The Patriot Pioneers varsity football team soared past the Freedom South-Riding Eagles in their home opener to start off the season 2-0 as they continue their hot streak. Patriot won 58-13 on Friday, Sept.13 giving the school an optimistic outlook on what’s to come of their season.
Over the offseason, the Patriot football team added a couple of new faces to the team such as Mathieu Kanu (‘26), Diasian (Buddy) Noakes (‘25), and Jamir Brown (‘26). All three transferred from Unity Reed High School due to them moving to different communities that are now zoned for Patriot.
The most notable of the three was Kanu, who has multiple Division One offers and has been ranked a three star on many recruiting websites. Kanu stands at a towering 6 feet 4 inches 220 pounds and is expected to fill the losses of Darian Whittaker (‘24) and Nico Vega (‘24) at inside linebacker. Noakes is also expected to fill the key losses of Drew Hube (‘24) and Blake McNabb (‘24) as the starting outside receivers. Brown is anticipated to be a key versatile piece to Patriot’s defense in the secondary and offense as a running back.
However, even with a couple of major losses, Patriot still returned 20 starters from last season with four of them being on the offensive line. With a large amount of returning players, there also comes a large amount of camaraderie between the team. “There’s definitely a stronger bond between the players, we’re having fun with each other outside of football and we didn’t really have that with last year’s team,” said senior running back and captain Jackson McCarter (‘25).
After losing 35-7 against Westfield last season in their home opener, the fan morale and team morale heavily fell for what people originally thought was going to be a great year. To avert another disaster to start the season, the Pioneers knew that they had to send a statement in their home opener. “Last year when we started off with a tough loss it made no one want to come to the games anymore and messed up with the team a lot so I feel like the home opener win is motivation for people to come back for more games and for the team to continue winning” said McCarter.
To start the game, the Pioneers scored touchdowns on all of their first three drives with two of them coming on the drives’ first play. With all three being passing touchdowns from Tyler Knutson to Jackson McCarter , Buddy Noakes, and Aiden Pagonis (‘26). Patriot’s defense also began hot as Junior Defensive End and Captain Tyler Johnson (‘26) started off with a sack and helped force multiple three-and-outs to finish the first quarter with Freedom scoreless. McCarter ended the first quarter with a 45 yard rushing touchdown to make the score 31-0.
In the second quarter, Knutson continued his stellar performance with another touchdown pass on a screen to Trevor Keener (‘26). McCarter also ran in for his third and fourth touchdown of the game on 40 plus yard runs. The Pioneers led 51-7 going into the half as Freedom looked devastated on their sideline.
By the start of the third quarter, Patriot took out their starters and let their younger players get varsity snaps to help develop them. The game ended in a blowout victory for Patriot 58-13.
Patriot prides themselves as a ground attack football team, however, a large portion of their yards came through the air as Knutson threw for 205 yards and four touchdowns. Over the off season, Knutson put on 35 pounds of weight to develop as a player, “I ate probably 5,000 calories a day and lifted everyday. I knew I had to gain weight to be more proficient in our offense and hold up in the long run,” said Knutson.
McCarter also shined brilliantly as he finished with six carries for 181 rushing yards and three rushing touchdowns alongside two receptions for 45 yards and another touchdown. Noakes led the Pioneers in receiving with two receptions for 83 yards on the day and a touchdown to go along with it as he proved why he was looked at as such a key addition to the team.
The Pioneers moved to 2-0 on the year and began district play 1-0 with their win. They play the Colonial Forge Eagles at Colonial Forge on Friday, Sept. 20 at 7:00pm. Last season, Patriot lost to Colonial Forge at home 21-13 after suffering multiple injuries to key starters. They hope to bounce back and continue their undefeated season so far.
