BUFFALO TWP — Freeport head football coach John Gaillot will never be satisfied with a loss, but he can certainly take positives from a defeat.

That optimism was focused on his defense Friday night.

Facing a Serra Catholic team armed with a potent offense and averaging nearly 38 points per game, Gaillot watched his defense frustrate the Eagles for much of the night.

The undefeated Eagles (5-0) entered the game averaging nearly 330 yards of offense per contest, but were held to 251.

The Yellowjackets, however, managed little on offense and fell 14-3 at Freeport Area Stadium.

Freeport's originally scheduled Allegheny Seven Conference game against Derry was postponed when the latter was hit with COVID issues. Freeport learned Thursday that it instead would be facing Serra.

“We had one day to prepare,” said Gaillot. “Our defensive coordinator (Todd Durand) did an outstanding job getting our kids ready, especially when you consider how much time he had.”

Linebacker Andrew Sullivan and defensive lineman Logan Jendrejewski were just two players who came up with tackles behind the line of scrimmage to keep the Eagles grounded for much of the game.

“We just tried to put our kids in position to combat what Serra was doing in their formation,” Durand said. “Jacksen Reiser (middle linebacker) makes all the calls out there for us. He did an outstanding job tonight and we wouldn't have played as well as we did without him.”

Serra did manage several key plays offensively. The first came on its first possession, following a Freeport fumble recovered by the Eagles' Jayvon Holt.

Three plays later, Serra quarterback Max Rocco found Holt in 1-on-1 coverage down the near sideline and connected with him for a 57-yard scoring strike that broke the ice.

Freeport's offense finally received a big play when quarterback Garrett King ran for 27 yards down to the Eagles' 31 early in the second quarter.

A personal foul penalty was later called on Serra, but the drive stalled and Vinnie Clark booted a 35-yard field goal for the 'Jackets.

Freeport had just 52 yards of offense at halftime and didn't threaten to score again until late in the fourth quarter. By that time, the Eagles were up 14-3 thanks to a 5-yard scoring run from Pharoh Fisher in the third quarter.

But the 'Jacket defense gave Freeport one last chance when it forced Serra running back Paul Pearson to fumble and Cole Charlton recovered at the Eagles' 29 with 2:28 to go.

King's 21-yard run down to the 8 was nullified by an illegal block and Freeport ended up turning the ball over on downs.

“Penalties hurt us ... and Serra is big, fast and strong,” said Gaillot. “That's a legit team we played tonight.”

King and running back/quarterback Ben Lane combined for two completions on 15 attempts for just 24 yards for the 'Jackets.

“Both of those guys are phenomenal athletes,” said Gaillot. “If we put them in position, they can help this team be as good as it can be.”

Freeport (1-3) will travel to conference foe Valley next Friday.

Gaillot said he hopes to have the game against Derry rescheduled.

“We also had a game against Apollo-Ridge canceled (Sept. 17), but that was a non-conference game,” he said. “Derry is a conference game and we need to reschedule that one.”

Serra Catholic 7 0 7 0 — 14

Freeport 0 3 0 0 — 3

First Quarter

SC — Jayvon Holt 57 pass from Max Rocco (Ben DelRosso kick), 8:07

Second Quarter

F — Vinnie Clark 35 field goal, 6:10

Third Quarter

SC — Pharoh Fisher 5 run (DelRosso kick), 7:53

Individual Statistics

Rushing: Serra Catholic, Mike Schanck 5-4, Jayvon Holt 11-57, Amire Spencer 1-1, Max Rocco 6-1, Paul Pearson 10-36, Saron Royall 1-(-5), Pharoh Fisher 4-11, Ryan Brooks 1-23, TEAM 1-(-2). Freeport, Shane Jack 10-25, Ben Lane 10-(-7), Garrett King 11-24, TEAM 1-(-2).

Passing: Serra Catholic, Max Rocco 9-24-125-0. Freeport, Garrett King 2-11-24-1, Ben Lane 0-4-0-0.

Receiving: Serra Catholic, Jayvon Holt 2-60, Pharoh Fisher 1-26, Paul Pearson 2-(-5), Amire Spencer 2-26, Zack Weber 2-18. Freeport, Vinnie Clark 1-13, Jacksen Reiser 1-11.