L-B downed by Liberty Center

LIBERTY CENTER – Liberty-Benton coach Scott Garlock admitted that it was a tremendous atmosphere at Liberty Center Friday night. In a showdown between a pair of undefeated teams in the Division V, Region 18 semifinals, Rex Lingruen Stadium was packed. Fans lined up behind the end zones. "If you're a high school player, this is what you want," Garlock said. "You just hope you respond a little better than what we did." The Tigers, state finalists in each of the last two seasons, controlled the contest from start to finish, and eliminated the Eagles for the second-straight year, 42-10. Liberty-Benton ended its season at 12-1. The Tigers (13-0) will play Genoa in the regional final next week. The first time Liberty Center's offense touched the ball Friday night, it got a big play. Garrison Kruse broke a 41-yard run, and a few plays later, Baxter Bennett fought off some tackle attempts and rolled into the end zone from 19-yards out for a 7-0 lead. After L-B went three-and-out, Liberty Center broke another big run. This time, Thomas Mohler had a 38-yard carry, which set up Kruse's five-yard score. The Tigers were up 14-0, less than six minutes through the first quarter. "We thought we had to get a fast start, get some momentum going, maybe get (L-B) on their heels a little bit," said Casey Mohler, Liberty Center's head coach and Thomas Mohler's dad. "I thought we did a good job of that." The Eagles offense wasn't able to get anything going early. On their first three possessions, they ran a combined nine offensive plays and punted three times. The fourth time L-B got the ball, quarterback Connor Barbara was intercepted by Tigers linebacker Max Walker. The Eagles didn't get a first down until Barbara ran 11 yards for a first down more than two minutes into the second quarter. L-B played most of the game without two of its best players. Senior tailback/linebacker Zach Elchert was injured two weeks ago and hasn't played since. Zach's twin brother, Seth Elchert – a University of Toledo commit who was the BVC Offensive Player of the Year – came in banged up and gave it a go early. But he was hurt on a play in the first quarter and didn't return. "We knew that was gonna make it a bigger challenge than it already was," Garlock said. Kruse scored on a four-yard run early in the second quarter, and went up 21-0. Liberty-Benton's offense answered with one of its best drives of the night: a 15-play march that ended in a 31-yard Jairo Colina field goal with 6:43 left in the half. Barbara extended the possession by running 23 yards on a fake punt. The L-B quarterback – who also punted, returned kicks and played defense Friday – finished with 94 rushing yards on 17 carries, while completing 11 of 26 passes for 84 yards. Barbara also ran 2 yards for a fourth quarter touchdown. "We had a couple kids that fought their butts off," Garlock said. "He's obviously one that's done that for us all year long, and that's what we want. If a team's better than us, at least we're gonna keep fighting." L-B had some moments in the contest. Karson Griffin caught three passes for 45 yards. L-B defensive back Reid Irwin intercepted Liberty Center quarterback Kaden Kreinbrink on a pass to the end zone. But the Tigers were just too much. Kreinbrink completed a 79-yard catch-and-run to Bennett, which set up a one-yard Thomas Mohler touchdown run. Then, in the final minute of the half, Thomas Mohler fielded a punt at his own 40, made some cuts, and took the ball back 60 yards to the end zone. "That was pretty awesome," coach Mohler said. "He hasn't really returned punts since he was a sophomore, but we kept our defense on the field. Our punt returners were kind of in coverage, and he fielded it, made a heck of a play, and again, guys were blocking." Thomas Mohler scored two rushing touchdowns (the second on an 11-yard dash in the third) and finished with 106 yards rushing on nine carries. Kruse also ran the ball nine times, and finished with 105 yards. Kruse added 88 yards receiving on two catches. Overall, the Tigers rolled up 340 yards on 33 carries. Coach Mohler credited Liberty Center's impressive offensive line. "There probably wasn't a play tonight where our guys weren't looking to help guys in the block game," he said, "so that was nice to see." For Garlock and the Eagles, it was a tough way to end what was a memorable season. "That's just a really good football team, and they handed it to us tonight," Garlock said of Liberty Center. "I'm super-proud of our seniors and our team for all it accomplished this year. Hate to go out like that, but they dominated us on both sides of the ball."