Douglas Miles

Your Prep Sports

NORTH LIBERTY – Flinging the ball around with the passing game has quickly become the calling card of Liberty High football.

With a breakout talent like junior Graham Beckman at quarterback, it is easy to see why.

“We only ran the ball once in the first half against Mount Pleasant last week,” second-year Liberty High coach James Harris said with a laugh after the Class 4A fourth-ranked Lightning totaled 322 passing yards and blanked No. 9 Fort Madison, 49-0, in a top-10 District 3 showdown Friday night at Liberty High School. “Our receivers are pretty good and we know Graham is a heck of a player, so we like throwing the ball out. (Liberty Assistant) Coach (Scott) Chandler does an amazing job of taking what the defense is going to give us. If they are going to pack it in, we are going to go over the top.”

Liberty High (6-1, 3-0 District 3) encouraged the bloodhounds to “pack it in” with an early surge of running plays for both senior tailback Trey Gregoire and quarterback keepers for Beckman.

Once the Fort Madison defense crept closer to the line of scrimmage, Beckman pounced.

“That was kind of our game plan,” Beckman said. “When they thought we were going to run it, we kind of hit them deep on that wheel route to (junior receiver Easton) Koller. We just thought that linebacker coverage with a running back is not the easiest thing to do, so if you can get them one-on-one, you can let them go grab it.”

Beckman and his collection of precise route runners burned the Fort Madison defense for four long touchdowns in the first half, highlighted by a short reception from senior receiver Wyatt Williams, whose perfectly-executed spin move allowed him to split three defenders and race down the sidelines for a 78-yard score that pushed the Liberty advantage to 21-0 in the second quarter.

“When I threw it, I kind of thought I left it a little high,” Beckman said. “But he grabbed it and then came down and made a couple of moves. That is what Wyatt can do, make guys miss and then run it down the sidelines and score.”

Gregoire started the scoring with a 20-yard reception, Koller collected a 57-yard score and senior receiver Garrett Gregoire added a 48-yard TD catch in the closing seconds of the first half that gave the Lightning a 28-0 halftime lead.

“I can trust all of them to go up and grab balls during different situations,” Beckman said. “It helps to have guys everywhere to throw it to.”

Beckman added a short rushing touchdown early in the second quarter and finished the game with 304 passing yards and five total touchdowns.

He has now thrown for 1,785 passing yards this season with 26 total touchdowns, including 22 through the air.

He ranked first or second in all of 4A in all three categories entering the game, and college recruiters have taken notice.

“I’m hearing from a couple schools here and there,” Beckman said. “I have talked to Iowa and North Dakota State and Nebraska. They have been the big ones, then I am going to Drake in mid-November. So we will see how it goes from here.”

Liberty High was equally as impressive on the defensive side of the ball.

Previously-unbeaten Fort Madison (6-1, 2-1) entered the contest looking like a team that could do damage both on the ground and with the pass, but Liberty junior defensive lineman Dantrell Skinner led a stout effort that limited the Bloodhounds to just 78 total yards and no points.

“It is really just up front, starting up front,” Skinner said. “Just doing our jobs, squeezing down and making their running backs stop in the backfield and switch directions.”

Senior linebacker Christian Barney returned to the defensive side of the ball for the first time since the second week of the season following a shoulder injury and made one of the more impactful plays when he returned an interception 22 yards for a touchdown early in the third quarter that extended the Liberty High lead to 42-0.

“I just read the quarterback’s eyes and knew where he was throwing the whole time,” said Barney, who also caught two passes for 73 yards from his tight end position.

Williams finished with four receptions for 117 yards, while Trey Gregoire collected a game-high 72 rushing yards.

Liberty High’s pursuit of a district title continues with a visit to Burlington next week before closing the regular season at home against Clinton Oct. 21.

“Focus and just stacking days,” Harris said. “Focus and stacking days.”

                                     FM                  ICL

First Downs               5                      10

Rushes-yards             22-8                 25-75

Comp-Att-Int            11-22-1           10-17-0

Passing yards             56                    322

Total yards                78                    397

Punts-avg.                  9-28.2              3-21.3

Fumbles-lost              1-0                   0-0

Penalties-yards          2-15                 4-25

Fort Madison   0   0   0  0  –   0

Liberty High   14 14 21 0  –  49

ICL – Trey Gregoire 20 pass from Graham Beckman (Hayden Saul kick)

ICL – Easton Koller 57 pass from Beckman (Saul kick)

ICL – Wyatt Williams 78 pass from Beckman (Saul kick)

ICL – Garrett Gregoire 48 pass from Beckman (Saul kick)

ICL – Beckman 3 run (Saul kick)

ICL – Christian Barney 22 interception return (Saul kick)

ICL – Trey Gregoire 8 run (Saul kick)

Individual Statistics

RUSHING – Fort Madison: Teague Smith 18-19, Aidan Boyer 4-(-11); Iowa City Liberty: Graham Beckman 5-(-1), Trey Gregoire 12-72, Anyhlan Peoples 4-17, Easton Koller 2-(-3), Reece Rettig 2-(-10).

PASSING – Fort Madison: Aidan Boyer 11-22-1-56; Iowa City Liberty: Graham Beckman 9-16-0-304, Reece Rettig 1-1-0-18.

RECEIVING – Fort Madison: Teague Smith 1-2, Henry Wiseman 4-25, Leif Boeding 2-17, Nathaniel Swigart 2-11, Kane Williams 2-1; Iowa City Liberty: Christian Barney 2-73, Garrett Gregoire 2-55, Wyatt Williams 4-117, Trey Gregoire 1-20, Easton Koller 1-57.

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