By: J. Daniel Pearson
Based on the game’s early sequence, you sensed it was not going to be Nova Lakes night.
After the Rattlers recovered a fumble on Freedom’s 12-yard line on the fourth play of the game they would gain just four yards on four plays and turn the ball right back over to the Patriots.
It would be a story that repeated itself numerous times during Nova Lakes’ 29-0 loss to Freedom on Thursday night.
The offense simply could not get on track – gaining just seven net offensive yards in the first half and 32 for the game. The Rattlers did not gain a first down offensively until their final possession of the game and six completions by quarterback Angelo Daddona went for just 14 yards.
Still, head coach Anthony Rivers found some positive things even as his young, inexperienced team fell to 2-2. “Obviously you never enjoy losing but we ran into a team that was physically better than we were tonight and our inexperienced was apparent,” Rivers said. “But Freedom was the best team we played since our opener and I continue to see improvement on a week-to-week basis. Our guys never quit and played hard all night.”
Defensively, the Rattlers had nothing to be ashamed of. Two of Freedom’s four touchdowns came on drives of just 50 and 7 yards and the other two were defensive touchdowns.
It was a scoreless tie late in the second quarter when Freedom took over at midfield. Quarterback Pedro Rodriguez gave Freedom an 8-0 lead on a 23-yard touchdown pass to Jermaine Wimberly to cap a 7-play drive.
Unfortunately for the Rattlers, mistakes would lead to two more Freedom scores in the final three minutes of the half. A muffed kickoff return pinned Nova Lakes on its own five. Three plays later, Jaiden Delgado would recover a blocked punt for a score and on the ensuing possession, Marley Shaver would take a Daddona interception 47-yards for a score and a 23-0 halftime lead.
Another breakdown in the kicking game would lead to another score. Punting from his own end zone, Cruz Garcia was forced to scramble on a bad snap. He would be stopped on his own seven-yard line and one play later, Swaylan Laronde would score to make it 29-0.
Despite allowing 152 rushing yards to Laronde, the Nova Lakes defense did not play poorly. They forced two turnovers and when negative plays were factored in, they allowed just 208 yards of total offense.
“We felt that in order to win this game, we would have to be able to pass the ball effectively and minimize our mistakes. We did not do either,” Rivers added.
The Rattlers travel to Colonial next week; while Freedom (2-1), who is coached by former Liberty head coach Brandon Pennington, hosts Innovation (4-0).
