“Offensively, I think you have to look at your personnel and figure out ways to get better,” Henrich said. “Maybe it’s changing some things up with our scheme, but we definitely need to do a better job on that side of the ball.”

With both teams looking forward to a city clash this weekend, it should make for a physical rivalry contest.

“Freedom is the same type of team that we’ve seen over the years,” Henrich said. “They’re big, physical and really well coached. They’re a very sound team and we just can’t let them rip any big plays.”

Liberty (0-3) fell on the road to Northampton 38-10 last week, as the Kids rushed for 317 yards, led by Mike Cruz’s 105-yard, three TD performance.

Liberty running back Jaiden Canada (99-yards) opened the night with a 47-yard TD run just over a minute into the game, but that momentum was short lived as the Kids scored three straight first half TD’s to take a 21-10 lead into intermission.

Liberty now faces a daunting task of taking on top-ranked Nazareth Friday night at home.