Aaron Viner

Your Prep Sports

NORTH LIBERTY – Close football games are nothing new for Liberty High in 2019. They know all it takes is one play to shift momentum.

The Lightning took advantage of a muffed punt and an interception late in their district contest against Davenport Assumption, and used both to shut the doors on the Knights, claiming a 14-7 home victory.

“Every game we’ve played, they’ve been tight ballgames,” Liberty head coach Jeff Gordon said. “It’s been a score or less going into the fourth quarter. We like to think that it’s (us) that determines whether we win or lose.”

The win puts Liberty High (6-2) in good position for a playoff spot going into the final week of the season, and the team can feel it.

“There’s a lot of excitement in the air and there’s a lot of love all around from our teammates and brothers,” junior running back Max Tafolla said. “Last year, it wasn’t so much our way when we traveled down there. This shows how much we’ve improved since last year.”

In Tafolla’s return from an injury, he put up a big night on the ground, accumulating more than 130 yards and accounting for both Liberty High touchdowns.

“Being back on the field with my teammates is the best thing ever,” Tafolla said. “Especially being at home, I couldn’t be happier (to be on the field).”

Right from the opening kick, Liberty took control of the clock.

The opening 21-play drive saw the Lightning put the ball in the hands of their three-headed rushing attack, helmed by Tafolla, and they combined to convert 5 of their 6 third downs, and one fourth down, en route to running 11:30 off the clock and scoring a 1-yard touchdown.

“It wasn’t necessarily the plan, but do you want to be the hammer or the nail?” Gordon said. “We came out and set the tone a little bit and it worked out that way.”

The second quarter saw Assumption and Liberty High reach a draw as the teams traded punts, but the Knights had their answer in the third quarter.

In a similar fashion as Liberty High, Assumption methodically drove down the field with their senior running back, Nate Schlichting, eating more than 7:30 off the clock en route to a 14-play touchdown drive to tie it up.

“It felt like we’ve got different formations, but we are the exact same team,” Gordon said. “They forced 20 turnovers this year, so we knew we had to play clean. It was nice to win that.”

Schlichting had 83 yards rushing on that drive, which he capped off with a 1-yard touchdown.

The defenses settled back in after the tying score, and it seemed the teams were headed to a stalemate.

Then in the fourth quarter, Liberty got its break.

The Lightning recovered an Assumption muffed punt with eight minutes to play, leading to a nine-play, Tafolla led 28-yard touchdown drive to put them up 14-7.

On the ensuing drive, Assumption put the ball in the air and Liberty High’s Kaleb Williams picked it off, sealing the victory for the Lightning.

Liberty High was strong on third downs in the contest, converting 7 of 13 opportunities, adding two fourth down conversions. There was a simple strategy in those situations.

“Feed the stud,” Gordon said. “He got banged up pretty good in the North Scott game (two weeks ago. All of our boys … are strong and like to fight.”

Liberty will move on to close out the regular season with a road trip to Clinton next week, with hopes set on advancing to the playoffs.

However, Gordon is just looking to finish strong.

“I don’t know if we are in or not, I just want to finish the season,” Gordon said. “We have a big challenge ahead of us next week, so that’s our focus.”

                               ICL                  DA

First downs                 14                         6     

Rush yards              54-190                26-128

Comp-Att-Int              1-1-0                  0-3-1

Passing yards            50                       0      

Total yards                 240                    128

Fumbles-lost              0-0                     1-1

Penalties                  4-25                    5-35

Third down                7-13                    0-4

Fourth down              3-33                    1-1

Liberty High              7  0  0  7  –  14

Assumption              0  0  7  0  –   7

ICL – Max Tafolla 1 run (Nugent kick)

DA – Nate Schlichting 1 run (Sima kick)

ICL – Tafolla 1 run (Nugent kick)

Individual Statistics

RUSHING – ICL: Max Tafolla 33-132, Kaleb Williams 11-48, Jack Ankenbauer 5-5, Drake Woody 5-5. DA: Nate Schlichting 16-92, Tyler Kulhanek 6-29, Dayne Hodge 2-5, Seth Adrian 1-1, Grant Simpson 1-1

PASSING – ICL: Drake Woody 1-1-0 50. DA: Tyler Kulhanek 0-3-1 0.

RECEIVING – ICL: Ben Houselog 1-50

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