2014 Trenton Freedom season

The 2014 Trenton Freedom season was the first season as a professional indoor football franchise and their first in the Professional Indoor Football League (PIFL). One of 8 teams that competed in the PIFL for the 2014 season.

2014 Trenton Freedom season
OwnerDennis Williams
Head coachKevin O'Hanlon
General managerMegan Williams
Home fieldSun National Bank Center
Results
Record8–4
Conference place1st
Playoff finishLost National Conference Championship (Lehigh Valley) 38–49

In August 2013, Owners Dennis Williams and Michael Schubiger announced their intentions to bring an indoor football team back to Trenton, New Jersey.[1] 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.[1] When looking for a league to play in, Williams and Schubiger both were lobbying to become members of the Professional Indoor Football League (PIFL).[1] In September, the team officially became the 7th member of the PIFL for the 2014 season.[2] 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. [3]

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.[4]

Schedule

Key:   Win   Tie   Loss   Bye

Regular season

All start times are local to home team

Week Day Date Kickoff Opponent Results Location
Score Record
1 Sunday March 30 2:05pm Richmond Raiders W 52–17 1–0 Sun National Bank Center
2 Sunday April 6 4:00pm at Lehigh Valley Steelhawks L 47–48 1–1 Stabler Arena
3 BYE
4 Saturday April 19 7:05pm Columbus Lions W 66–63 2–1 Sun National Bank Center
5 Saturday April 26 7:00pm Lehigh Valley Steelhawks L 36–42 2–2 Stabler Arena
6 Friday May 3 7:05pm Richmond Raiders W 33–32 3–2 Sun National Bank Center
7 Sunday May 11 4:00pm Harrisburg Stampede W 52–39 4–2 Sun National Bank Center
8 Saturday May 17 7:05pm at Richmond Raiders W 52–42 5–2 Richmond Coliseum
9 Saturday May 24 7:00pm Lehigh Valley Steelhawks W 55–42 6–2 Sun National Bank Center
10 BYE
11 Friday June 6 7:05pm at Harrisburg Stampede W 57–49 7–2 Giant Center
12 Saturday June 14 7:00pm at Alabama Hammers W 49–47 8–2 Von Braun Center
13 Saturday June 21 7:00pm Georgia Fire L 49–52 8–3 Sun National Bank Center
14 Saturday June 28 7:15pm at Nashville Venom L 48–64 8–4 Nashville Municipal Auditorium

Postseason

All start times are local to home team

Round Day Date Kickoff Opponent Results Location
Score Record
National Conference Championship Saturday July 5 7:01pm Lehigh Valley Steelhawks L 38–49 0–1 Sun National Bank Center

Roster
2014 Trenton Freedom roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

  • 37 Norm Brown
  •  4 Maurice McDonald
  •  2 Landis Williams
Offensive linemen
  • 50 Neil Brown
  • 72 Andre Civil
  • 76 Josh Kamenas
  • 75 Lavon McCoy

Defensive linemen

  • 95 Luqman Abdallah
  • 91 Trevor Anderson
  • 42 Gerrard Bryant
  • 12 Marell Evans
  • 92 William Hollis
Linebackers
  • 27 Jerome Hayes
  • 26 Jeffery Morgan

Defensive backs

  • 37 Bryan Andrews
  •  9 Jaquan Bryant
  •  5 Vaughn Carraway
  • 23 Dom Joseph
  •  1 Muhammad Shamsid-Deen
  • 21 Tristan Simms
  •  1 Kwaheem Smith
  • 24 Reggie Sullivan
  •  7 Christian Wise

Kickers

  • 10 Shawn Leo
Injured reserve
  • 46 John Mason DL (IR)
  • 17 Antonio Rivera WR (IR)

Exempt list

  • 90 Marques Slocum DL (Exempt)

Failure to report

  • -- David Green OL (Did Not Report)
  • -- Kyle Johnson OL (Did Not Report)
  • -- Reggie Paramoure DL (Did Not Report)

Roster updated June 2, 2014
28 Active, 8 Inactive

→ More rosters

Division standings
2014 Professional Indoor Football League
Team Overall Conference
W L T PCT W L T PCT
National Conference
y-Trenton Freedom840.667620.750
x-Lehigh Valley Steelhawks660.500530.625
Richmond Raiders570.417350.375
Harrisburg Stampede480.333260.250
American Conference
y-Nashville Venom1020.833620.750
x-Columbus Lions750.583530.625
Georgia Fire480.333350.375
Alabama Hammers480.333260.250

References
  1. 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.
  2. "Trenton Freedom join PIFL". www.nj.com. New Jersey On-Line LLC. September 20, 2013. Retrieved December 26, 2013.
  3. George O'Gorman (May 4, 2014). "Freedom hoping to keep momentum going from huge comeback". www.trentonian.com. The Trentonian. Retrieved May 5, 2014.
  4. "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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