FREEHOLD, NEW JERSEY – After losing to Middletown South last Friday, Freehold Boro returned home to Cal D. Wilson Field and defeated the Liberty Lions 28-14 in a Federal Division matchup on a windy Saturday afternoon.
Sophomore quarterback Kevin Phillips made his first start as a Colonial, filling in for Martin Corso who was sidelined with a shoulder injury. Phillips threw for 173 yards with two touchdowns and four interceptions.
QB Kevin Phillips made his first start.
Photo by Steve Goldberg
“I felt comfortable out there in my first start,” Phillips said. “I think the experience of playing in Middletown last week definitely helped me out. I was more prepared to play, and I think I did all right. I threw four picks so that’s not pretty good. We still won though, so that’s good.”
Ronald Brown was the star of the game for Liberty. Brown had three interceptions on defense and a 15-yard touchdown catch on offense.
“We lost the game still,” Brown said when discussing his stellar performance. “I wish it would have came out better.”
Freehold Boro got off to a quick start in the first quarter when Phillips threw a 15-yard touchdown pass to Sterry Codrington to give the Colonials a 6-0 edge. On the first play of the second quarter, the Colonials extended their lead to 14-0 with a 2-yard touchdown run by Willie Thomas and a successful 2-point conversion. Freehold Boro drove down the field again late in the first half, but Phillips was stopped short of the goal line on a fourth-and-goal quarterback sneak from the 1-yard line.
Phillips came out sharp to start off the second half and threw his second touchdown of the game, a 42-yard bullet to Willie Thomas.
“Today was just like any other day,” Thomas said after the game. “I was trying to pull together a win for my team. I was just trying to make some big plays.”
Liberty showed some life in the third quarter when quarterback Dylan Wright aired out a 73-yard touchdown to Mike Patterson which cut the Freehold Boro lead to 21-7.
But the Colonials answered right back on the ensuing kickoff with a 62-yard return by Rameer Wright which set up a 1-yard touchdown run by Tezzy Thorpe two plays later.
The Lions continued to show life in the fourth quarter when Brown made his third interception, picking off a pass intended for Rameer Wright in the end zone.
Ronald Brown had three interceptions.
Photo by Steve Goldberg
After driving down the field toward the end of the game, Brown caught a 15-yard pass from Dylan Wright which made the score 28-14. However, there was not enough time left for Liberty to mount a comeback, and Freehold Boro ran out the clock for their third victory of the season.
Freehold Boro Head Coach Mark Ciccotelli gave credit to defensive coordinators Dave Ellis and Geoff Massamini for the resilience of the Colonials defense in the win.
“Like always, we play great defense here, but offensively, we better clean up our act,” Ciccotelli said. “I think [Phillips] was a little careless with the football, but there’s potential. He’s got a pretty good arm. He managed the game okay, but he has to be a little more careful with the ball.”
Liberty (2-2 overall, 1-2 Federal Division) will return home to face the Central Regional Golden Eagles (1-4, 1-3) on Friday. Freehold Boro (3-2, 2-2) has a bye week next week before they play the Golden Eagles on Friday, Oct. 23 in Bayville.
“We don’t know what to expect, so we’re going to keep doing what we’re doing and we’ll see what happens,” Ciccotelli said about Central Regional.
But Ciccotelli’s gameplan is the same for every week.
“Beat them by one.”
