A SECOND CHANCE AT REVENGE
Liberty’s defense comes up big in win over Clovis West; sets up semifinal rematch against Clovis-Buchanan
It’s no surprise to hear Liberty’s “D” stole the show in Friday night’s Central Section Division I quarterfinals against Clovis West.
After all, the Patriots defense has limited opposing teams to 10 points a game while recording three shutouts this season.
But this time, Liberty’s “D” stood for Dylan, as in the Patriots’ Dylan Tooker.
The 5-foot-10 standout scored touchdowns in nearly every way imaginable in leading the No. 3 Patriots to a 38-14 victory over the No. 11 Golden Eagles. Liberty (101) will play at No. 2 Clovis-Buchanan (9-2) in next week’s semifinal. The Bears handed the Patriots their only defeat, 19-17 earlier this season.
“We don’t have enough time (to tell you everything about Dylan),” Liberty coach Bryan Nixon said. “I could talk about him all day long. What a ballplayer. The kid plays ball, and all three phases. It’s pretty impressive.”
Tooker, who leads the Patriots in tackles and sacks, added to his resume when he returned an interception 20 yards for a score on the first play of the second quarter. The play gave Liberty a 14-0 lead.
Then, just before halftime, Tooker took a short kick around the 18 yard line, veered right and then cut to his left, sprinting up the sidelines 82 yards for another score to give Liberty more breathing room with a 28-14 lead.
Clovis West (4-8) had just pulled to within 21-14 on a 23-yard pass play for a score from Bradley Senneway to David Pierro with 30 seconds left in the half.
For good measure, Tooker lined up in a wildcat formation and broke through the line for a 19-yard touchdown run with 4:33 left in the third quarter to make it 35-14.
“It was unexpected, but it felt really good, “said Tooker of the three touchdowns.
Playing without starting quarterback Haden Mann, who is suffering from bursitis in his knee, the Patriots started slow offensively. With sophomore Carson Woods, who played junior varsity this season, making
his first varsity start, Liberty failed to score on its first three possessions, fumbling at the Golden Eagle 15 on its first drive and then punting on its next two.
But Woods settled in, and connected with Jason Oliver on a 23-yard touchdown pass on the final play of the first quarter to give the Patriots a 7-0 lead.
Woods finished the night 11 of 18 passing for 123 yards with one TD and one interception. His TD pass to Oliver was followed by Tooker’s pick-six, giving Liberty the early momentum.
“I thought Carson did a good job,” Nixon said. “He had a little nerves, but he completed three of his first four passes and I thought the guy did a great job.”
But Clovis West countered with a
52-yard scoring play from Senneway to Pierro to trim the lead to 14-7 with 8:30 left in the second quarter. Pierro had eight catches for 150 yards, all in the first half.
The Patriots’ defense limited Clovis West to just three first downs in the second half, with two coming on the Golden Eagles’ final drive when the game was in hand.
Senneway finished 16 of 29 for 211 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions before being knocked out of the game following a sack late in the third quarter.
“I was just happy with our kids to come out of a bye week like that and playing really hard,” Nixon said. “We had a little adversity with Haden not being able to play, but Carson stepped up and I thought they did a great job.”