Susan Harman

Your Prep Sports

NORTH LIBERTY – Liberty High, the team with the solid-gold passing game, ran to its heart’s delight Friday against Cedar Rapids Washington, and its battered defense rose to the occasion to shut down the Warriors, 60-10 on Homecoming.

The Lightning defense had trouble containing teams like Pleasant Valley, Cedar Falls and Prairie.

On average the Bolts were giving up 36 points per game. But this one was different.

“Coming into the year we thought we were a solid defense team, but (Pleasant Valley) kind of exposed us,” senior linebacker Gavin Benton said. “We had a lack of confidence. We needed to get that back. This one, especially, will bring us back. We’re competing for tackles. We’re all hungry.”

In the first half alone Liberty’s defense recorded five sacks and two other tackles for loss. Washington was held to minus-1 yards rushing in the first half and passed for only 44.

The Warriors had minus-2 yards total at the end of the game.

They came in averaging 80 yards rushing per game.

“I think it’s just practicing every week and doing the little things at practice over and over every day to come into this game,” senior defensive lineman Dantrell Skinner said. “We have to do what we do best; I mean, it’s pretty simple.

“Just having all seven attacking the ball and pushing them back.”

Washington lost control of the game late in the second quarter with Liberty ahead only 19-7. Two incompletions, a holding penalty and a Skinner sack left Wash punting from its 4.

The punt was fielded by Dallas Miller at the 37 and returned to the 12.

Sutton Koller ran it in on the first snap, and a two-point conversion gave the Lightning a 27-7 lead with 2:54 left in the half.

Washington again was stymied by a Skinner sack, two tackles for loss and a penalty.

Again the Warriors had to punt with the ball at their 4.

This time the snap wasn’t handled, and the punter ran for his life before launching a soft wedge shot that Cody Nichols scooped and ran 12 yards for a touchdown.

At half it was 33-7, and Washington was hung out to dry.

“Me and Dantrell, he’s one of my best friends,” Benton said. “We work together in the weight room and on the field. On the field he’s mad at me when I get a sack because he didn’t get him.”

Skinner thought that the Lightning were a bit quicker off the ball than the Warrior offensive linemen.

“We’re a fast-paced defense,” he said. “We work on our first step getting off and pinning the O-linemen back and just get through. Our whole D-line had a good, strong push on the offensive line.”

All the usual culprits were at play: field position, turnovers, penalties, missed tackles.

But none of that nasty stuff came from the Lightning.

They were content to take full advantage of Washington’s miscues.

Liberty High rushed for 217 yards in the first half.

The Bolts average 102 per game. It was part of a plan.

“We pass the ball a ton,” quarterback Graham Beckman said. “I don’t know how many touchdowns we scored, but I only got two of them, so the running backs had all the other ones. So it was big to get them involved today.”

Koller scored four rushing touchdowns and finished with 108 yards.

Owen Drapeaux ran eight times for 139 yards in just the first half.

The offensive line opened massive holes for Drapeaux and often he was into the secondary in the blink of an eye.

“I think we were just doing our thing up front,” Beckman said. “Everyone was doing what they were supposed to. Owen was just following his blockers, and he found openings.”

Beckman connected on a deep post route to Miller for another TD on the first Bolt play from scrimmage in the second half.

Miller was wide open. A similar post patter run by Koller was wide open on the Bolts’ next possession and that set up a TD by Collin Decker on a simple curl pattern that turned into a 31-yard TD when he easily shucked the only tackler in the area.

The continuous clock came into play, and Liberty used reserves in the fourth quarter.

Backup quarterback Reece Rettig hit Chase Eisenbach for a 34-yard touchdown with 7:39 left to push the score to 60-10.

The Bolts improved to 2-4 while Washington is 1-5.

                                                   CRW                LIB

First downs                             11                    19

Rushing-yards                         32-(-2)             23-244

Comp-att-int                           14-23-0           11-15-0

Passing-yards                          135                  206

Punts-avg.                               6-34.6              1-12

Fumbles-lost                           1-1                   0-0

Penalties-yards                       6-35                 6-50

CR Washington          0    7     3    0  –  10

Liberty High             13   20   20   7  –  60

ICL – Owen Drapeaux 5 run (Conley Sundblad kick)

ICL – Sutton Koller 10 run (kick failed)

CRW – Montarious Beard 6 pass from Grady McGuire (kick good)

ICL – Koller 42 run (pass failed)

ICL – Koller 12 run (Koller run)

ICL – Cody Nichols 12 punt return (run failed)

ICL – Dallas Miller 46 pass from Graham Beckman (kick failed)

CRW– Logan Barton 25 field goal

ICL – Collin Decker 31 pass from Beckman (Logan Laubenthal kick)

ICL – Koller 24 run (Laubenthal kick)

ICL – Chase Eisenbach 34 pass from Reece Rettig (Laubenthal kick)

RUSHING – CRW: Nicholas Riley 14-38, Mason Bahls 7-13, team 1-(-2), Grady McGuire 10-(-51). ICL: Owen Drapeaux 8-139, Sutton Koller 11-108, Charles Roberts 3-1, Jamarion Baker 1-(-4).

PASSING – CRW: McGuire 14-23-0 135. ICL: Graham Beckman 9-13-0 138, Reece Rettig 2-2-0 68.

RECEIVING – CRW: Landyn Mitvalsky 6-70, Brock Davis 3-28, Bahls 3-24, Yealeseh Amah 1-9, Montarious Beard 1-6, Riley 1-(-2). ICL: Dallas Miller 3-58, Koller 2-54, Chase Eisenbach 1-34, Parker Ehrman 1-34, Gabe Clark 1-18, Mason Waterbury 1-8, Roberts 1-(-1).

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