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The Patriots, the No. 9 West seed in the NCHSAA 3A state playoffs, couldn’t take advantage of an opening-round home game — albeit one played at Patton High School’s stadium due to hurricane damage at FHS — as they fell to No. 24 West seed West Rowan by a 35-21 final score in Friday night’s contest in ¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥.

Here are a few key things to know from the game:

Freedom can’t stop big plays

Friday’s contest was 14-0 in favor of the Falcons in the blink of an eye as their quick-strike offense set the tone early.

West Rowan’s first play from scrimmage was a 50-yard completion from junior quarterback Brant Graham to do-it-all senior Evan Kennedy. The two connected for a 9-yard touchdown two plays later for a 7-0 lead. The Falcons’ second possession ended with Kennedy’s 39-yard TD run for a 14-0 advantage.

Graham had additional completions of 39 yards to Kennedy, 52 yards to Brennon Stevenson, 38 yards to Kennedy and 62 yards to Ja’Mih Tucker throughout the game.

Running back Jaylen Neely (29-188-2) also had runs of 22, 35 and 20 yards for West Rowan.

Graham finished 11 of 21 for 293 yards and two touchdowns while Kennedy turned 10 touches into 194 yards, finishing with a 6-149-2 receiving line and 45 yards on four carries.

Mistakes haunt Patriots

While Freedom was able to move the ball pretty well and execute some big plays of its own and had some solid series on defense, as well, the things the Patriots did wrong left them with a two-possession deficit at the end.

Struggles in man-to-man coverage and a couple blown coverages let West Rowan’s stellar playmakers get behind the defense, setting up touchdowns.

Offensively, the Patriots’ pass-blocking caused some issues in the first half and a holding call wiped out a Freedom touchdown. FHS also lost a pair of fumbles.

Special teams was not exempt from the problem as a kickoff that either was a botched squib or an onside done at an unusual time gave West Rowan a short field just before halftime, and the Falcons cashed in with a TD just after Freedom had closed within 14-7.

Playoff disappointment continues

For Freedom, the third-place team out of the Northwestern 3A/4A Conference and the league’s top 3A seed, Friday night’s loss was the eighth straight one in the playoffs, including seven in a row in the first round.

To find the Patriots’ most recent postseason win, one must look back to the 2015 first round, when FHS earned a 55-18 victory over crosstown rival Patton.

Since then, Freedom has lost 21-6 versus Kings Mountain in the 2015 second round, 33-14 at West Rowan in 2016, 47-29 at Rockingham County in 2017, 43-20 versus Monroe in 2018, 42-32 versus West Rowan in 2019, 14-13 at Hibriten in the fall of 2021 and 41-0 at Ledford in 2022.

The Patriots also lost 48-15 at West Rowan in the first round in 2009, putting them at 0-4 all-time against the Falcons.

Adkins’ postseason streak ends

First-year Freedom coach J.K. Adkins, a 1997 FHS graduate, saw a personal postseason winning streak snapped with Friday’s loss.

Adkins brought a 12-game playoff winning streak with him from Mount Airy to ¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥ as the Granite Bears won back-to-back NCHSAA 1A state championships under his guidance. Mount Airy was 15-1 in the last three postseasons and went 16-4 overall in the playoffs during Adkins’ tenure.

The Granite Bears have continued their dominance this season, with the No. 1 West seed in the 1A playoffs now sitting at 11-0 after a 68-0 win over No. 32 West seed Thomas Jefferson on Friday extended their playoff streak to 13 games.

Kaden Davis returns from injury

After missing 2½ games due to a shoulder injury suffered during Oct. 25’s 35-14 NWC victory at Ashe County, Freedom junior quarterback Kaden Davis returned to the starting lineup for the Patriots on Friday night.

Davis mostly looked like his normal self, completing 16 of 29 passes for 216 yards and three touchdowns, the last of which tied the game at 21-21 in the third quarter.

The QB had one interception in the loss, though that came on Freedom’s last offensive play of the game with the hosts down two scores.

Kobe Johnson shines again

In a season where extra attention from defenses limited his receiving opportunities, Freedom junior wideout Kobe Johnson, last year’s Burke County-leading receiver, saved his best for last.

One week after carving up the Hibriten secondary for 121 yards and two touchdowns on five receptions from freshman backup QB Ryder Huffman, Johnson reeled in five more passes for 113 yards and two additional TDs. Johnson had a 16-yard touchdown in the second quarter and a 34-yard score in the third period. He also reeled in another 34-yard reception and a 24-yarder along the way.

Johnson also was one of FHS’ best defenders on the night with a couple pass breakups.

Belin finishes career with 100-yard game

Freedom senior running back Jaiden Belin’s final prep campaign didn’t go completely to plan after a Week 1 injury cost him four games, but he came back better than ever — significantly so.

After posting a rushing line of 69-558-6 across the Patriots’ previous four games, including three finishes over the century mark, FHS’ bruiser was back at it again on Friday night with 125 yards on 17 carries. More than just a power back, though, Belin had carries of 13, 26, 13 and 24 yards during the contest.

The only blemishes on Belin’s performance were a pair of fumbles, which West Rowan defenders were able to recover.

Falcons head to Queen City

With Friday’s win, West Rowan (7-4) will head to No. 8 seed West Charlotte for a second-round contest next Friday in Charlotte.

The Lions (8-2) cruised to a 47-0 first-round win over No. 25 West seed Hunter Huss (4-6) at home on Friday night. West Charlotte finished third in the Queen City 3A/4A Conference with a 5-2 mark this fall, slotting in behind Hough and Mallard Creek.

Like both the Patriots and Lions, the Falcons also finished third in their league this fall as a 5-2 record in the South Piedmont 3A Conference put them behind Jay M. Robinson and Northwest Cabarrus.