Liberty Football Plays at Cowboys Stadium
Cowboys Stadium, Oct. 7, 2010
By Ryan Barnhart
The stage was set for a fantastic game Thursday night as Liberty Christian faced Prestonwood in a rematch of the 2009 TAPPS Division II state championship game.
The teams, rivals in TAPPS Division 1 District I this year, were ranked No. 2 and No. 3 in The Dallas Morning News’ Large Private School rankings. And if that wasn’t enough, the game was being played at Cowboys Stadium.
Prestonwood (6-1, 3-0) came into the game with one of the top offenses in TAPPS averaging 460 yards and 46.8 points per game and lived up to its billing in a 45-21 thumping of Liberty. The Lions offense did not disappoint as they opened with 21 unanswered points and accumulated 315 yards of offense in the first half. They finished the night with an impressive 532 yards of offense.
“We just couldn’t stop them,” said Liberty Christian head coach Greg Price. “We had a hard time running with them and getting lined up and covering them. And they just executed and we gave them some great opportunities.”
Following a missed field goal by the Warriors on the opening drive, Prestonwood took over at the 27-yard line and answered with a quick, four-play, 73-yard touchdown drive. Kenneth Huggins, who came in averaging more than 10 yards per carry, ran the ball in from 22 yards to put the Lions ahead 7-0 early.
Pregame Warm-up
And it was all Lions for nearly the first quarter and a half. On Prestonwood’s third possession, it took just one play for quarterback Parker Ash to find Jordan Airhart for a 69-yard touchdown strike across the middle of the field.
In the second quarter, the Lions put together a nine-play, 76-yard drive that was capped off with a 15-yard strike from Ash to Riley Standridge. And just like that, the score was 21-0.
Liberty (4-2, 1-2) answered late in the second quarter. Following JonAaron Howell’s second fumble recovery, Liberty put together an impressive 14-play, 82-yard drive. Jared Lawson, who also came into the game averaging more than 10 yards per carry, ran the ball in from the 2-yard line to cut Liberty’s deficit to 14 points.
But it was all Prestonwood in the second half as well. The Lions responded in the third quarter with two quick scoring drives again to push the lead up to 35-7. Following a Lawson fumble, Prestonwood took over at the Lion 31 and on the first play, Huggins scored his second rushing touchdown of the night. On the next possession, Prestonwood scored on a 38-yard touchdown pass from Ash to Standridge. Ash led the offense effectively and was an impressive 14-of-20 for 266 yards and three touchdowns.
Prestonwood put the game away in the fourth quarter when Huggins posted his third rushing touchdown, this one from 17 yards out. Huggins finished with an impressive 259 yards on 26 carries.
The Warriors turned the ball over four times, which proved costly. Liberty turned the ball over five times in the state championship game last season.
“I hope that we know we had a good turnout, but we just need to execute better,” Price said. “But it’s a lot of humble pie to get beat like that. That’s three times now [losing to Prestonwood] and I’m getting tired of it.”
Liberty added two touchdown runs from Cameron Balkey and Foster Ford late in the fourth quarter. But, even in defeat, the Warriors were able to take away from the experience of playing at Cowboys Stadium.
“We came in really trying to focus on the team and not the field, but playing on one of the best fields in the world is pretty awesome,” said Lawson, who finished the night with 125 yards rushing on 27 carries. “Now we need to learn from this game and bounce back.”
Prestonwood 45, Liberty 21
Cowboys Stadium, Arlington
Prestonwood 14 7 14 10 – 45
Liberty Christian 0 7 0 14 – 21
Scoring Summary
First Quarter
PW-Kenneth Huggins 22 run (Zack Elsenbroek kick), 7:29
PW-Jordan Airhart 69 pass (Elsenbroek kick), 2:20
Second Quarter
PW-Riley Standridge 15 pass from Parker Ash (Elsenbroek kick), 8:39
LC-Jared Lawson 2 run (Dakotah Jesel kick), 3:32
Third Quarter
PW-Huggins 31 run (Elsenbroek kick), 9:24
PW-Standridge 38 pass from Ash (Elsenbroek kick), 4:44
Fourth Quarter
PW-Huggins 17 run (Elsenbroek kick), 9:31
PW-Elsenbroek 23 field goal, 6:18
LC-Cameron Balkey 4 run (Jesel kick), 2:48
LC-Foster Ford 10 run (Jesel kick), 1:36
Team Statistics
PW LC
First Downs 21 21
Rushing yards 33-266 43-206
Passing yards 266 138
Total yards 532 344
Passing 14-20-1 12-25-1
Punts-Avg 1-39 3-37.6
Penalties 7-70 2-10
Fumbles-Lost 4-3 5-3
Individual Statistics
Rushing – PW: Kenneth Huggins 26-259, Parker Ash 1-3, Christian McLain 1-0, Corey Meador 1-2, Mike Mitchell 4-4. LC: Jared Lawson 27-125, Brett Metzler 6-55, Josh Cousins 2-(-13), Trevor Simms 2-16, Cameron Balkey 1-4, Corey Dodd 1-2, Foster Ford 1-10, Hayden O’Bryan 1-7, Kyle Metzger 1-0, Miles Smith 1-0.
Passing – PW: Parker Ash 14-20-1-266. LC: Josh Cousins 12-25-1-138.
Receiving – PW: Riley Standridge 5-85, Brandon Henry 1-15, Jordan Airhart 3-107, Caleb Cunningham 2-23, Kenneth Huggins 2-23, Marco Barrientos 1-13. LC: Trevor Simms 4-38, Caden Compton 3-38, Riley Brown 1-16, Brett Metzler 1-10, Cameron Balkey 2-24, Tim Douglass 1-12.
Thank you to the Denton Record-Chronicle for this information.