Arbor View pulls away from Liberty in 2nd half to reach Open final — PHOTOS
Arbor View junior Kamareion Bell might get overlooked at times while playing with a star quarterback and a host of talented receivers.
You couldn’t help but see what he did Friday night.
Bell had a rushing touchdown, a receiving touchdown and intercepted a pass to lead the Aggies to a 41-28 road win over Liberty in the Class 5A Open Division state semifinals.
“He us a big-name recruit that hasn’t been on the big-name list yet,” Arbor View coach Sam Norris said. “And these coaches better understand that this dude is one of the most relentless, most gritty kids that I’ve coaches. He’s a team guy. He’ll do whatever we ask him to do.”
The Aggies (9-2) will play Bishop Gorman (10-1) for the new Open Division title on Nov. 25 at Allegiant Stadium. The Gaels advanced to the title game with a 43-6 win over Foothill.
Bell finished with 124 yards on 12 carries, and his 12-yard TD run with 2:56 to go in the third quarter broke a 21-21 tie. He added three catches for 40 yards, including a 12-yard TD catch on the game’s opening possession.
“It’s really just a blessing,” Bell said. “I try to be around the ball as much as possible.”
After Bell’s TD run broke the tie, the defense came up with one of six key turnovers to further swing the momentum.
Liberty quarterback Selby Griego looked to swing a pass to running back Kaden Cadang on third-and-2 from the Liberty 46. But the pass was ruled a lateral, and Darion Merriweather scooped the ball up and returned it 41 yards for a touchdown and a 34-21 advantage with 1:53 left in the third quarter.
“Every day in meetings, Coach Norris, he’ll come in here and tell us the way we’re going to get to Allegiant (Stadium) is defense,” Bell said. “So the defense, they stepped up today and we made plays. We made sure to get the offense the ball so they can go down there and score.”
Arbor View’s secondary made life difficult for Griego all night, intercepting five passes including a pick six by Aisek Brown that made it 41-21 with 2:11 to play.
Michael Miniano intercepted two passes, and Teddy Johnson picked off one for the Aggies.
“Man, I love those guys,” Brown said of the team’s secondary. “We just communitcate, we go over film, we watch it together. We’ve got a whole group chat. We go over film together, we stay over extra time putting in work making sure we know what they’re coming out to so the game can be slow.”
Junior quarterback Thaddeus Thatcher completed 13 of 28 passes for 181 yards and three touchdowns. He had a 20-yard TD pass to Zac Fares and a 7-yard scoring strike to Jayden Williams. Thatcher also ran for 54 yards on nine carries, but it was the defense that made the difference.
“The defensive staff did a great job preparing these young men,” Norris said. “They put together a game plan and guys went out there, trusted each other and played together. And they did a great job tonight.”
Griego finished with 115 yards on 19 carries, mostly on scrambles. He completed 14 of 33 passes for 123 yards and two touchdowns, but was picked off the five times. Cadang returned a kickoff 82 yards for a touchdown for Liberty (9-2), which led 15-14 at the half.
Damani Warren had four catches for 67 yards for Arbor View, which will face Gorman in a state final for the second consecutive season.
