Behind Freedom High School is the school’s football field, where the Patriots play home games. And behind that is a practice field where dozens of players run drills, practice plays, chase footballs, throw spirals and do their best to improve throughout the week.
(Michael Murillo/Staff Photos)
The athletes are both varsity and junior varsity players, and they often practice together.
“The motto here is ‘One Team, One Family,'” head coach Tom Donohoe said. “We don’t want any player out here to feel like they’re not a part of what we do. So we’re real big on trying to keep everybody involved.”
That involvement is paying dividends under Donohoe’s leadership, now entering its fourth year. Last year, the varsity team was 6-4, which marks the first winning season at Freedom since 2009. And the record could have been even better, because they had so many close games: The Patriots lost one in overtime, another by just one point and a third by two points.
Many of the team’s contests were low-scoring affairs (Freedom scored 15 points or less in half of its wins) because the defense was tops in their district last year, Donohoe said. This season he wants to ramp up the scoring and kick the offense into high gear.
“The defense did a great job. They kept us in every game,” he said. “Our focus this year is hopefully to score some more points on offense and special teams, and reward the defense a little bit more.”
Putting more points on the board will help eliminate the sting of those close losses. It’s something that senior Xavier Hardy remembers well.
“It was hard to take those losses. It really was,” Hardy said. As a wide receiver and defensive end, he experienced the game from both sides of the field. Having a winning record but leaving some wins on the table motivates him to work harder and provide senior leadership in his final season.
Things look promising for the Patriots this year, Hardy said. The team is more connected than last year, and players are learning to stick with their assignments and do less freelancing on the field.
Practice is hard work at Freedom, but Hardy wouldn’t have it any other way.
“I love everything about football. It’s the contact and the studying,” he said.
This season, experience will also play a big role. Last year’s varsity team found success even though it featured seven sophomores and two freshmen. Those players are now a year older with more confidence, and have become veterans of the system. Overall, the Patriots will retain seven starters on offense and seven on defense from last year, which gives the team every opportunity to build on 2014’s success.
While Donohoe feels good about where his team is, he’s been doing this too long to make any bold predictions. Now in his 22nd season coaching overall, he wants players to set the playoffs as a goal. But he knows there are many steps in between to worry about the end of the season when it’s just starting.
“We take it game by game, and more than that, we take it practice by practice. Hopefully we’re better today than we were yesterday,” he said.
Even after coaching so long, the game is still fun for him.
Donohoe moves from group to group during practice, relying on his trusted coaching staff, but he is also eager to see for himself how his players are executing.
When the offense is running simulations, Donohoe is there. When the kickoff team is practicing, and the kick return team is getting work in, Donohoe is there. And, as they develop over the years and mature on and off the field, Donohoe wants to be there, too.
“I tell the guys all the time that I’m a poor man, because I’m a teacher, and we don’t make a lot of money, but I’m a rich man, because I get to work with kids,” Donohoe said. “The opportunity to come out here and help the youth is what it’s about. There’s nothing better than that.”
Freedom Patriots regular season schedule
(all times at 7:30 p.m.)
Aug. 28 vs. East Bay
Sept.11 vs. Alonso
Sept. 18 at Spoto
Sept. 25 vs. Wharton
Oct. 2 vs. Wiregrass Ranch
Oct. 9 at Gaither
Oct. 16 vs. Leto
Oct. 23 at Plant
Oct. 30 at Sickles
Nov. 6 at Plant City
Published September 2,2015
