By Tammy Purcell/Scrimmageplay.com Contributor
All season, Louisa County’s powerful defense helped propel the Lions to victories.
But in Louisa’s playoff meeting with Liberty-Bealeton Friday night, the Eagles turned the tables on the Lions with a ferocious defensive showing of their own.
Liberty (8-3) crippled Louisa’s (7-4) rushing game and capitalized on a few big plays to earn a 14-6 home win and a spot in the Region II, Division 4 semifinals against top-ranked Broad Run next week.
While their offense sputtered, Louisa’s defense and special teams proved to be an apt match for Liberty throughout the first half, allowing the Eagles no first downs and posting the stanza’s only points. After a trio of unproductive plays, Louisa forced Liberty to punt for the fourth time with about three and half minutes left in the half. Rashawn Jackson got a hand on that boot and scampered 15 yards to pay dirt to give the Lions a 6-0 advantage.
But Liberty’s opportunistic defense made the most of a Louisa miscue on the opening play of the second half and rode that momentum for the rest of the night. On first and 10 at their own 20, Lion quarterback Dillon Hollins attempted a pitch to running back Anthony Hunter but Hunter slipped and the ball fell to the turf. Liberty’s Cortez Carter smothered it, sneaking in for the score to put the Eagles up 7-6.
“[The running back] just stumbled. I stumbled this morning going in to my office but there weren’t a bunch of people watching. It’s just one of those things that happens,” said Louisa Coach Mark Fischer of the momentum-shifting play.
From there, Liberty’s chorus of runners found some room to move, racking up the bulk of their 242 rushing yards in the second half and limiting Louisa’s chances to mount a comeback. Bryon Williams did the most significant damage, bursting through the Louisa defense for a 51-yard touchdown run to give the Eagles’ a 14-6 advantage with about five and half minutes remaining. Williams was Liberty’s leading runner, tallying 138 yards on 17 carries. His efforts helped the Eagles retain possession for about 18 minutes of the closing half.
“We got dinged up a little bit and lost some kids to injuries. But in the end [Liberty] just made some plays and found some things that worked,” Fischer said of the Eagles’ late-game rushing attack.
Whenever Louisa managed to get their offense on the field in the second stanza, they were stymied by a smothering Eagle defense again and again. Liberty held the Lions to just 38 yards of total offense and made sure Louisa’s legion of runners were never a factor. Andre Mealy, the Lions top gainer, managed only 18 yards on the ground.
“Both teams showed tonight that they could play some defense,” Fischer said. “There were some things that we thought we could do offensively that just didn’t materialize…our kids played their guts out but inside they were just better than us.”
For Fischer, the season-ending loss had an added plot twist as it came at the hands of his college fraternity brother and longtime friend, Eagles’ Coach Tom Buzzo.
“A loss is a loss, I wanted to beat Coach Buzzo as bad as anyone. But at the same time, I’ve always wanted to play him because he has the classiest program in Virginia. I have the upmost respect for Liberty football,” Fischer said.
