With an extra week to prepare its game plan for New Hampstead, the Liberty County Panthers resorted to an old-school method.
Using an extra offensive tackle and two blocking backs almost exclusively, the Panthers pounded out a 30-14 win over the visiting Phoenix on Friday night in the Region 3-AAAA opener for both teams.
Not only did it give the Panthers a 1-0 mark in the region, it also removes some of the sting from two weeks of having to stew over a loss to McIntosh County Academy with the Panthers’ most complete performance of the season to date.
Panthers coach Tony Glazer made the choice of what was more important – a win in the region opener or a solid, 48-minute performance.
“I’ll say both,” he answered. “We finally played the way we knew we were capable of playing. We were very physical. Our defense was lights-out against a really good offense that can score a lot of points in a hurry. We ran when as we wanted to, we threw when we needed to.”
The Panthers wanted to control the Phoenix’s passing game’s big-play ability, using fewer defenders close to the line of scrimmage against the run, and wanted to run the ball against New Hampstead.
“We played the exact game plan to a T that we focused on in the last week and a half,” Glazer said.
The Panthers, now 2-3, ran 51 times for 216 yards and opened a 20-0 lead early in the second half on Jaeir Roberts’ quarterback sneak. After the Panthers defense forced a second turnover one play later, Noel Best converted that into his third rushing touchdown with 8:17 to go in the third quarter.
“We haven’t had a turnover on defense,” Glazer said. “Not one single time.”
The Panthers’ defense, which had not forced a turnover in the first four games, came up with three Friday night, including Nykeim Ezell’s interception of a tipped pass on the first play of the game. Liberty turned that directly into points on Best’s 16-yard TD run on the next snap.
The coin flip foiled Glazer’s initial plan. Had the Panthers won the toss, he wanted the ball first, instead of deferring to the second half, which is his usual practice.
“I wanted the ball,” he said. “But it worked out well. We wanted to show our guys the confidence we have in them.”
Aaron Brown’s over-the-shoulder catch for a 25-yard pass from Roberts helped set up Liberty’s second score. Best capped the drive, which took 11 plays and 5:21, with a 5-yard run. Liberty also converted two third downs on the march. Aidan Ronk’s PAT gave the Panthers a 14-0 lead with 6:30 left in the first half.
New Hampstead had just one scoring threat in the first half, but Justin Hurd brought down Phoenix quarterback Antonio Benton for a 2-yard loss on fourth down at the Panthers 29.
The Panthers, who had accumulated just four sacks in four games, had four against the Phoenix.
Best led Liberty’s rushing attack with 24 carries for 140 yards. Roberts completed 4 of 8 passes for 58 yards.
Benton was 20 of 44 for 187 yards and one touchdown. He hit Jalen Suber on a 38-yard catch-and-run midway through the third quarter. Christian Kinlaw added a 6-yard run with 5:27 left in the game. Kinlaw also accounted for both two-point plays.
Ronk got Liberty’s final points on a 27-yard field goal with 7:44 remaining in the game.
“We had a great week of practice and I told the coaches, ‘I’ve got a feeling about tonight,’” Glazer said. “Our guys came out and answered the challenge. Getting that first region win is huge, especially with the quality of the opponent we had tonight. They’re fast and explosive. Tonight, we deserved to win this game. We went out and beat a really good opponent.
“We’re hoping it builds character.”
Liberty travels to Savannah to play Windsor Forest in another region matchup on October 2. The Knights, 3-1, are coming off a 28-14 win over Bryan County two weeks ago and this will be their region opener.
