If momentum is such a thing, Freedom is riding that wave.

The Patriots won their third straight game of the season last week following a 20-7 win over Easton in a pivotal matchup for both teams playoff aspirations.

The win pushes the Pates (4-4) back to .500 for the first time since week two gives them added confidence heading into this week’s even bigger contest at Emmaus (5-3) Friday night.

But after stifling Easton for another win, head coach Jason Roeder was happy to see his team evolve week-by-week.

“I think momentum helps when it carries over into practice and brings extra energy to what we’re doing during the week,” said Roeder. “I think that’s what we had after the Beca win and I hope we can maintain that and get to a different level at practice this week.”

Freedom’s defense has been the story during their win streak, shutting out East Stroudsburg South and Bethlehem Catholic before giving up a score last week. However, that touchdown was a bit of a fluke, as Easton running back Dorian Thomas landed on top of a defender during a tackle, never touching the ground, as he sprung up for a 69-yard score.

Freedom gave up 245 yards of offense to the Rovers (3-5) last week, but a big chunk of that came on the Thomas score.

“We’re running to the football and tackling pretty well outside of that one miss,” Roeder said. “We’re staying greedy on that side of the ball. We have high expectations and if we can keep playing like this, we’re going to give ourselves a shot.”

The Pates seem to be close to finding their next gear if they can get their offense to be more consistent. Freedom had to settle for two Michael Ferrey (22 and 24 yards) chip shot field goals in the first half after not being able to push the ball into the end zone from inside five yard line. They took control of the game in the final 1:20 of the first half when Chase Walker threw a pair of touchdowns to Jelani Fedrick (24-yard TD) and Justin Peluso (19-yard TD) to build the 20-7 lead.

Walker finished 16-of-28 for 186 yards and two touchdowns in an efficient performance.

“We got to clean up the penalties and turnovers that hurt us on offense,” said Roeder. “It’s attention to detail at practice, in the weight room and in the classroom. It’s just that mindset to look better and remained disciplined to get where we want to be.”

The win pushed Freedom to fifth in the District 11 6A power rankings, sitting just behind Emmaus. That’s what makes this week’s game even more important with playoff positioning on the line.

It’s something that Roeder and company certainly are cognizant of as we head into the final two weeks of the regular season.

“It’s that time of the year to get wins and get big wins,” he said. “We have to win football games and we know that. We can’t wait for tomorrow anymore.”