Jason Roeder spent part of his weekend putting together the schedule for this week’s festivities in the lead up to Saturday’s city rivalry contest with Liberty at BASD Stadium.

Between pasta dinners, bonfires, pep rallies and practices, the Patriots and Hurricanes have a packed week on deck and it’s one that they’re grateful to have.

With last year’s Liberty-Freedom contest canceled due to COVID concerns, both schools and communities are glad to have the area’s biggest rivalry contest back on the schedule when it kicks off at 1 p.m. Saturday.

Freedom (7-2) is playing for postseason positioning, while Liberty (1-8) is hoping to play the role of spoiler.

Still, records don’t mean much when both teams come to the field. The last time they played in 2019, a nine-win Freedom team had to rally to a 23-19 victory over a three-win Liberty squad to claim the city title.

Records don’t mean much when it comes to the magnitude of this city game.

“They play hard and make you earn everything on both sides of the ball,” said Roeder of Liberty. “They’re going to play their best game of the year this Saturday. It’s exciting to play this game again. Losing it last year makes it that much more special. It’s great that kids get this stuff back.”

Freedom is fresh off a hard fought 24-21 win over Bethlehem Catholic last weekend, a game that Roeder hopes his team learns from, as they have an opportunity to clinch the city title with a win Saturday, as well as lock up one of the top three seeds in the District 11 6A tournament.

“We need to focus on attention to detail,” Roeder said. “We had too many lapses in concentration last week. We were inside the 10 twice and came out without points. Some of the penalties in the game really hurt us. We’re down to the last couple of weeks in the season, so there’s no more learning curve. We just need to play better.”

Liberty, meanwhile, battled with Parkland (7-1) last week and led 7-0 at halftime before succumbing to the Trojans in the second half 22-10.

Head coach Shawn Daignault knows that the losses don’t feel good, but being able to compete every week has been a consistent theme.

“I’m proud to say that we have played everyone pretty tough,” Daignault said. “These players have never laid down for anyone and it is a testament to them that they continue to do so regardless of not having the success we would like. The easy thing to do is throw in the towel, but our players have continually chosen to go back to work instead. Parkland was no different. Our players came to play. I hope we learned the importance of playing a complete game. That is probably what has eluded us the most.”

With Daignault coming on board this season, this may be his first time coaching in this rivalry contest, but he doesn’t lack familiarity with the importance it has to the community.

“Having lived in Bethlehem for almost 13 years now, I’ve known how big this game is,” he said. “I’ve attended the game a few times as a spectator and I know these kids all know each other and have for most of their lives.

“I think it means the world to these kids. For almost all of them, this is the first Liberty-Freedom game they will actually participate in. After last season, we have treated every game like it could be our last and have been thankful for the opportunity to play. This one is our last one of the season, so I’m sure it will be an emotional day for them.”

Bethlehem Catholic (2-6) will have plenty to play for heading into Saturday night’s Holy War battle with Central Catholic at J. Birney Crum Stadium.

Not only is playing Central (6-3) a rivalry game, but it’s also an opportunity to still punch a ticket into the District 11 4A tournament. Becahi is currently sixth in the four team tournament behind Wilson (6-3) and Bangor (5-4) in the power rankings, but a victory and some help could sneak them into the postseason.

“I was told we have a shot with a win over Central,” said Becahi head coach Kyle Haas. “It certainly gives our kids a little more motivation to come out and play hard. The rivalry of this game is intense. Both schools are very competitive with one another and want to win at every opportunity. The tradition of this game and the players from the past are historic.”