Baldwin tops Freeport in playoff battle

One of the best rivalries in Long Island high school sports added another chapter Friday night with fifth-seeded Baldwin avenging a loss to Freeport just a few weeks earlier with a 20-8 road victory in a Nassau Conference I football first-round playoff game.

The Bruins, who had dropped eight straight in a series dating back to 1924 and were blanked by the Red Devils Oct. 22, scored on each of their first two possessions following defensive takeaways and never looked back. Sophomore quarterback Vaughdrea Johnson, senior Cedric Jean-Pierre and junior Shane Mauldin had rushing touchdowns, while junior Jadis Chenet corralled a pair of interceptions.

“It’s a tremendous win for our program,” Baldwin head coach Frank Chimienti said. “Freeport took it to us a few weeks ago. They were much more physical and shut down our offense. We knew things had to be different this time if we were going to flip the script and our kids rose to the challenge.”

Senior Anthony Byron added 173 yards rushing on 27 carries for Baldwin (6-2), which advances to the semifinals at Hofstra University for the first time since 2016 and faces two-time defending champion Massapequa next Saturday at 8:30 p.m. No. 4 Freeport, which closed the regular season with a wild 54-52 double-overtime win over Oceanside, finished 4-5.

“It’s always difficult when you lose,” Freeport head coach Russ Cellan said. “Baldwin outplayed us, so credit goes to them. We settled down in the second half and started to play better defense. We cut into the lead but then they scored again in the fourth quarter.”

It was the 83rd all-time meeting between the teams. The Red Devils hold a 51-31-1 edge.

Baldwin picked off Freeport junior quarterback D’Angelo Gordon twice in the opening quarter and built a quick 14-0 lead. “It was D’Angelo’s first two interceptions of the year,” Cellan said. “He was under a lot of pressure.”

Johnson scored on a 1-yard run and Jean-Pierre from 2 yards out. Bryon, who had one of the interceptions, tacked on a two-point conversion following the first touchdown. The Bruins had a golden opportunity to increase their lead in the second quarter but fumbled at the 1, and senior Nazair Jean-Lubin recovered for the Red Devils.

Freeport then drove 80 yards to just outside the red zone before stalling on downs, allowing the visitors to maintain a 14-0 lead at the half.

“I thought our defense bending but not breaking there was the most important part of the night aside from our running game,” said Chimienti, who lauded the relentless defensive efforts of seniors Rodney Mills, Kwasi Bonsu and Lincoln DaCosta. “There was definitely a mental aspect to it,” he added. “We were inches away from being up three touchdowns so it was important to hold them.”

Freeport struck in the third quarter with Gordon hitting Jean-Lubin on a 24-yard touchdown pass. Gordon also added the two-point conversion run to slice the margin to 14-8.

“There’s such a great culture and coaching staff at Freeport, and they’ve got so many outstanding athletes,” Chimienti said. “We knew it was going to take all 48 minutes.”