The schedule was scrambled and the venue unexpected, but the Freedom and Alexander Central football teams emerged from a three-week hiatus forced by damage from Hurricane Helene to finally play their Northwestern 3A/4A Conference-opener.
The return to action after the extended layoff went in the Cougars’ favor as they earned a 30-20 victory on Friday night in a game played at Patton High School following severe flooding at the FHS football stadium.
Here are some key numbers from the Week 8 loss for the Patriots (3-3, 0-1 NWC) in Â鶹´«Ã½:
0 — Completed passes for Alexander Central. The Cougars won the game despite going 0 for 3 through the air. The visitors racked up 346 yards and four touchdowns on 61 rushing attempts for the night. Quarterback Wade Queen did run for 39 yards on nine carries.
1 — Varsity football games played at Patton’s stadium so far this season. With the Panthers inactive due to low participation numbers this fall, Friday night’s game was the first varsity football contest played on Enola Road this year. The Patriots will host a second and final home game at PHS this coming Friday, taking on South Caldwell in their last home contest of the regular season.
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2 — Wins in a row for Alexander Central over Freedom, whose all-time lead in the series was trimmed to 29-9 with Friday’s loss. It’s the first time in at least 20 years that the Patriots have lost back-to-back games to the Cougars. FHS won three straight over ACHS from 2004-06 and 2008-12 and two straight from 2018-19 and 2021-22.
3 — Rushing touchdowns for Freedom. Normally potent through the air, all three of the Patriots’ trips to the end zone on Friday came on the ground, including a 10-yard reverse by Justice Dominguez in the first quarter to make it 14-6, a 38-yard keeper by quarterback Kaden Davis in the third period to make it 20-13 and a 1-yard dive by Jaiden Belin in the fourth frame to bring the score to 27-20 with 8:36 to play.
24 — Distance in yards on Elijah Bolick’s game-winning field goal for the Cougars. Bolick booted the sealing kick through the uprights with just 1:12 left in the contest.
35:26 — Game-leading time of possession from Alexander Central. Led by countless chain-moving runs by the Cougars’ offense, the visitors were stingy with the ball, allowing the Patriots’ offense to possess it for just 12:34. ACHS was 7 of 13 of third down while Freedom was just 1 of 6.
73 — Yardage on Jeremiah Whitaker’s game-breaking rushing touchdown for Alexander Central in the third quarter. The running back ripped off the game’s longest play just after Freedom had closed within 20-13 to start the second half. Whitaker finished with 95 yards on 12 carries, also scoring on a 3-yard run in the first quarter to make it 14-0.
133 — Passing yards for Freedom’s Davis. Though the hosts didn’t have a touchdown through the air, Davis was 12 of 20, connecting with receivers Dominguez (5-49), Tiras Walker (2-44), Kobe Johnson (3-20) and Kaleb Pearson (2-20). Davis also threw two interceptions, including one on the Patriots’ last-gasp drive with just seconds to play.
162 — Game-high rushing yards for the Cougars’ Sawyer Chapman-Mays, who did it on 30 carries and scored touchdowns of 1 yard in the first quarter and 2 yards in the second period to put Alexander Central ahead 7-0 and 20-6, respectively.
