Liberty football made a statement against Evergreen in the Week 10 playoff matchup as they handled the Plainsmen 49-28 at Liberty High School on Nov. 7.

Liberty rode a 21-point opening quarter, and their defense came through with three stops inside the 5-yard line. Those were the differences between teams that both totaled 474 yards.

The game opened up with two touchdowns in quick succession. Liberty added another layer of speed on their offense with track star Sutton Flint returning to the lineup. The state champ showed off not only his speed, but his toughness. He broke a tackle and ran away from the rest of the Plainsmen for a 4-yard touchdown run on just the Patriots’ third play from scrimmage.

“It was great to see him. When he gets in the open field, no one can catch him. Although it kind of looked like they were for a moment, he did a great job of making a cut and just going. I tell him his superpower is speed, so when you stop you’re a normal human being,” Head Coach Steve Valach said.

Evergreen showed their offensive chops on their ensuing drive when Malukai Turner-Hodges went on a 72-yard joy ride, breaking away from the Patriot defense. Immediately it looked like the two sides were locked in a shootout.

Marek Wright turns upfield for the Liberty Patriots. Photo provided by Natasha Valach.

After a turnover on downs, Evergreen took their only lead of the night on a Zae Clark Anderson touchdown run, 14-7.

On the next Liberty drive, Spencer Bogh scored his first touchdown of the night to tie the game. The Liberty senior is their bell cow and he was just that, Bogh had 16 carries for 164 yards and two touchdowns. His longest run of the night was the 33-yard dash to level the game in the first quarter.

Liberty’s defense then started to cause havoc. Evergreen quarterback Gabe Cooper fumbled the ball on the next possession and Tristan Klein scored on the very next play to take the lead. On the next Evergreen drive, they stalled out at the one-yard line, their first of three trips stalling out inside the five. “I think the mindset of those players is you’re not in yet. Until you get in, we are going to fight for every yard. I loved that. That was a huge momentum swing,” Valach said.

Liberty then drove 96 yards and capped off the drive with Tristan Klein scoring from 3 yards out to take a 28-14 lead into the locker rooms at halftime.

Over the course of the four quarters, Liberty rushed for 425 yards on the ground with eight different players recording rushing yards. That depth and diversity is something that makes Liberty’s offense one of the hardest to defend as they have averaged 37 points per game. “We got guys that aren’t starting initially, coming in and making an impact. All of our backs work their butts off. Seeing Tristan get out here as a sophomore is great,” quarterback Dawson Durham said.

Evergreen had the ball to start the second half and on a botched punt, Liberty was set up with great field position for their first drive of the second half. Bogh recorded his second touchdown of the night and gave Liberty a 35-14 lead.

Not much was required of quarterback Dawson Durham, who only threw the ball seven times and completed five of them for 51 yards. 21 of them came in the fourth quarter on a screen pass to Marek Wright, who made his man miss and ran into the endzone.

Durham went from third string quarterback and possibly a position change in 2024 to getting on the field, to starting quarterback midway through the season last year. Now he is going to be under center for a state tournament playoff game. “I’ve enjoyed the ride so much. Football is everything that I love. I’ve been playing football since I was in kindergarten. All the work that I have put in is finally paying off,” Durham said.

Liberty offense scored 49-points against Evergreen to move on to the state tournament. Photo provided by Natasha Valach.

Following an Evergreen touchdown after Durham’s first interception of the season, he ran the quarterback sneak to put the icing on the cake and lead 42-21 in the fourth quarter. “I feel real comfortable. My offensive line works their butts off everyday. They provide the best pocket we can. I got all the time in the world back there,” Durham said.

On selection Sunday, Liberty was given the 12th seed. The Patriots travel down to Harry E. Lang Stadium to play the one-loss Lakes Lancers, the No. 5 seed. The last time these two sides met was back on Nov. 27, 2009, with Liberty defeating Lakes, 17-13, in the state semifinals. “I think we learned early on they were tough and had super high standards for each other. Week one, Hazen was good. We won that and the confidence has grown. The confidence has come from their work. This week we had our best week of practice I can remember us having and I have been here a long time,” Valach said.