LIBERTY COMES BACK TO STUN THE FLASHES
WARREN OH- Liberty has been a snake bitten program this season. They have felt with injuries, cancelations, and tough losses. Coming in to Friday, they were just looking for something positive to happen to slingshot then into the final stretch of the season. They hit the road to take on Champion, and for much of the game that shot never came. However, down 14 with 7:35 to go in the game the Leopards stormed back and won 35-34. A go ahead two point conversion made the Liberty faithful go bananas.
Champion struck first in the game as Nick Vesey took one 45 yards to the house to put the Flashes up 7-0. After a defensive stop, Chamlion would drive down the field again and cap it off with a 3 yard Joey Fell touchdown. Liberty would respond with a monster 80 yard strike to Chris Cunningham to cut the Champion lead to 13-7. Fell would find the endzone again though for the Flashes, this time through the air on a connection to Brett Channel. Liberty would respond before the half with a Tyson Lawrence-Watson touchdown.
Fell would come out of the locker room and hit pay dirt for his third touchdown of the night to put Champion back up by two scores 27-13. Chris Cunningham would strike again however with his second huge touchdown reception of the night to cut it back down to 27-20. Fell would not be denied the next drive as he put in his fourth touchdown of the night making it 34-20 with 7:35 to go.
This is where the gun began for Liberty fans. Right after Fell’s score, Liberty’s Dwayne Moody ran back a kickoff return for a touchdown to get the Leopards right back in it. Liberty then made a big defensive stop, got the ball back and marched down the field. With 25 ticks on the clock Moody caught a touchdown pass for what most assumed would be the game tying score. Coach Simon had other plans however, as he put the offense back on the field. A connection right back to Moody would seal the deal and give Liberty the 35-34 win.
Champion won just about every statistic of the game outside of the final score. They put gained Liberty 404-330. They out ran the Leopards 297-55. They forced 3 Liberty turnovers, and won the time of possession battle by over 11 minutes. Liberty’s big play ability erased all that though. Cunningham was a lightning Rod gaining 192 yards on 5 catches. Tyson Lawrence-Watson threw for 272 passing yards.
Liberty will return home next week as they host Newton Falls. Champion will stay home to try to bounce back against Campbell. Both games can be seen on YSN!
