Liberty goes to ground, KOs Gators

Sometimes it’s good to have a Plan B.

Liberty’s football team came out running the spread Friday night and went nowhere. But once the Patriots switched to the power game, they took control.

Spencer Wilson rushed for 158 yards, and Liberty rallied from an early deficit to beat visiting Green Valley 28-14 in the Sunrise Region quarterfinals.

“We came out and tried to run some spread and got a little rattled early,” Liberty coach Rich Muraco said. “They got pressure on the quarterback. So we just tried something different, went to the double tight (end) and ground and pound.”

Liberty (8-2) rushed for 220 yards and moved the ball effectively after abandoning the spread.

But the same couldn’t be said of the team’s first two possessions. The Patriots lost 34 yards on their first two drives working out of the spread and spotted the Gators (7-3) an 11-0 lead.

But Liberty, which trailed Las Vegas 17-0 last week before rallying, didn’t panic. Instead, the Patriots relied on their enormous offensive line to open holes for its stable of running backs, and the move paid immediate dividends.

“It felt like deja vu, to be honest,” Liberty tight end/defensive end Noah Jefferson said of falling behind early. “Like the Vegas game last week. So I knew we could pull through with our (offensive) line and our defense. I wasn’t really worrying about it too much. I knew if we kept pushing we’ll get there, we’ll start scoring and start rolling.”

A short punt gave Liberty the ball at the Green Valley 35. And after two run plays, the Patriots used play-action effectively, with quarterback Kenyon Oblad lofting a soft pass to Jefferson.

Jefferson caught the ball at the 14 and rumbled into the end zone to complete a 37-yard scoring play.

Calvin Tubbs added the 2-point conversion to make the score 11-8 with 10:54 left in the first half.

On the first play of Liberty’s next possession, the right side of the massive offensive line opened a huge hole for Wilson, who took the ball 69 yards for a touchdown and a 14-11 lead.

“It was a battle of the trenches for us, really,” Jefferson said. “Us having versatile running backs and a deep line of running backs and depth on our team made it real successful for us, because we had fresh legs every single drive.”

The Liberty offensive line averages 309 pounds, and that doesn’t count the 6-foot-6-inch, 285-pound Jefferson. The group provided plenty of running room for Liberty’s stable of backs.

Wilson led the way, but had just 10 carries as the Patriots spread the ball around.

Liberty’s defense also continued to make big plays. The Patriots put themselves in a terrible situation when a high snap on a punt gave Green Valley the ball at the Liberty 4 with 10:04 to go.

A penalty moved the ball to the 2, but the Patriots stuffed two runs and a play-action pass was incomplete, forcing the Gators to settle for an 18-yard field goal by Frank Canales that tied the game at 14 with 8:27 to play.

“That’s humongous, because that keeps it a tie score,” Muraco said. “Now as play calling, you can do whatever you want. You don’t feel any pressure. If they would have scored a touchdown there, now it’s a little more pressure on us, so that was big.”

The Patriots stayed with the ground game on the ensuing drive, getting a 47-yard run from Wilson that helped set up Oblad’s 1-yard quarterback sneak that made the score 21-14 with 6:36 to play.

The Patriots tacked on another TD pass from Oblad to Jefferson, this time for 9 yards, for the final margin.

Green Valley’s Christian Lopez completed 18 of 30 passes for 196 yards, including a 38-yard TD strike to Brayon Williams in the first quarter.

Contact reporter Damon Seiters at dseiters@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4587. Follow him on Twitter: @DamonSeiters.