Susan Harman

Your Prep Sports

NORTH LIBERTY – Seventh-ranked Washington scored one more time than did Liberty High in a highly entertaining, back-and-forth game of contrasting styles Friday night in North Liberty.

The Demons’ final touchdown gave them a 38-31 lead with 5:43 left in the game, and for the first time all night it went unanswered by Liberty High and stood as the final score.

Liberty High had trouble containing Washington’s prolific, wide-open offense led by senior quarterback Luke Turner. But the Demons had just as much trouble handling Liberty High’s powerful, relentless, time-consuming running attack.

“I didn’t know we could score that many points; I knew they could,” Liberty High coach Jeff Gordon said.

Turner showed why he is one of the great two-way threats in Class 3A football, passing for 197 yards and rushing for another 142. As good as he is as a passer, it was his running that really hurt Liberty.

“He’s just similar to (former Heisman trophy winner) Johnny Manziel, that’s what I was thinking of,” Liberty High senior Brian Lively said. “I don’t know, he’s a hell of a player, and he’s hard to stop.”

“Obviously he’s a phenomenal player, but what gets lost is how good everybody else around him is,” Gordon said. “They made the plays a few times tonight and we didn’t.”

“We made our own defensive scheme this week with an extra linebacker just eyeing the quarterback and he’s a crazy athlete,” Liberty High junior Max Tafolla said. “I’ve got all kinds of respect for him.”

After Liberty High took a 31-30 lead in the fourth quarter, scoring on a two-point conversion for the lead, Turner directed a 5-play, 65-yard drive for the go-ahead touchdown.

Turner’s 45-yard run over the left side was the key play in the drive.

Washington’s offense was 21st Century slick with multiple wideouts and a confident, accurate thrower.

After the Demons scored on their first possession and went ahead 8-0 it would have been easy to dwell on the fact that they had outscored its first two opponents 89-18.

But the Lightning didn’t budge, answering every single score. They did their thing, and it worked.

“It all goes back to our lifting program,” Lively said. “The biggest emphasis on our team is people lifting. We just like to pound it down peoples’ throats and do our best.”

“This year we knew they were ranked; we knew they were a tough team,” Tafolla said. “We knew we were at home and had to put on a show. The faith in our team, that’s all it was, that’s the reason we came back.”

Liberty High answered with an 80-yard drive, culminating in a Tafolla 4-yard TD run. Drake Woody ran in the two-point conversion and the pattern of the entire game was set.

Washington scored a second touchdown quickly, set up by a 57-yard pass from Turner to Ethan Hunt.

Turner dropped the ball in the backfield, scrambled and threw the ball as far as he could. Hunt was behind the defense and waited for the ball. The defense caught up at the 8-yard line. Two plays later Turner scored on a run around left end.

The Demons led 16-8 at halftime, but Liberty responded.

Washington fumbled the kickoff and Liberty recovered at the Demon 13. Three plays later Tafolla added his second TD on a three-yard run. A pass from Woody to Ben Houselog tied the game at 16.

Washington went up 23-16 after a 71-yard drive, but Liberty responded with a gorgeous 60-yard touchdown pass from Woody to Lively, the tight end, to tie the game at 23 in the third quarter.

“I was just happy I caught it,” Lively said. “I saw the guy behind me, and I just ran. I think we were lulling them to sleep with the run. It was just over and over and over, and then I slipped by and they didn’t see me.”

Washington scored early in the fourth period on an 80-yard drive, and again Liberty answered with an 80-yard drive of its own.

The key play was a 33-yard TD pass from Woody to Kaleb Williams after Woody miraculously evaded a big rush and Williams kept the faith by trying to remain open near the end zone.

Gordon elected to go for the two-point conversion with 7:30 left in the game, and Tafolla, who had to leave the game a couple minutes earlier because of cramps, ran it in for the 31-30 lead.

Liberty High  rushed for 172 yards led by Tafolla’s 94 on 23 carries. Woody passed for 158 and two touchdowns.

“We played hard, we faced a lot of adversity and responded well and had a chance to win at the end,” Lively said.

“What our guys should realize is it should hurt, but nothing is over,” Gordon said. “Just a lot of respect for Washington and their coaches.”

                                    Washington            Liberty

First downs                          20                      16

Rushing-yards                   35-191            42-172

Comp-att-int                     12-18-2            8-17-0

Passing-yards                      197                   160

Punts-avg.                            2-31                 5-39

Fumbles-lost                         3-1                   2-0

Penalties-yards                    3-25               5-31.5

Washington    8   8    7    15 – 38

Liberty High    0   8   15    8 –  31           

WAS – Luke Turner 8 run (Turner run)

ICL – Max Tafolla 4 run (Drake Woody run)

WAS – Turner 9 run (Reece Mayer pass from Turner)

ICL – Tafolla 3 run (Ben Houselog pass from Woody)

WAS – Wyatt Stout 8 run (Zacary Stout kick)

ICL – Brian Lively 60 pass from Woody (Ryan Nugent kick)

WAS – Stout 9 pass from Turner (Zacary Stout kick)

ICL – Kaleb Williams 33 pass from Woody (Tafolla run)

WAS – Stout 11 run (Turner run)

Individual Statistics

RUSHING – WAS: Luke Turner 15-142, Wyatt Stout 16-69, Brady Knutson 1-8, team 3-(-28). ICL: Max Tafolla 23-94, Kaleb Williams 12-42, Dawson Zimmerman 4-15, Jack Ankenbauer 1-11, Drake Woody 2-10.

PASSING –WAS: Luke Turner 12-18-2 197. ICL – Drake Woody 7-16-0 158, Dawson Zimmerman 1-2-0 2.

RECEIVING – WAS: Ethan Hunt 3-75, Zacary Stout 5-61, Wyatt Stout 2-28, Reece Mayer 1-16, Brady Knutson 1-7. ICL – Brian Lively 1-60, Kaleb Williams 3-43, Ben Houselog 1-22, Ben Kruger 1-20, Jack Ankenbauer 1-8.

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