OAKLEY — Ronnie Rivers rushed for 270 yards and two touchdowns as Freedom remained undefeated with a 48-14 rout of Heritage on Friday night.
“We played well,” coach Kevin Hartwig said. “We made a few mental mistakes but finished strong.”
Quarterback Jonathan Pierce also played well for Freedom, finishing with 126 yards passing and four touchdowns, including his final touchdown with 8:31 left in the fourth quarter on a nine-yard throw to senior Kyle Harmon. That finished a string of 41 straight points for the Falcons and gave them a 41-7 advantage.
“We said we were gonna come out and run the ball, and we got it rolling,” said Hartwig, whose team improved to 8-0, 3-0 in the Bay Valley Athletic League.
Pierce’s favorite target was junior receiver Baylei Coston, who led the team with 97 yards receiving and scored his only touchdown with 9:51 left in the third quarter on a 38-yard completion.
Heritage (6-2, 1-2) struggled throughout the game against the Freedom defense. Nick Zell finished with 161 yards passing and two rushing touchdowns. Zell’s favorite targets were receivers Hassan Williams and Josh Wishom, who combined for 127 yards receiving.
Zell’s early one-yard run gave the Patriots a 7-0 lead in the first quarter.
“Our defense did a great job tonight stopping them,” Hartwig said.
Freedom led 34-7 after three quarters on its way to breaking the school record for wins to open a season, set in 2008 and matched last week.
The victory Friday sets up an epic showdown next week as Freedom travels to play undefeated Pittsburg.
