To say that Freedom manhandled Easton last week in the District 11 6A quarterfinals, might be an understatement.

The Patriots built a 30-0 lead in the first half and stomped their way to an impressive 44-14 victory over an Easton squad that never came close to competing at BASD Stadium.

Running back Deante Crawford, the newly crowned EPC South MVP, ran for 193 yards and three touchdowns, while quarterback Brian Taylor added three touchdowns (two passing, one rushing) for a complete offensive performance.

The Patriot defense also forced three turnovers to improve to 9-2 heading into this week’s semifinal matchup with an undefeated Northampton (11-0) squad.

It was a stellar performance by head coach Jason Roeder’s team, who look to be peaking right when they need to.

“I expected us to play well, to play fast and at a different level based on how we practiced coming into the week,” said Roeder. “We just wanted to come out and play physical football. We took it one play at a time and it clicked. We made plays everywhere and it was a great effort by everyone.”

Freedom stepped on the gas early and never let off, scoring on five straight possessions in the first half, two of which came on Taylor TD passes, as he hit Owen Johnson deep on a 52-yard TD strike and then lofted a 21-yard TD to Ethan Neidig. Crawford cashed in two of his touchdowns in first half from one-yard and 15-yards respectively, but he put the nail in the coffin to open the second half when he broke free on the second play of the third quarter on a toss and raced 61-yards to put the Pates ahead 37-7.

Freedom’s running game racked up 263 yards on the ground, continuing its trend of being able to muscle teams up front.

“You always try and get up on people and we came in and expected a four quarter game,” Roeder said. “We talked to the kids at half about taking the scoreboard out of the equation and to finish strong, because it was a similar situation when we played them earlier this season. They answered the challenge by putting this away.”

Now the third-seeded Pates have to hit the road and take on second-seeded Northampton at 7 p.m. Friday night. Northampton struggled to get by Pleasant Valley last week in their 21-7 quarterfinal victory. It was the first district playoff win in school history for the EPC North champions, who have beaten Bethlehem Catholic and Whitehall this season in their only EPC South encounters.

Roeder knows Northampton’s run oriented offense can be difficult to prep for, but he’s confident in how the team is playing at this juncture of the season.

“Obviously, we haven’t seen a whole lot of them this season on film, but it’s an exciting game,” said Roeder of this week’s challenge. “To go play an undefeated team at their place is a great opportunity for our kids in round two.”

Tickets for this week’s contest are sold online only at https://districtxi.hometownticketing.com/embed/event/97.