Patriots thump Bulldogs

Liberty's defense took its lumps the first two weeks of the football season, yielding 99 points to a pair of Hawaiian powers.

The second-ranked Patriots didn't have those problems against Centennial on Friday.

Liberty hounded Centennial quarterback Jamaal Evans all night, limiting the third-ranked Bulldogs to 251 yards on the way to a 27-7 road victory.

"It was amazing," senior linebacker Nick Moniz said. "It was a big jump from last game. Last game we couldn't hold our ground and we gave up 53 (points). But this game we held our ground and only gave up seven."

The Patriots (2-1) pressured Evans all night, sacking him six times and dropping him for several losses on designed run plays. When Liberty didn't get to the quarterback, Evans was often under heavy pressure and forced to throw quickly.

"Our defensive line and our linebackers, we were getting a lot of pressure," said Moniz, who had a sack "It was hard for them to get off easy passes and easy runs so it was pretty good."

Centennial (3-1) put together its best drive of the night to start the second half. The Bulldogs went 67 yards on 11 plays, capped by an 8-yard TD run by Rhamondre Stevenson, to cut the Liberty lead to 14-7 with 8:11 to go in the third quarter.

The Patriots ditched their spread game on the ensuing possession, instead going with two tight ends and two fullbacks. The moved paid off, as Liberty answered with an eight-play, 57-yard drive to retake the momentum. Alofania Tevaseu capped the drive with a 1-yard plunge on fourth-and-goal.

"We feel like we can do a lot of different things offensively, and we kind of keep the power game in our back pocket for when we need it," Liberty coach Rich Muraco said. "We weren't really executing the spread game. Centennial did a great job against us early, and we felt like we needed to let our big boys do some work up front."

Liberty's offense did suffer a blow on the drive when explosive junior Ethan Dedeaux went down with a right ankle injury. He had to be helped off the field and didn't put any weight on his right leg. He didn't return and was on crutches with an ice pack on his ankle after the game.

"I think it's just an ankle," Muraco said. "He'll be all right. He's a beast."

Dedeaux already had made his mark on the game. He hauled in a 62-yard TD pass from Kenyon Oblad to open the scoring with 8:20 to go in the first half. He had five catches for 116 yards, all in the first half. He also had three carries for 42 yards on the team's first drive of the second half.

Centennial also finished the game without its top offensive weapon, bruising 230-pound running back Stevenson. Stevenson finished with 22 carries for 108 yards, but didn't touch the ball in the fourth quarter and finished the game on the bench with ice on his right foot.

"I don't think people realize how good those two teams are that we played," Muraco said. "They have explosive offenses with kids going to big-time (college) programs. I harped on the defense all week to come out and make a statement. And I thought they did a great job tonight."

As good as the defense was, senior linebacker Ka'imi Batoon wasn't satisfied.

"We didn't get what I wanted to do as the captain of the defense," Batoon said. "I wanted to get that goose egg, zero. I'm pretty proud of how we did this game. We played pretty well."

Oblad completed 19 of 30 passes for 281 yards, but was intercepted twice. Chad Tebay added 59 yards on 14 carries, including TD runs of 3 and 2 yards.

Evans completed 15 of 31 passes for 119 yards. Savon Scarver, who had been the team's big-play threat in the first three games, caught 10 passes, but never got loose for a big play. He had 80 yards.

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