There was a sense from the first series of football in last Friday’s PIAA 6A quarterfinals that Freedom would be able to compete with state power St. Joe’s Prep.

The Pates did that until the very end on a frigid and windy night at Cardinal O’Hara High School in Springfield, but like many others before them, didn’t have a knockout punch to derail the six-time state champions in a 24-21 defeat.

Prep quarterback Samaj Jones proved to be the difference off the bench, as he came in the second quarter and bulldozed his way through defenders for 142 yards on the ground on only nine carries en route to a three touchdown performance.

Jones, a 6-foot-1, 210-pound sophomore scored on TD runs of 29, 73 and 11 yards to save a Prep (10-2) team that looked tough, but failed to dominate in any fashion as they have in years past.

“We played hard like I expected, we played fast and physical,” said Freedom head coach Jason Roeder. “We didn’t come down here to look respectable. Our kids came down here to win.”

The Pates (11-3) looked the part of a team that belonged all night, but especially early on when Lorenzo Feliciano picked off Prep’s starting quarterback Dane Picariello off a tipped pass to set Freedom up inside the St. Joe’s 10 early in the second quarter.

Deante Crawford would punch in the night’s first score from three-yards out with 9:40 left in the first half to give Freedom a huge shot of momentum and a 7-0 lead.

Unfortunately, Picariello’s stale performance and turnover through the first 15 minutes of action prompted Jones to enter the game and Prep looked like a different team.

After helping Prep march down on his first series for a 38-yard field goal by Antonio Chadha, Jones then busted through the middle of the defense for a 29-yard TD run with 2:24 left in the second quarter for Prep’s first lead of the night at 10-7.

A scoreless third quarter saw a tight game open up in the fourth when Jones broke four tackles for a 73-yard TD run with 9:50 in the game, which could have broken Freedom’s will.

Instead, the Pates marched down the field to make it 17-14 following a three-yard TD run by quarterback Brian Taylor with 5:51 left in the game.

Freedom needed a stop on their next series with momentum on their side and forced Prep into a 3rd-and-4 from their 38. Jones was injured on the previous play, so Picariello came back under center and essentially came through with perhaps the biggest play of the quarter, converting for a seven-yard rush and keeping the Prep drive alive.

Jones would re-enter and closed the series with an 11-yard, barreling TD run to make it a 24-14 with 2:11 to play.

Freedom would come back and score with 23 seconds left on the clock following a four-yard TD pass from Taylor to Ethan Neidig, but the Pates just ran out of time.

“I think you always want a couple plays back, but I don’t think it was just one thing tonight,” said Roeder. “They were just a better team than us tonight.”

The loss ended a nine-game win streak for the Pates, who walk away with their second district title in program history, as well as the city title.

They would have liked to push for an opportunity to play in Hershey, but it’s fair to say Freedom gave everything they had in their toughest contest of the season.

“This is tough to say goodbye to this group of seniors that have done so much for our program,” Roeder said. “There’s a fine line between winning and losing at this level and we came up a little short, but it wasn’t for lack of effort. There’s going to be time for reflection to appreciate everything we accomplished, but this is going to sting.”