Trenton Freedom

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.

Trenton Freedom
Established 2013
Folded 2015
Played in Sun National Bank Center in Trenton, New Jersey
Trenton Freedom logo
League/conference affiliations
Professional Indoor Football League (2014–2015)
  • National Conference (2014)
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)

Franchise history

2014
Main article: 2014 Trenton Freedom season

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
Main article: 2015 Trenton Freedom season

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
  • 10 Hunter Wanket

Running backs

Wide receivers

  •  1 Antonio Allen
  • 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

Exempt list

  • 14 Boubacar Cissoko DB
  • -- DaShawn Johnson OL
  • -- 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 won league awards:

SeasonPlayerPositionAward
2014Roger JacksonWROffensive Rookie of the Year
2014Warren SmithQBMost Valuable Player
2015Jerome HayesLBDefensive Player of the Year

All-League players

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

  • QB Warren Smith
  • FB Melik Brown (2)
  • WR Richie Martin
  • OL Lavon McCoy (2), Malcolm Speller
  • DL Gerrard Bryant, Michael Atunarse
  • LB Jerome Hayes
  • DB Mike McMillian
  • Iron-man Melik Brown (2)

Head coaches
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
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. 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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