Liberty football coach Steve Valach stood in front of his team searching for words. Moments after the clock hit zeros and the Patriots’ 28-14 loss to Juanita was finalized, the words were hard to come by.

“This is the test of us,” Valach told his team,”How we respond, is the test of us. Could we have won? Yeah, but we didn’t make the plays when we needed to.”

The loss knocks the Patriots to 3-2 overall on the season and 2-1 in the KingCo 3A/2A. Liberty is now tied with Mount Si for third in the league, behind Bellevue and Juanita.

Liberty looked ruffled by Juanita’s huge defensive line and no-holds-barred style for much of the first half. The Patriots couldn’t get the ball downfield in the passing game because of constant pressure on quarterback Trey Wheeler.

“Yesterday was the worst practice I think we’ve had and it showed on the field,” said Chandler Jenkins, Liberty’s senior running back. “We made mistakes we don’t normally make and they really added up.”

Liberty finally caught a break when senior Brandon Ryberg recovered a muffed punt on Juanita’s 36-yard line half way through the second quarter.

Three strong runs by Jenkins and the Patriots were tied 7-7. Jenkins finished the game with 51 rushing yards and the touchdown on 10 attempts. He also caught two passes for 22 yards.

The Rebels marched back down the field and capped a 55-yard drive with a pass from Derek Kaufman to Jarrett Finau to take a 14-7 lead.

Juanita’s defense struck again in the third quarter, when Suli Tamaivena intercepted a tipped pass from Wheeler. Jeremiah Laufasa scored from nine yards out soon after to give Juanita a 21-7 lead.

But the Patriots have been in that position before, and weren’t about to go down without a fight. Wheeler led Liberty on a five-play, 68-yard drive in which he rushed twice for 25 yards and completed three of three passes. The last was a 47-yard bomb that Josh Gordon pulled down in the end zone. With that the Patriots pulled close again, and trailed 21-14 with 7:18 left in the game.

Momentum seemed to swing Liberty’s way when junior Anthony Olobia shed a block and tackled Laufasa for a five-loss on Juanita’s next drive. The play set up a long third and 14 for the Rebels, meaning Liberty was one stop from getting the ball back with a chance to tie the game.

Laufasa squashed that hope when he broke through the middle for a 59-yard score on the next play. He finished the game with 20 rushes for 208 yards and two interceptions on defense.

“The only place to go is up,” Wheeler said. “We’ve got to get better and that starts on Monday at practice. They’re a really good team… to beat them in the future is going to take a lot more than what we did tonight.”

Wheeler finished the game with 10-for-17 passing for 141 yards, one touchdown and three interceptions. Gordon caught three passes for 79 yards and a touchdown. Jake Bainton caught four passes for 33 yards.

“We just need to flush it,” Jenkins said. “Focus on the next game. We can still reach all of our goals.”

Liberty plays Lake Washington Oct. 8 at 7 p.m. at home.