Freeport gets best of Baldwin

Junior D’Monte Woody ran for 113 yards and scored a touchdown to lead Freeport to a convincing 21-6 win over crosstown rival Baldwin on homecoming day at Freeport High School last Saturday.

Quarterback Davelle Hooks was 9-for-11 for 76 yards through the air in the Conference I showdown. The senior captain ran for a touchdown and threw for another as the Red Devils took this year’s edition of the Backyard Brawl. The rivalry dates back to 1922.

Holding a narrow 7-6 lead late in the opening half, Hooks engineered a short touchdown drive that seemingly broke Baldwin’s sprit. Hooks faked to his left and found junior Myles-Lawrence Eason open down the middle of the field for a 25-yard touchdown reception with just 10 seconds left on the clock.

The Red Devils put the game away in the third quarter when Woody brought the standing-room-only crowd of more than 2,500 to its feet when he took a handoff from Hooks, broke three tackles, and spun into the end zone for the score. Senior Jian Palacios-Morales split the uprights to make it 21-6 with 5:38 left in the quarter.

Freeport assistant coach Jimmy Jones thought his team’s consistency was the key. “We didn’t beat ourselves,” Jones said. “We’ve been making mental mistakes early on in games and haven’t been able to recover from them. Today, we hit a few bumps, but we stayed focused. Defensively, we played very well. It’s a big win for us.”

One particular play by the Freeport defense early in the game was  a blow to Bruins’ chances. Senior Jah’sheem Martin (seven tackles, two sacks) chased down Baldwin quarterback Tyler Warner for a 10-yard loss with just under six minutes to play in the opening quarter. Warner was injured on the play, and saw limited action thereafter.

“Once we lost our quarterback, we knew were in trouble,” Baldwin head coach Steve Carroll said. “Freeport was focused and really on its game. I thought we’d be able to move the ball a little bit better, but we couldn’t lose our quarterback and win this game. We have a couple of big injuries now, but we’ll regroup.”

Baldwin got on the board in the second quarter after Hooks had given the Red Devils a 7-0 lead on a beautiful read-option run. Despite his injury, Warner was able to lead the Bruins into the end zone, finding junior Nick De Luca wide open over the middle for a 26-yard touchdown reception. The extra-point attempt failed.

Junior Jameel Lamont had a big day on both sides of the ball for Freeport. Lamont had six tackles at linebacker, and carried the ball five times for 55 yards. The Red Devils improved to 4-2. Baldwin, which fell to 3-3, got a fine defensive effort from junior linebacker Jared Juarbe-Myles. 

The Bruins will travel to East Meadow this Saturday afternoon. The Red Devils are also on the road, as they will meet Valley Stream Central. Kickoff for both games is 1:30 p.m.