Lions continue their historic season
BRENTWOOD >> Liberty High is going to its first-ever North Coast Section football championship, and you could tell by the reaction of the players that no one cared about the season not extending beyond the title game.
The Lions (10-2) won their second straight rematch Friday night, beating San Leandro 34-12 in the Division I semifinals.
Next Saturday, Liberty plays the winner of this Saturday’s Antioch-Freedom contest. Win or lose, the season will end for both teams. Because the NCS created an Open Division last year, the Division I champ isn’t eligible for the regionals or state.
Liberty will eventually get to that point if it stays on its current trajectory. First-year coach Ryan Partridge has a young team that will only get better.
But on Friday night the Lions were led by senior Zane Hinojosa, who made major contributions on offense, defense and special teams.
Hinojosa caught two touchdown passes 51 seconds apart late in the second quarter to help Liberty take a 14-12 lead at halftime. His first TD, a 42-yard catch-and-run in which he broke about a half-dozen tackles, gave the Lions a 7-6 lead.
His second six-pointer was a 24-yard catch from sophomore quarterback Jay Butterfield. That made it 1412 Liberty, the difference being two missed point after attempts by San Leandro. Hinojosa blocked the kick after the Pirates’ first touchdown.
Hinojosa also played stellar defense and had two touchdowns called back, one a 16-yard pass from Butterfield that was disallowed because of an ineligible receiver downfield, the other a long punt return in the third quarter.
“This is the first time ever we’re going to a championship, and it’s the first time we’ve ever won two playoff games in a row,” Hinojosa said. “I wish I could do another year.”
Liberty has been around since 1902, but before this season it had exactly one playoff win in football. Wrestling, and boys and girls basketball, among other sports, have had more success.
That appears to be changing under Partridge, the first-year coach who came over from Livermore after leading the Cowboys to their best season in almost two decades in 2016.
Friday night’s game started slowly for Liberty. It was scoreless for the first 14:24, until San Leandro quarterback Qiyam Islam scored from four yards out to make it 6-0.
Then another 8:16 went by until three touchdowns were scored in 51 seconds as the clock wound down in period two. First came Hinojosa’s brilliant catchand-run. San Leandro’s Jermaine Jackson then took the ensuing kickoff and scampered 81 yards for a touchdown, making it 12-7 Pirates.
Liberty needed two plays to answer back. Butterfield completed a 32-yard pass to Sione Vaki before finding Hinojosa for the final 24. Suddenly it was 14-12 Liberty with 29 seconds to go until the half. It was also a lead the Lions would never relinquish.
Liberty scored three times after intermission, but the defense was more spectacular.
San Leandro had one first down in the second half, a 10-yard run by Jackson on the Pirates’ first play. From there, the visitors mostly went backwards against Liberty’s defense. It finished the half with minus-46 yards, and just 80 yards for the game.
Liberty’s final act of the season, in the D-1 championship game, will be a third straight rematch. The Lions have already beaten Antioch and Freedom.