Trenton Freedom

Trenton Freedom
Founded 2013
Folded 2015
League PIFL (2014–2015)
Team history Trenton Freedom (2014–2015)
Based in Trenton, New Jersey
Arena Sun National Bank Center
Colors Red, Silver, Blue, White
                   
Owner(s) Dennis Williams
Michael Schubiger
President Dennis Williams
Head coach Kevin O’Hanlon
General Manager Jeff Gonos
Championships 0
Division titles 0
Playoff berths 1: (2014)
Mascot General George
Website Official website

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.

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 teams 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. WR 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

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

Defensive Linemen

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

Defensive Backs

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

Kickers

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

Exempt list

  • 14 Boubacar Cissoko DB
  • -- Dwayne Hollis DB
  •  3 Roger Jackson WR
  • -- DaShawn Johnson OL
  • -- Keith Newell OL
  • -- Jeremy Schonbrunner OL
  • -- Warren Smith QB
  • -- Nijha White WR

Failure to Report

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

Left squad

  • 90 Marques Slocum DL
  • 21 Kwaheem 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 have won league awards:

Season Player Position Award
2014 Roger Jackson Wide Receiver Offensive Rookie of the Year
2014 Warren Smith Quarterback Most Valuable Player
2015 Jerome Hayes Linebacker Defensive Player of the Year

All-League players

The following Freedom players have been named to All-League Teams:

Head coaches

Note: Statistics are correct through the end of the 2015 PIFL season.

Name Term Regular Season Playoffs Awards
W L T Win% W L
Kevin O'Hanlon 2014–2015 14 10 0 .583 0 1

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

Note: The Finish, Wins, Losses, and Ties columns list regular season results and exclude any postseason play.

League Champions Conference Champions Division Champions Wild Card Berth League Leader
Season Team League Conference Division Regular season Postseason Results
Finish Wins Losses Ties
2014 2014 PIFL National 1st 8 4 0 Lost National Conference Title 39-43 vs. (Lehigh Valley)
2015 2015 PIFL 5th 6 6 0
Totals 14 10 0 All-time regular season record (2014-2015)
0 1 - All-time postseason record (2014-2015)
14 11 0 All-time regular season and postseason record (2014-2015)

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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