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Irish football team Freedom is aiming for a playoff spot and more this season

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FREEDOM – The Freedom football team has had its ups and downs over the past two seasons.

In 2022, the Irish finished 11-2 and made it to the Division 4 semifinals before losing to Columbus 32-16. This was Clint Kriewaldt's final game as head coach.

Last season, in Charlie Jadin's first year at the helm, the Irish slipped to a 4-5 overall record and a 2-5 record in the challenging North Eastern Conference, missing the playoffs for the first time since 2010.

It wasn't the kind of season the Freedom's former star player expected in his first year as head coach, and Jadin and his bosses are determined not to let it happen again.

“We had a phenomenal run when they were sophomores. Some of them played, they watched everything,” Jadin said. “And then we got a lot of talent back (last season). But our league is pretty damn crowded, man, and we're glad we have them. You get tested early and often and you really get to see what your kids are made of.”

“So they've seen both sides of it where you have close games against these great teams, but it doesn't go in your favor. It doesn't always go in your favor. … When you see that very easily after one play, after two plays, it can go the other way. That kind of experience — that I don't think they want to have that feeling again — is going to take us a long way, too.”

Jadin learned a lot about himself in his first year as head coach. The most important lesson was that he had to be himself and not try to be Kriewaldt or anyone else.

“I think the most important thing is that the kids respond to me being myself and not the coaches that I've had that have been successful. I've had some great coaches and that's great. I have a lot of experience to lean on, great mentors to learn from. But I'm not them,” Jadin said. “So the kids are going to respond to what's authentic to me. I think I learned that very quickly when I was trying to be who I was supposed to be. That didn't work as well as when I was just being authentic and being who I am.”

Freedom won its first two games of last season before suffering a four-game losing streak, including a 15-14 loss to eventual Division 5 runner-up Wrightstown and a 24-14 loss to Division 4 runner-up Luxembourg-Casco.

With wins over Little Chute and Denmark, the Irish are now 4-4 and close to a playoff spot, but a loss to Fox Valley Lutheran in the regular season finale prevented Freedom from making the playoffs.

“We had growing pains that maybe lasted longer than we expected,” Jadin said. “But how do we get through that and keep going? … One big takeaway was that the team has grown tremendously – as kids, as young men – they've grown a lot. So if we can perform the same way this year, I'll be really happy. We obviously want to do a lot better on the field and on Friday night, but there are still a lot of good takeaways, even if we weren't where we wanted to be in the standings.”

Senior Jack Bonnet, who was named second-team All-Conference as a wide receiver last season, said everything is running more smoothly in Jadin's second year at the helm.

“The relationship is definitely growing and getting closer,” Bonnet said. “We know roughly what he expects and what he expects from us and what's going to happen with everything.”

In addition to Bonnet, the Irish are returning Hunter Vander Heiden, who was selected to the first team all-conference on the defensive line and second team on the offensive line. He is one of four returning starters on the offensive line.

Drew Kortz is also back after being selected to the All-Conference first team as a defensive back and throwing for 1,451 yards and 15 touchdowns as a starting quarterback.

Nolan Phillips was also a second-team All-Conference kicker.

“I think we can count on our kids to trust each other,” Jadin said. “We spent a lot of time in the offseason preparing the kids for what that looks like. We talk about it a lot during the weeks and will do it even more this year so they can trust each other that their teammate is where they need him.”

The North Eastern Conference won't be any easier this year as Two Rivers and Sheboygan Falls, two traditionally strong programs, are joining the revamped conference. Two Rivers made it to the quarterfinals last season and the semifinals in 2022.

Freedom opens the season at New London on Friday and then hosts Waupaca in Week 2 before facing Two Rivers at home on Sept. 6.

“That's fine with me. We're happy to play anybody, anytime, to get out there,” Jadin said. “I know our kids want to play. … Having your program and Sheboygan Falls as well, it's very cool to see some teams from a little further away. I know we expanded to Green Bay about 10 years ago or so, but now we have another area with great football teams and we're going to see really good football this year, which is always exciting.”

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