Liberty Overcomes Early Miscues in Tight Win Against Central Catholic
Tagged under: District 11, Gameday Hub, News
Billy Splain | August 30, 2024
special contributor lsvsports.comlsvsports.com
Sometimes statistics don’t tell the whole story. On Thursday night at J. Birney Crum stadium, the only stat that mattered to the Hurricane was the final score.
Central Catholic got the ball first and, despite picking up a first down, had their opening drive stall out at their own 35. A coverage sack by Ben Bartholomew brought Patrick Cahill down for a loss of seven. With the Vikings forced to punt, the kick was off the side of Tommy Roth’s foot. As it came down, it bounced off a Liberty player and Aidan Sorrentino was on the ball at the Hurricane 40.
With a second chance, the Vikings stalled again, netting no additional yards. After a punt, Liberty finally got the ball for the first time with 5:00 left in the opening quarter at their own 18-yard line. It appeared they would be trekking right down the field, with Antonio Fontanez completing passes to Jake Pukszyn and Jahsi Cole of 14 and 12 yards respectively. However, the former Viking threw to one of his old teammates over the middle in Sorrentino on the very next play.
The Vikings had the ball back at their own 36 and were only able to pick up one first down before punting back to the Hurricane. As the opening quarter closed, the game was scoreless. On Liberty’s next possession, Tate Shoemaker picked off Fontanez at the Hurricane 18, putting the Vikings in the red zone for the first time.
With another golden opportunity, Central finally cashed in. Tate Shoemaker rushed for nine yards, setting up Nathan Young’s three-yard touchdown run, his first with the VIkings. With 8:11 left in the first half, Allentown Central Catholic led 7-0 and Liberty was struggling to keep the ball.
The Hurricane then responded on the very next drive. Adriaan Deleon took the kickoff return up over midfield to the Vikings’ 41, setting Liberty up for success. Four plays later, Fontanez hit Pukszyn on a crossing rout over the middle for a 23-yard touchdown. The extra point was no good, but Liberty only trailed 7-6.
After forcing a three-and-out, Liberty got the ball back with 3:34 to play in the half. Brayden McKinley made his first appearance of the night and ran for ten yards and getting his team a first down at their own 43. From there, Fontanez completed a 21-yard pass to Gabe Green and another 12-yarder to Pukszyn. With a defensive pass interference call on the next play, the Hurricane blew into the red zone at the Central 8. Gabe Green took it from there, scoring the touchdown that put Liberty ahead at the half 12-7. Despite two interceptions, a special team blunder, and running just 18 plays in the half, Liberty was on top.
Central Catholic opened the second half with a pooch onside kick and fell on it at the Hurricane 38. The drive almost came up short, but on 4th & 2, Cahill found junior wide-out Nate Bringuez for a 28-yard score. With 9;36 left in the third, Central was back on top 14-12.
The Vikings forced another three-and-out and Liberty lost yardage on an intentional grounding call. Off the punt, Central took over on their own 16. From there, it was a methodical run game that helped run down most of the remaining time in the third quarter. Cahill completed just his third pass of the night, a 17-yarder to Sorrentino on a crucial 3rd & 3 call. As the Vikings continued to nickel and dime the Liberty defense and push into Liberty territory, Central had a chance to push their lead to two scores. However, on a 3rd & 1 pass, Cahill was picked off by Pukszyn on a diving pick.
Liberty took over on its own six and was able to drive most of the field. On a 2nd & 5 call, Deleon went for 30 and crossed midfield. Fontanez picked up 15 running the option and Central aided their opponent further with a personal foul facemask call, putting the ball on the ACC 16. On fourth down, Liberty tried a 28-yard field goal, but the kick from Christian Hackett went wide left.
Central took over with 11:55 to play in the game and proceeded to run 8:56 off the clock. On 14 plays, the Vikings drove from their own 20 to the Hurricane 34 before turning the ball over on downs with a 4th & 12 incompletion.
From there, Adriaan Deleon broke through the line for gains of 18 and 14, getting the Hurricane to the Viking 18. As the clock reached the one minute mark, coach Shawn Daignault had a decision to make on 4th & 6 at the 14. He opted to send the field goal unit out, with a strong breeze blowing in the face of Hackett. Despite the earlier miss, the faith in Hackett was rewarded, as he drilled the 31-yard kick, putting Liberty ahead 15-14. Despite Central running 20 more plays on offense than Liberty, the Hurricane made the most of their opportunities and was poised for victory.
Aidan Sorrentino nearly flipped the script immediately. His 47-yard kickoff return put the ball on the Liberty 44 with 55 seconds left. A false start penalty moved them back to the 49 and four straight incompletions secured the tough fought road victory for Liberty.
The Vikings finished the night with 169 yards on the ground and 52 through the air. Liberty produced 154 rushing yards and Fontanez threw for 99. Liberty did not commit a penalty on the evening, while Central was flagged eight times for 75 yards.
Liberty will be in action next Saturday when they host Stroudsburg. Central Catholic will be on the road next Friday night at Freedom.
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