The hits just kept coming on Liberty.

First, it was the lost fumbles. Next, it was losing standout wide receiver Jake Bainton to injury. Finally, when O’Dea’s Gabe Lee pushed in for a one-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter to give the Irish a 35-17 lead, things looked all but over for the Patriots.

But then in the darkest of times for the Patriots, a spark. Quarterback Trey Wheeler hit Josh Gordon for a score.

After that, it was a flame. The Patriots recovered an onside kick and scored again.

Then, before anyone on the field quite knew what happened Liberty had completed an improbable 18-point comeback to beat O’Dea 38-35 in the first round of the state tournament and move on to the 3A state championship quarterfinals.

“That was a pretty unbelievable turn of events there, holy cow,” Liberty coach Steve Valach said after the game. “We just kept plugging away.”

Liberty’s (10-1) comeback got on track when Wheeler connected with Gordon for a 16-yard score with just more than eight minutes left in the game to pull Liberty to within 11 points.

Then Liberty’s Jay Chakravarty recovered a Dean Byron onside kick on the ensuing kickoff. Wheeler connected with Chandler Jenkins for 21 yards, then found Peter Wiggum for a 25-yard score on the next play. The Patriots were within five.

Wheeler completed 18 of 26 passes for 291 yards and three touchdowns in the game.

On the next kickoff, Liberty stripped the ball and Kyle Ahrens recovered it. Jenkins pushed in from three yards out seven plays later to put the Patriots ahead for the first time since the second quarter.

Jenkins rushed for 99 yards and a score on 21 carries. He also caught seven passes for 128 yards, despite hurting for much of the game.

The win was all about changing momentum. O’Dea had it, Liberty took it.

“You just have to flush what happened before and move on,” said Liberty senior linebacker Cameron Talley. “We knew we weren’t going to quit. We were going to do whatever it took to win. We didn’t work this hard in the summer to get stopped here.”

On the field well after the game was over, it still hadn’t sunk in for Valach and the Patriots. All they could do was smile, and say the one word that best described the comeback … unbelievable.

• Jake Bainton left just before halftime with a right foot injury and was unable to return to the game. He totaled six catches for 76 yards and a touchdown.
• Josh Gordon, a sophomore, was filling in for Bainton and hadn’t caught a varsity pass in his career before the 16-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter.
• Chakravarty collected six tackles and a sack.
• Alex Kaser had five tackles for a sack.
• Talley had six tackles on defense.
• Troy Solly led the defense with eight tackles.