Eagles roll to 8-0 with big win over Leipsic

Seth Elchert said he'd be going to Doyt Perry Stadium today to watch the University of Toledo football team play its rival, Bowling Green. Elchert, star Liberty-Benton receiver in his senior season, has committed to play football for Toledo. "Go, Rockets," he said. After watching him play Friday night against Leipsic, it's not hard to imagine him playing at the next level. But for now, Elchert is all about helping to push the Eagles as far as they can go. Elchert had another impressive game Friday, catching seven passes for 131 yards – he also had an interception on defense -- as L-B routed the Vikings, 52-0 in a Blanchard Valley Conference game. Eagles quarterback Connor Barbara connected with Elchert on three second-quarter touchdown strikes: A deep 28-yard pass down the near side, a 15-yard swing pass, and a 50-yard catch-and run. "I make it a standard," Elchert said. "If the ball is in the air, I want to come down with it." In a matchup between a pair of 7-0 conference foes, Liberty-Benton took control right away. Barbara ran for a 53 yard score on L-B's second offensive play from scrimmage. Then, after the Eagles' defense forced a punt, Zach Elchert capped a drive with a seven-yard touchdown run. After Leipsic fumbled the ensuing kickoff, Zach Elchert punctuated a short march down the field with a 3-yard TD run. Liberty-Benton led 21-0 after one quarter. "Especially in big games, getting off to a quick start is huge, and luckily we've been able to do that a lot this year," said Eagles coach Scott Garlock after L-B improved to 8-0, 6-0 in the BVC. Leipsic's lone chance at a score came in the second quarter, after L-B failed to recover an onside kick. On first down from the L-B 46, Vikings quarterback Marc Kirkendall lofted a perfect pass for receiver Avery Paris. Paris brought the pass in and was tackled at the L-B 4. "We called an onside kick – we worked on it in practice – it didn't go the way we wanted it to," Garlock said. "(The Vikings) make a big play…they're capable of that." After a short run by Kirkendall to the 2, Leipsic ran the ball with tailback Mark Hazelton, who was ruled just short of the goal line. "That would have been a big play," said Leipsic coach Joe Kirkendall. "I think we got in, I can't tell. But, it was one of those things where we had the opportunity." On third down, Leipsic tried another run to Hazelton, but he was dropped back at the 4. On fourth down, Marc Kirkendall's pass was incomplete. "We knew coming in it was gonna be tough to score in the end zone, because their run defense vs. our run offense was their advantage, but we had to try, " coach Kirkendall said. "That would have been nice to get the score, it'd have been nice to have the points, but at the end of the day, it wasn't gonna change the outcome." "That was a good test for our defense," Garlock said of the sequence. "Our defense stepped up and got us the ball back." Liberty-Benton's final score of the half came when Barbara threw a 26-yard pass down the near side to Karson Griffin, who caught it in the end zone with 55 seconds left. L-B led 49-0 at the break, and pulled its starters after that. Kicker Jairo Colina added a 30-yard field goal with five minutes left in regulation to close out the scoring. Liberty-Benton has now outscored its opponents 385-34. In all eight of the Eagles wins, L-B has had a running clock in the second half. "We treat every week the same," Seth Elchert said. "It's a standard here at Liberty-Benton. It doesn't matter if (the opponent) is 0-8, 8-0, we treat every game the same." Zach Elchert carried the ball 12 times for 120 yards and two scores for L-B, while Barbara was 10 of 12 passing for 120 yards. Liberty-Benton travels to Arcadia next week. For Leipsic, Paris caught four passes for 60 yards. The Vikings slipped to 7-1, 5-1 In the BVC. They will host 6-2 Arlington next Friday. "You have to figure out a way to not let this loss become another loss," coach Kirkendall said. "It can't affect next week at Arlington."