Trenton Freedom

Last updated
Trenton Freedom
Established 2013
Folded 2015
Played in Sun National Bank Center in Trenton, New Jersey
TrentonFreedom.png
League/conference affiliations
Professional Indoor Football League (2014–2015)
  • National Conference (2014)
Current uniform
Team colorsRed, Silver, Blue, White
    
MascotGeneral George
Personnel
Owner(s)Dennis Williams
Michael Schubiger
PresidentDennis Williams
General managerJeff Gonos
Head coachKevin O’Hanlon
Team history
  • Trenton Freedom (2014–2015)
Championships
League championships (0)
Conference championships (0)
Division championships (0)
Playoff appearances (1)
  • PIFL: 2014
Home arena(s)

The Trenton Freedom was a professional indoor football team based in Trenton, New Jersey. The Freedom were a member of the Professional Indoor Football League (PIFL). [1] The Freedom began play in 2014 as an expansion member of the PIFL. The Freedom played their home games at the Sun National Bank Center.

Contents

Franchise history

2014

In August 2013, Owners Dennis Williams and Michael Schubiger announced their intentions to bring an indoor football team back to Trenton, New Jersey. [2] The owners held name the team contest, and picked the name "Freedom," as well as named Adam Turkel to be the team's first head coach and general manager. [2] When looking for a league to play in, Williams and Schubiger both were lobbying to become members of the Professional Indoor Football League (PIFL). [2] In September, the team officially became the 7th member of the PIFL for the 2014 season. [3] In November 2013, the team announced that they were replacing Turkel with Kevin O'Hanlon as the team's inaugural coach.

The Freedom began their inaugural season on March 30, 2014 at home, defeating the Richmond Raiders 52–17. Quarterback Warren Smith threw for four touchdowns and ran for two more. Defensive Back Domonic Joseph was named PIFL Defensive Player of the Week. The Freedom lost their first road game, 48–47 at the Lehigh Valley Steelhawks. Wide receiver Antoine Rivera caught 13 passes for 132 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

The Freedom rebounded in their second home game for a 66–63 win over the Columbus Lions. The Freedom suffered their second road loss, 42–36 at Lehigh Valley April 26, but linebacker Jeffery Morgan earned the franchise's second PIFL Defensive Player of the Week honor by scoring a pair of touchdowns. Success continued at home May 3, as the Freedom rallied with 16 points in the last two minutes to edge Richmond, 33–32, with Marques Slocum earning PIFL Defensive Player of the Week. The winning trend at home continued May 11 with a 52–39 triumph over the Harrisburg Stampede as William Hollis was named PIFL Defensive Player of the week, the team's third straight selection.

With a 52–42 win at Richmond, May 17, the Freedom recorded the franchise's first-ever road victory. The following week, back at home, the Freedom avenged two earlier losses to Lehigh Valley with a 55–42 victory to push their record to a PIFL-best 6–2 atop the National Conference.

The Freedom, with a 57–49 win at Harrisburg June 7, clinched a PIFL playoff berth in its first season in moving to 7–2.

With a 49–47 comeback win over the defending PIFL champion Alabama Hammers June 14, the Freedom clinched the regular-season National Conference title and a home playoff game in the franchise's first season.

The Freedom dropped a 52–49 decision to the Georgia Fire in the team's final regular-season home game. [4]

The Freedom finished the regular season with an 8–4 record, the 2nd best in the league, but were defeated by the Lehigh Valley Steelhawks in the National Conference Championship Game by a score of 49–38. [5]

2015

On August 26, 2015, the Freedom announced that they wouldn't be returning to play in 2016.

Players of note

Final roster

Trenton Freedom roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

  •  1Antonio Allen
  •  3 Milton Colbert
  • 18Tony Green
  • 13Colin Larmond
  • 19Richie Martin
  • 17Antonie Rivera
  •  5Landis Williams
Offensive linemen
  • 70Mohamed Kourouma Ibraihm
  • 76Rocco Manfre
  • 75Lavon McCoy
  • 79Rufus Quinn
  • 62Malcolm Speller

Defensive linemen

  • 44Michael Atunarse
  • 95Brandon Potvin
  • 55Jerome Williams
Linebackers
  •  2Jerome Hayes
  •  8Adrian McLeod

Defensive backs

  •  4Vaughn Carraway
  • --Guesly Dervil
  • 12Keiron Jones
  • 23Dom Joseph
  • 14Serge Kona
  • 26Mike McMillian

Kickers

  • 15Edward Rhunke
Injured reserve
  • 91Trevor Anderson DL
  • --Jaquan Bryant WR
  •  9Tevan Ferguson DL
  •  7 Alex Joseph LB

Exempt list

Failure to report

  • --Phede Celestine OL
  • --Leavander Jones DB
  • --Maurice Jones DB
  • 70Lloyd Morrison OL

Left squad

  • 90Marques Slocum DL
  • 21Kwaheem Smith DB
  • rookies in italics
  • Roster updated June 14, 2015
  • 27 Active, 18 Inactive

→ More rosters

Awards and honors

The following is a list of all Freedom players who won league awards:

SeasonPlayerPositionAward
2014 Roger Jackson WR Offensive Rookie of the Year
2014 Warren Smith QB Most Valuable Player
2015 Jerome Hayes LB Defensive Player of the Year

All-League players

The following Freedom players were named to All-League Teams:

Head coaches

NameTermRegular seasonPlayoffsAwards
WLTWin%WL
Kevin O'Hanlon2014–201514100.58301

Coaching staff

Trenton Freedom staff
Front office
  • President/Owner – Dennis Williams
  • Owner – Michael Schubiger
  • General manager – Jeff Gonos
  • Assistant general manager – Will Schubiger

Head coach

  • Head coach – Kevin O'Hanlon

Offensive coaches

  • Offensive coordinator – Ryan Vena
  • Running Backs -
  • Offensive/Defensive Line –
 

Defensive coaches

  • Defensive coordinator/secondary – Ryan Sloth
  • Wide Receivers -

Season-by-season results

League ChampionsConference ChampionsDivision ChampionsWild Card BerthLeague Leader
Season Team League Conference Division Regular season Postseason results
FinishWinsLossesTies
2014 2014 PIFL National1st840Lost National Conference Title 39-43 vs. (Lehigh Valley)
2015 2015 PIFL5th660
Totals14100All-time regular season record (2014–2015)
01-All-time postseason record (2014–2015)
14110All-time regular season and postseason record (2014–2015)

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References

  1. ↑ Hester, Matthew. "PIFL Sinks Their Fangs Into Nashville." Professional Indoor Football League. November 11, 2013. Retrieved November 11, 2013.
  2. 1 2 3 Jenna Pizzi (September 17, 2013). "Trenton Freedom looks to join Professional Indoor Football League". www.nj.com. New Jersey On-Line LLC. Retrieved December 26, 2013.
  3. ↑ "Trenton Freedom join PIFL". www.nj.com. New Jersey On-Line LLC. September 20, 2013. Retrieved December 26, 2013.
  4. ↑ George O'Gorman (May 4, 2014). "Freedom hoping to keep momentum going from huge comeback". www.trentonian.com. The Trentonian. Retrieved May 5, 2014.
  5. ↑ "Trenton Freedom come up short in playoff loss to Lehigh Valley". www.nj.com. New Jersey On-Line LLC. July 6, 2014. Retrieved July 7, 2014.
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