L-B rolls by Riverdale, 42-0

It was another impressive game for Mason Modd and Liberty-Benton, something that's becoming increasingly common for the Eagles. The Eagles blitzed Riverdale 42-0 to pick up their sixth win of the season and remain undefeated in the Blanchard Valley Conference. Modd, L-B's senior quarterback, once again led the Eagles to a dominant performance, posting 247 passing yards, 21 rushing yards and three total touchdowns while completing 15 of his 16 pass attempts. Modd's passing performance included just one incompletion, coming with less than a minute left in the first half, and a 68-yard touchdown pass to Seth Elchert early in the second quarter. Modd also drove in two rushing touchdowns from close range after the Eagles offense had driven into the red zone. Modd had 208 of his 247 passing yards before the halftime break, with just two attempts in the second half. "I think we do a pretty good job of spreading the ball around and taking what they give us," Eagles' coach Scott Garlock said. "That's the luxury of having four or five guys that can catch the ball. Mason does a good job of deciding what's open and what's not." Leading the Eagles receiver corps on Friday was sophomore Seth Elchert. He finished with 130 receiving yards as the recipient of just six throws from Modd. Elchert averaged over 21 yards per catch, and brought his season total to 612 receiving yards. Brayden Lemire ended the night with 113 receiving yards. Reid Irwin had 28, and Ashton Crawford 27. Seth Elchert's twin brother Zach Elchert was the Eagles' top rusher, finishing with 65 yards, along with grabbing a pass from Modd for 15 yards. Riverdale's offense had a nice flow in the first half, but the Falcons just couldn't find the end zone. "We do a nice job, we pitch and catch a lot in practice and it's starting to show out in these games," Falcons coach Sam Petrie said. "Obviously, you'd like to see more of those drives finished, instead of driving the ball halfway down the field and kind of stalling out with some mistakes. We've got to get better at finishing drives." The Falcons' opening drive saw the team take the ball from their own 20-yard line all the way to L-B's 26 before getting thwarted on fourth down by the Eagles' intimidating defense. On their next drive, the Falcons once again found themselves inside Liberty-Benton's 30-yard line. An interception by senior Anderson Roberts cost Riverdale another score, and would set up the 68-yard Modd-to-Elchert connection just one play later. Falcons senior quarterback Heath Dunbar threw for 101 yards, but the Eagles defense allowed Dunbar to complete just nine of his 21 passes. Davin Harbor had 52 receiving yards, while Cam Furr ended with 32. Junior tailback Loukas Carter, who hadn't played in the last five games, picked up right where he left off, finishing with 47 rushing yards and 12 receiving yards. "Loukas missing six weeks, he's a huge part of our team," Petrie said. "He's one of our top players for a reason. He brings a little swagger to him, a little energy, and the kids kind of feed off of him. I thought he played as well as he could have tonight." "Coach Petrie does a really good job with them," Garlock added. "They have a passing attack where they were able to take some time off the clock and limit our possessions. Luckily, we were able to score on our first four or five possessions. We had some mistakes along the way there, some penalties, but the kids stepped up, overcame those, and did a nice job." The Falcons fell to 3-4 after the loss, and will take on Arlington on the road next Friday. With the win, the Eagles improve to 6-1 ahead of a primetime matchup with the 5-2 Pandora-Gilboa Rockets next Friday in Pandora. Liberty-Benton 7 21 7 7–42 Riverdale 0 0 0 0–0 First Quarter L-B - Z. Elchert 11 Run (Nealis Kick) Second Quarter L-B - S. Elchert 68 Pass from Modd (Nealis Kick) L-B - Modd 1 Run (Nealis Kick) L-B - Modd 2 Run (Nealis Kick) Third Quarter L-B - Z. Elchert 19 Run (Nealis Kick) Fourth Quarter L-B - Fultz 2 Run (Nealis Kick)