Liberty passes first major title test against Buckeye

For nearly half of Friday's showdown, Buckeye pushed Liberty around - keeping the Lions' pass rush from disrupting its passing game, and stopping Liberty's spread option attack with a physical front seven.

The Hawks' dominance paid off when senior Randy Hale's one-yard touchdown plunge tied the game at 14 with 8:55 remaining.

Then the visiting Lions pushed back.

Liberty (9-0, 3-0) used big plays in all three phases of the game to own the final nine minutes and kick Buckeye (7-2, 2-1) out of the Skyline Region penthouse 24-14.

"(Buckeye) is a tough team. It's good for us to see that so we can work on things and get better," Filleman said. "In that last drive we said let's go back to our run stuff and let's get after them because that's what we've been hanging our hat on."

Senior tailback Dan Mihelich started the Lions first drive of the fourth quarter with a 12-yard draw up the middle. This slowed Buckeye's momentum a tad - the Hawks did not allow Liberty a first down on its previous four drives.

A late hit on sophomore quarterback Andre Gattie moved the Lions to the Buckeye 36. Gattie sustained the drive on a 10-yard option keeper, but the Lions bogged down at the 18.

Enter junior kicker Conner McRae for his first field goal in a pressure situation this year. His 35-yard attempt split the uprights with 4:21 remaining.

"Last year I was put in the same situation and I missed," McRae said. "I said to myself that if I ever get in that situation again I'm going to make it. Right there I said 'hey, I'm going to make it,' and I stepped up and drilled it right down the middle."

The Liberty defense had allowed Buckeye in the red zone on four of its previous five possessions - but held the Hawks to two touchdowns. In the final minutes, the unit stopped Buckeye's most important drive before it really started.

On the third play, senior quarterback Kody Karjala found senior receiver Andrew Holden along the sideline for a first down. Holden broke free from senior cornerback Keegan Whipkey's tackle and cut across the middle of the field. Two Lions hit Holden hard and forced a fumble, which senior linebacker Jeff Haney recovered at the Buckeye 39.

"That was an awesome hit and definintely sealed it for us and got the momentum back on our side for good," Filleman said.

Filleman wanted to run out the remaining three minutes, but Gattie found a quicker way to ensure the victory. On a third down play, he took the shotgun snap, faked a draw to Mihelich and got to the corner on a 32-yard scoring run.

"That's the best feeling I've ever had," Gattie said.

This capped Gattie's big night. The first-year starter completed only one pass, but carried the bulk of the ground game against a Buckeye defense that focused on Mihelich.

Coach Bobby Barnes' strategy worked - the state's second-leading rusher was limited to 45 yards on 14 carries. But Gattie called his own number more on his spread option plays with Mihelich, and the sophomore gained a game-high 127 rushing yards.

"They were keying on Dan pretty good," Filleman said. "That's just one of those dual-threat things and Gattie stepped up a lot tonight."

The duo accounted for all but six yards of the team's offense, and propelled Liberty to an early lead. Gattie kept the opening drive going with a 29-yard third down keeper. Mihelich went straight up the middle from 15 yards out, to give Liberty a 7-0 lead.

Two plays later, Whipkey picked off Karjala at the Buckeye 19. Gattie appeared to put the Lions up 14-0, but his 19-yard run was negated by a holding call. On third-and-goal, Buckeye senior David Banks intercepted Gattie in the end zone.

On Liberty's next drive, Gattie had an 11-yard touchdown run erased by a holding call at the 2. So, on the next play he scored from 12 yards out on the same option keeper.

Trailing 14-0, Buckeye abandoned all pretense of a running game and its version of the spread began to move. Karjala completed four straight passes, including a 17-yard touchdown to Holden on a post route.

The Hawks threatened again in the final seconds of the half. Karjala connected on five consecutive passes, moving Buckeye to the Liberty 16 with .9 of a second remaining. He found Hale on the crossing pattern in the end zone, but the score was nullified by an illegal shift.

In the third quarter, the Liberty defense again allowed yards, but not points.  Buckeye attempted a fourth and nine from the Liberty 18 and junior Geordan Key snared Karjala's lob in the end zone.

"We knew our defense was pretty good and they came to play," Filleman said. "The story really was our defense bending but not breaking."

Buckeye's passing game lived up to its billing. Karjala completed 22 of 34 passes for 267 yards. Banks caught nine balls for 122 yards. Hale had seven catches for 61 yards, and added 35 yards and a touchdown on the ground.

Despite their heavy edge in total offense, the Hawks lost control of a league they've dominated in recent years.

Liberty plays host to Goodyear Desert Edge Nov. 6, and can cap an undefeated season and a region championship with a victory.

Friday's win also gives the first-time AIA football competitor a sense of legitimacy. Beating another top 4A-II squad on the road moves Liberty from curiosity to state title contender.

"We want to earn respect this year. That's been our theme," Filleman said. "This was a big step for us to earn more respect."