Photos by Henry Barrios
BY STEPHEN LYNCH
Every week in practice Liberty coach Bryan Nixon has a list of things that he wants his team to focus on for its upcoming game.
Heading into the Patriots Southwest Yosemite League matchup against Garces on Friday night, Nixon stressed the importance establishing a strong running game and getting out to a good start.
Clearly that multi-faceted message got through to Liberty’s players.
Propelled by a relentless rushing attack that amassed 228 yards in the first half, the Patriots jumped out to big early lead en route to a 31-0 victory over the Rams at Tobias Field.
“We talked about it all week long that we wanted to come out fast and our kids did that tonight,” Nixon said. “We’re pretty excited the way they came out. We had a little lull there for a minute, but I’m really pleased with our kids’ efforts and the way they were this week.”
Liberty (8-1, 4-0 SWYL) seized control of the game right from start, scoring touchdowns on its first four possessions while completely shutting down Garces’ offense in the first half.
Junior running back Prentice Boone sliced and diced his way through the Rams defense for 113 yards and a touchdown in the first quarter.
Boone sprained his left ankle on the final play of the opening period and didn’t return to action.
He wasn’t needed. Christian Muniz took Boone’s place in the Patriots backfield and rushed 12 times for 92 yards, including a 39-yard touchdown dash that extended Liberty’s lead to 28-0 with 8:47 remaining in the first half.
“I just wanted to run hard, get my team together,” Muniz said.
Spearheaded by Boone and Muniz the Patriots finished with 302 yards rushing.
“We ran the ball successfully and that was a big thing we had talked about,” Nixon said. “We had to be able to run the football in big games. Our O-line did a good job. Our running backs did a good job.”
Liberty quarterback Haden Mann passed for just 44 yards but had first-half touchdown runs of 1 and 17 yards.
Both scores came at the end of long, time consuming drives.
The Patriots run-to-pass ratio was 30-8 in the first half. Their ball-control offense steadily chewed up yardage and the clock. Liberty had the ball for 16 minutes and seven seconds in the first half.
“Up front, they just dominated the game,” Garces coach Paul Golla said. “That’s what Liberty does year in and year out. They don’t get enough credit. They run the ball as well as anybody around.”
Garces (3-6, 1-3 SWYL) had possession of the ball for only seven minutes and 53 seconds in the first half. During that time the Rams ran only 25 offensive plays and gained a paltry 28 yards. They managed only two first downs, one due to a pass interference penalty, prior to intermission.
Liberty’s defense was stout from start to finish. The deepest into Patriots territory the Rams got all night was the 35-yard line.
Garces quarterback Joseph Campbell was sacked three times and hounded all game by a fierce Liberty pass rush.
Forced to throw under duress most of the time, Campbell completed just 7 of his first 19 attempts and was intercepted by Jacob O’Connell and Brady Anderson.
Campbell finished 11 of 23 for 114 yards. The senior signal caller got little help from a Garces running game that tallied a meager 20 net yards.
Senior defensive end Nathan Krauss had a sack and a tackle for a loss for Liberty, which recorded its third shutout of the season.
“We were just flying around,” Krauss said. “Everyone was getting to the ball.”
Liberty’s defense has allowed an average five points per SWYL game this season.
“Our defense played lights out again,” Nixon said. “That’s the one thing that we always hang our hat on is our defense…kudos to our guys and our coaches.”
The only points of the second half came on a 25-yard field goal by Liberty kicker Brayden Blevins.
“Our kids battled (in the second half),” Golla said. “We basically (forced them into) two turnovers on downs. Held them to a field goal and a turnover. I’m very proud (of my team).”
Friday night’s victory by the Patriots was their 13th straight against Garces.
Liberty heads into its final regular season game against Bakersfield High on Friday looking lockup a third straight SWYL title. The Patriots have now won 14 consecutive SWYL games. The last time they lost a SWYL game was to the Drillers on the final week of 2016 regular season.
“Our kids are playing hard,” Nixon said. “It’s the culture we’re talking about. We got to continue to grow and continue to get better.”
Liberty 31, Garces 0
Liberty 14 14 3 0-31
Garces 0 0 0 0-0
First quarter
L-Boone 1 run (Blevins kick)
L-Mann 1 run (Blevins kick)
Second quarter
L-Mann 17 run (Blevins kick)
L-Muniz 39 run (Blevins kick)
Third quarter
L-Blevins 25 FG
Individual statistics
RUSHING-Boone 15-113, Muniz 12-92, Mann 12-72, Churchman 4-11, Torrigiani 1-11, Goodwill 1-6, Henderson 1-2, Tooker 2-(-5); Garces: Campbell 11-17, Smith 6-9, Wimberly 6-5, Team 1-(-11).
PASSING-Liberty: Mann 7-9-0-44; Garces: Campbell 11-23-2-114.
RECEIVING-Liberty: Oliver 2-25, Tooker 3-14, Henderson 2-5; Garces: D’Amato 3-35, Hatten 2-32, Marshall 3-18, Bell 1-16, Bradford 1-12, Wimberly 1-1.
JV-Liberty 50, Garces 31
