Liberty tames Dragons in victory
The plan for No. 2-ranked Liberty Friday night at Del Sol was for several players to receive playing time against a struggling Dragons squad.
To that end, the Patriots second-team defense started the game and was promptly run over by Del Sol running back Cameron Lamont, who capped an 80-yard Dragons drive with a 7-yard touchdown run. Lamont gained every yard on the drive for Del Sol.
“We knew they weren’t going to lay down and let us do whatever we want,” Liberty coach Rich Muraco said. “We had to fight for it early on.”
Despite the strong start by the Dragons and the loss of leading rusher Niko Kapeli at the end of the first quarter, Liberty battled back behind quarterback Tyler Newman, who threw for two scores and ran for another as the Patriots scored 31 unanswered points on their way to a 38-19 victory.
After Lamont’s hot start, Newman countered on the ensuing drive for Del Sol, scoring on a 2-yard run and then tossing a pass to Nacua for a 2-point conversion to give Liberty (5-1, 2-0 Southeast) an 8-6 lead with 3:16 left in the first quarter.
The Patriots then saw Kapeli go down with what Muraco described as a foot injury. Despite the loss, Liberty managed to score 16 points in the final 2:45 of the first half to seize control of the game.
Tyler Parvin scored on a 3-yard run to push the lead to 14-6. After the Patriots defense forced the Dragons to a three-and-out on the ensuing possession, Newman threw a 15-yard TD pass to Jaylen Mitchell with 33 seconds left in the second quarter, giving Liberty a 21-6 lead.
The Patriots got the ball back just before halftime, and Austin Fitzgerald knocked in a 46-yard field goal as time expired in the first half to extend the lead to 24-6.
Newman finished with 172 passing yards in the game.
Without Kapeli, Liberty still managed to roll up 243 rushing yards behind 91 yards from Jaylen Mitchell and 56 yards from Tyler Parvin.
“We have a lot of young running backs behind Niko that don’t get a lot of carries,” Muraco said. “You never want to see your star player get knocked out of a game, but it was valuable experience for those sophomores and juniors.”
Liberty also had help from senior Kai Nuaca, who had an 11-yard TD run and hauled in a 51-yard TD pass from Newman in the second half.
“Kai to me is the best player in the state of Nevada,” Muraco said. “He can do anything, everything. Receiver, running back, quarterback, wide receiver. linebacker, safety, corner.”
Nuaca also was key in offsetting a big outing from Lamont, who rushed for 251 yards and a score on 34 carries for Del So (1-5, 0-2).