Freeport's defense a real factor

While bringing home seven Nassau County football titles and five Long Island championships over the past few decades, Freeport’s high-octane offensive attack has received its share of accolades.

After scoring over 40 points per game in 2016, the Red Devils once again showed their prowess by scoring 30 per contest during the 2017 regular season. But, it’s the Freeport defense that has garnered attention, this year. Opponents have averaged just 11 points per game against a stingy defensive unit, and on five occasions, the Red Devils have yielded seven points or fewer.

Freeport (6-2), which enters the Nassau Conference I playoffs as the No. 3 seed behind Oceanside and Massapequa, looked postseason-ready in its commanding 35-7 victory over Farmingdale. Robert Fitzsimmons had seven tackles, and Justin Lescouflair, Ikce Quiles and Myles Norris each were credited with a sack for the Red Devils.

“The defense has been outstanding over the past three or four weeks,” Freeport head coach Russ Cellan said. “It took time to get the pieces in place. The underclassmen have matured a lot, and they’re not playing like young guys anymore. They learned a lot in the losses to Oceanside and Massapequa.”

The Red Devils lost a ton of skill players to graduation from the 2016 team that won the Long Island championship, but seniors Aaje Grayson and Gregory Pimental stepped in as go-to players and have been solid. Each ran for over 100 yards in the victory over Farmingdale. 

Pimental ran for a career-high 282 yards on just 12 carries in a win over Uniondale in week two. He has scored eight touchdowns on the season. Grayson has rushed for over 100 yards on five occasions and has found the end zone 11 times.

The growth of first-year quarterback Terrance Edmond has been a key to Freeport’s success. The sophomore signal-caller threw for 143 yards and three touchdowns, including two to freshman Jayvian Allen, to lead the Red Devils to a 28-6 win when Hempstead came to town on October 14. Edmond also picked up 60 yards on the ground.

Fitzsimmons leads a defense that has let up just 92 points for the season, the second fewest allowed in the county. The senior captain had 11 tackles and a sack in a shutout victory over Baldwin. Lescouflair, Quiles, Makhai Jinks, Gerard Smikle, John Meyveci and Arnold Cruz have been standouts on defense for the Red Devils.

Freeport will begin its playoff run when it welcomes in East Meadow this Friday at 6 p.m. The Red Devils knocked off the Jets 34-6 when the teams met in week seven. East Meadow’s offense poses a problem because of its uniqueness. The Jets operate a run-oriented attack out of the double wing formation.

“We really feel good about things going into the playoffs,” Cellan said. “It’s a pain to play against the type of offense East Meadow runs, because you don’t see it much. The good thing is we just played them two weeks ago so it’s fresh in our minds.”