Liberty Football Falls Short Against Prestonwood, 31-7
PLANO — The Liberty Christian Warriors needed their best game Friday night against defending TAPPS Division I state champion Prestonwood Christian. Instead, they struggled in nearly every aspect of the game.
The Warriors finished with 210 yards total offense and 10 first downs, committed eight penalties for 81 yards, and threw two interceptions, resulting in a 31-7 loss to the Lions in a district matchup in Plano.
The Warriors avoided the shutout midway through the fourth quarter when Foster Ford, on a reverse, threw an 11-yard scoring pass to quarterback Josh Cousins.
Liberty Christian tried to keep the momentum going when Mitchell Roswell recovered on onside kick on the ensuing play. The Warriors drove to the Prestonwood 6, but on fourth-and-goal, Cousins threw incomplete in the end zone.
The Warriors are now 3-3 on the season and 1-2 in district while Prestonwood improved to 5-1 overall and 3-0 in district. The Lions next face undefeated Fort Worth Nolan in a rematch of last year’s state championship game while Liberty Christian hosts Dallas Bishop Dunne.
Running back J.P. Coward led the Lions with 32 carries for 179 yards and two touchdowns as the Lions played most of the game without quarterback Parker Ash, who was hit out of bounds in the second quarter and did not return.
For the Warriors, it simply was a night where they could not generate a consistent offensive attack while on defense they could not contain Coward’s running attack nor the tall receiving corps of the Lions. The penalties proved costly as well. Prestonwood finished with nearly 400 yards of total offense and committed just five penalties for 35 yards.
The Warriors defense did have several big plays, including stopping Prestonwood three time from the 1. The Warriors also intercepted one pass.
Miles Smith carried 15 times for 72 yards while Kyle Metzger caught two passes for 57 yards for the Warriors.
The play that resonated most, however, was the late hit on Ash with about 8 minutes left in the second quarter. On third-and-11 from the 28, Ash dropped back to pass, then found a crease on the right side and raced toward the Lions sideline, running out of bounds after a12-yard gain. Warriors defensive back Christian Burks then made a hard hit on Ash, drawing a 15-yard late-hit flag.
Ash was helped to the bench where he was attended to by Lions personnel. He stayed on the bench until just before halftime when he climbed into a golf cart and taken out of the stadium.
Ash, who entered the game with 1,883 passing yards (second most in Dallas-Fort Worth) and 24 touchdown passes, finished the night completing 7 of 10 passes for 90 yards and one touchdown.
Prestonwood dominated the first half, scoring three touchdowns to build a 21-0 lead at intermission. The Lions had 289 yards total offense at the break compared with just 70 for Liberty Christian. The Warriors had nearly as many penalty yards (64) as total offense.
The Lions took the opening drive 84 yards in six plays, capped by Coward’s 48-yard run up the middle less than three minutes into the game.
Ford’s 54-yard kickoff return gave Liberty Christian excellent field position at the Prestonwood 47. The Warriors advanced to the 34, but could not convert on fourth-and-4.
Prestonwood took over and behind Coward’s running attack, drove to the Warriors 2. On second and goal, Ash ran left on a keeper and was surrounded, but he flipped the ball to Coward for the touchdown with 3:56 left in the first quarter. Coward finished with 129 yards on 18 carries in the first half.
Prestonwood’s third touchdown came on the drive Ash was hurt. After he left the game, Claude Person stepped in and on his fourth snap fired a 45-yard scoring strike to Brandon Henry.
Prestonwood added a field goal in the third quarter and extended its lead to 31-0 on a 7-yard scoring strike from Person to Zach Peters, the 6-foot-9 receiver who is headed to Kansas to play basketball.
Plano Prestonwood 31, Liberty Christian 7
Liberty 0 0 0 7 — 7
Prestonwood 14 7 3 7 — 31
Scoring summary
First Quarter
P—J.W. Coward 48 run (Zach Elsenbroek kick), 9:38
P—Coward 4 pass from Parker Ash (Elsenbroek kick), 3:56
Second Quarter
P—Brandon Henry 45 pass from Claude Person (Elsenbroek kick), 6:57
Third Quarter
P—Elsenbroek 18 field goal, 3:37
Fourth Quarter
P—Zach Peters 7 pass from Person (Elsenbroek kick), 10:32
L—Josh Cousins 11 pass from Foster Ford (Mikael Sroka kick), 7:48
Team statistics
LC P
First Downs 10 20
Rushing 31-102 42-193
Passing 5-24-2 14-25-1
Passing Yards 90 199
Total Yards 210 392
Fumbles-Lost 0-0 0-0
Punts-Avg. 4-35.2 2-30
Penalties 8-81 5-35
Individual Statistics
Rushing—LC: Miles Smith 15-72, Dylan Sprock 3-22, Cameron Cornett 3-9, Josh Cousins 5-8, Tim Douglass 1-6, Foster Ford 1-2, JonAaron Howell 2-1, Benn Hawkins 1-0. P: J.P. Coward 32-179, Claude Person 8-13, Parker Ash 2-1
Passing—LC: Josh Cousins 4-23-79-2, Foster Ford 1-1-11-0. P: Claude Person 7-15-109-1, Parker Ash 7-10-90-0.
Receiving—LC: Kyle Metzger 2-57, Daniel Loch 2-22, Josh Cousins 1-11. P: Brandon Henry 5-116, Zach Peters 5-58, Cameron Yates 1-8, Stephen Reigel 1-8, Christian Morgan 1-5, J.P. Coward 1-4.
Thank you to the Denton Record Chronicle for this story.