Freedom holds off New Brighton rally for Midwestern Conference victory

By: HSSN Staff
Saturday, October 6, 2018 | 12:42 AM

When Freedom’s Nick Dinardo connected on a 36-yard field goal as time expired in the first half to give the Bulldogs a slim 3-0 halftime lead over New Brighton, the points appeared to be merely the culmination of a sloppy first half between the two Midwestern Athletic Conference rivals.

So when Freedom extended its lead to 16-0 with just over eight minutes left in a game it had dominated statistically to that point, Dinardo’s kick seemed downright inconsequential.

But when the final horn sounded, Dinardo’s kick ultimately loomed large.

New Brighton rallied for two scores — and one two-point conversion — in the final 6 minutes, 15 seconds of the game. Only a failed two-point conversion by New Brighton with 51 seconds left preserved the 16-14 win for Freedom. The victory improved Freedom’s record to 6-1 overall and 4-1 in the MAC; New Brighton fell to 2-5 and 2-2.

“That field goal turned out to be pretty big,” Freedom coach Russ Barley said of Dinardo’s kick, which remarkably came after he had already missed two attempts in the first half, from 33 and 37 yards.

Why chance a third?

“First, there was the time on the clock (5.5 seconds),” Barley said. “But second, and most importantly, he’s been a fantastic kicker for us. The two that he missed, I attribute that more to the field conditions than anything else. They had plenty of distance. When we considered where we were on the field, and that he had some grass under him, we sent him out again. We have all the faith in the world in him.”

Dinardo delivered on his third kick to give Freedom a halftime lead, one that it would extend to 16-0 in the second half behind two touchdown passes from Zach Rosa to Noah Yeck (5 yards) and Noah Henderson (15 yards). Rosa’s two TD passes set a new school record, giving him 32 for his career. He finished with 133 yards passing.

Rosa’s second TD pass came with 8:28 remaining, and Freedom, with a two-score lead and dominating New Brighton in every category, appeared to be on cruise control. But New Brighton had other ideas.

New Brighton, behind the passing of quarterback Jackson Hall, found its groove offensively, driving 70 yards in a mere six plays, culminating with a 23-yard TD pass from Hall to Caleb Shuler. The subsequent two-point conversion, a pass from Jacob Francona to Dakota Cade, cut Freedom’s lead in half with 6:15 left

Freedom then threatened to put the game away when it drove to the New Brighton 33, taking three minutes off the clock, before the Lions’ defense came up huge. New Brighton’s defense swarmed Freedom’s Jake Pail on fourth-and-2, taking over with two minutes remaining. Two penalties on New Brighton’s first two plays then moved the ball back to the Lions’ 8.

Once again, Hall completed passes to Shuler (31 and 13 yards) and Nya Greene (20 yards), giving New Brighton a first down at the Freedom 11. Francona then came in and took a snap out of the wildcat formation, rolled to his left and found Rocco Beightley in the back of the end zone with 51 seconds left.

On the two-point conversion attempt, Hall, who finished with 129 yard passing, rolled to his right and appeared to have an open receiver in the front corner of the end zone, but Rosa preserved the win for Freedom when he made a diving stop to get his hand on the ball and knock it away.

“We had a great fourth quarter; unfortunately it was too little, too late,” New Brighton coach Joe Greco said. “We just didn’t make enough plays. In the fourth quarter we did. We were inches from overtime.”

Prior to New Brighton’s frantic rally in the final eight minutes, it was all Freedom. New Brighton didn’t have an answer for Freedom fullback Cody Ross, who gauged the Lions for 129 yards on 27 carries.

Ross, one of the WPIAL’s top linebackers and a Slippery Rock commit, had little doubt his team would step up in the waning moments.

“That was the biggest moment against our biggest rival,” Ross said. “We have one of the best defenses, and I told our guys we are who we are and it was time to rise up and show it.”

“We’ve made plays when we needed to all year and we did it tonight,” Barley said.

Jim Equels Jr. is a freelance writer.

Tags: Freedom, New Brighton