Freeport grinds past Farmingdale

Saying Freeport has been dominant on the football field this fall would be a huge understatement. It entered last Friday night’s game at Farmingdale having outscored its opponents 227-46, and the Red Devils’ defense had yielded just one score in the opening half of the first five games, and that touchdown came after the team had jumped out to a 35-0 lead.

Farmingdale, which is always a formidable Conference I opponent, figured to be the team that could give Freeport its first real test in 2019. And, it did. The Red Devils, indeed, had their first brush with adversity, but in the end they walked off the field with a 35-6 victory.

Terrance Edmond scored a pair of touchdowns in the second half, the latter on a 61-yard punt return that broke open a tight game, to lead the Red Devils to their 18th consecutive win. Shamel Howard led a dominant defensive performance with a pair of sacks. The second-place Dalers fell to 4-2.

“It was good for us to be tested, because you need to see how guys are going to respond,” Freeport head coach Russ Cellan said. “We shot ourselves in the foot a few times and made a lot of mistakes early on. The good thing is they’re all correctable mistakes. Farmingdale always comes to play. They’re not going to lay down for anyone.”

Trailing 14-0, Farmingdale made it a game when quarterback Nick Lundin connected with Will McCarthy for a 49-yard touchdown pass with 6:06 remaining in the third quarter. However, the Dalers would be unable to hold on to the momentum as Edmond engineered a seven-play, 62-yard drive that culminated with him running around left end and taking it into the end zone from 11 yards out.

When the Dalers were forced to punt on their next possession, Edmond delivered the dagger. He failed to catch the ball cleanly, picked it up at his own 39-yard line and ran back five yards before heading down the left sideline. He used key blocks from Arnold Cruz and Makhai Jinks, and took it all the way to the house to put the game out of reach with 11:06 to play.

Jinks, who was terrific on both sides of the ball, capped off the scoring with a nine-yard touchdown run. He led the Red Devils with 74 yards on nine carries. Jayvien Allen added 62 yards and two touchdowns. Myles Norris, Dan Murphy, and Cruz turned in outstanding performances on defense.

“We didn’t play a great game, but the offense just kept on grinding and got it done,” Cellan said. “The defense was terrific, especially the guys up front and the linebackers. We have a lot to work on. We just need to keep on trying to improve. If you’re not going forward, you’re going backward.”

Freeport (6-0) will play its final regular-season home game when it welcomes in Hempstead this Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m.