Liberty throttles Las Vegas to win Sunrise crown
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JASON BEAN/LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
Liberty's Niko Kapeli runs through the Las Vegas High defense Friday in the first half of the Patriots' 35-14 victory in the Sunrise Region title game. » Buy this photo
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By DAMON SEITERS
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
Posted: Nov. 19, 2010 | 4:58 p.m.
Updated: Nov. 20, 2010 | 10:07 a.m.
Updated: Nov. 20, 2010 | 10:07 a.m.
Earlier in the week, Liberty senior Ty Byrd called playing in the Sunrise Region championship game “the biggest thing Liberty’s ever been in.”
Byrd and his teammates made sure that statement wasn’t true for long Friday night.
The Patriots (11-1) dominated from the start on the way to a 35-14 road victory over Las Vegas High (11-2) for the Sunrise title.
“We haven’t gotten here before, and it feels good to be here and become a champion,” Liberty senior defensive tackle Teu Tai said.
Liberty plays at McQueen in a Class 4A state semifinal at 1 p.m. Nov. 27 in Reno.
The Patriots had never made the postseason before last season and were making their first appearance in the Sunrise Region championship game Friday. Las Vegas was making its 10th appearance in the game, but it was Liberty that came out of the gate ready to play.
The defense was especially dominant early. The Patriots harassed Las Vegas quarterback Hasaan Henderson, giving the junior little time to find open receivers.
“It got Henderson out of his rhythm,” Tai said of the pressure. “He wasn’t used to all those people coming at him. But I give him his props for bringing his team this far.”
The Patriots’ defense was nearly flawless in the first half, holding the Wildcats to minus-2 yards. Las Vegas finished with 216 yards, but most of those came long after the outcome was decided.
“Our defense was really, really fired up,” Liberty coach Rich Muraco said. “All week all we heard was how fast they were and how slow we were. We made it a point of emphasis to fly to the ball, make sure we wrap up and hit them in the mouth, hit them hard.”
The 210-pound Tai led the defensive charge with three sacks and two tackles for loss.
“He is just an animal,” Muraco said. “When he wants to turn it up a notch, he’s really tough to stop. He’s a smaller (defensive) tackle, so he uses his speed, and he’s really a strong kid. And he just had a phenomenal game tonight.”
While the defense was dominating, the Patriots were grinding out yards on offense. Even before Liberty scored, the Patriots had taken control of the game. They ran 21 plays in the first quarter, compared with three for Las Vegas.
On the first play of the second quarter, quarterback Kai Nacua scored on a 1-yard run to cap a 14-play, 56-yard drive that took more than six minutes to give the Patriots a 7-0 lead.
“That’s our style,” Muraco said. “We want to run right at you. We want to control the line of scrimmage. We had a size advantage and we tried to exploit that.”
Four players scored rushing touchdowns as the Patriots racked up 242 yards on the ground.
“It was good,” Tai said. “We just kept moving the ball and making the clock tick down until it hit zero.”
Jordan Kapeli, a 215-pound fullback, scored on runs of 42 and 2 yards. Byrd and Anthony Morgan each added 10-yard scoring runs for Liberty, which led 28-0 at the half.
But it was the defense that keyed the victory for the Patriots.
In addition to sacking Henderson four times, they intercepted him twice. Henderson had thrown just three interceptions all season.
Ryan Nimmo’s interception led to Byrd’s scoring run, and Morgan picked off a pass with 47 seconds to go in the first half to set up Kapeli’s second TD run.
Las Vegas finally showed life in the fourth quarter when Lamond Powe scored on a 5-yard run with 4:27 to go.
After the Wildcats recovered an onside kick, Henderson hit Cameron Rogers with a 48-yard scoring strike, but that was all Las Vegas could muster.
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Shut up wrote on November 24, 2010 01:28 PM:
Anyone who knows football knows the game was over at the half. Who cares if they scored 2 touchdowns in the 4th, it was a little too late by then. If Vegas was such a good team like you "kids" (M&B and Mandy)claim then it wouldn't have took them that long to score. If you aren't kids then stop acting like some. Take your loss with class because Friday night you guys got defeated by a better team. Fair and square.
Mandy wrote on November 24, 2010 11:44 AM: ULibertyMama. Ignorant? Uhmm... last time I checked, Ignorant means the refusal to learn. If you're going to call my school ignorant, learn to punctuate and spell correctly. Slippas? I'm not really sure what those are, but if you you're referring to slippers, then you must be greatly mistaken. If Liberty puts on slippers, they'll fall flat on their face. Just like they did fourth quarter. Liberty is a joke. So you did good for a year? Wowww! I bet you're proud of yourself! Las Vegas High School won state four consecutive years in a row. Its wonderful how you take pride in your school, but come on, your school is a joke. Just like you. LOLATVEGAS wrote on November 24, 2010 10:08 AM: LOL "it would've been a totally didn't outcome" dont u mean diffrent u dumb donkey. ohhh u beat the falcons 10 - 13 ohhh u were pumped up u guys just suck GL NEXT YEAr u will need it. M&B wrote on November 24, 2010 09:59 AM: yes liberty did win far and square. no one said you didn't. But just imagine if we would've played like we did in the 4th quarter the whole time, it would've been a totally didn't outcome. We were too pumped on our last win and wasn't ready. end of story. buttttt now shut up ugly!! Liberty owns wrote on November 24, 2010 09:52 AM: LVHS FTW AND M&B U BOTH SUCK!!! Liberty Won far and square LVHS FTW wrote on November 24, 2010 09:47 AM: IM with u M&B whatever that name means. but we could have beat the libertarians because remember the 4th quarter we scored like 2 touchdowns in 3 mins just imagine if we would have done that in the 1st quarter. wildcat fan wrote on November 24, 2010 09:35 AM: saturday? are you stupid yer mama? "Bahhhahahaha" & vegas ALWAYS keeps it classy so stop hating! MamaLiberty wrote on November 22, 2010 07:27 PM: M&B's comments are not worth anyone's time and enery and are made to start crap. There are only 3 teams practicing in Las Vegas tonight. Liberty is one of them. That's a great accomplishment. M&B, haters like you cannot appreciate that because you are immature and will never amount to anything outside of ignorant comments. It's just a game sweetie. Let go and let God. And don't associate yourself with Vegas because they are a class act program and you bring shame with your poor sportsmanship whining while naming your ties to them. FYI - Liberty can play in 20 degree weather... with slippas on. And if winning the SUNRISE REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP makes us losers, then we wear that title proudly. yer mama wrote on November 22, 2010 02:18 PM: hmmm...let me guess M&B would mean "mad & bitter"...who lost Saturday??? Bahhhahahaha. Quit your whining cause we don't care. Liberty has the outmost respect for Vegas so don't go starting something out of nothing cause you got your undies in a bunch w/ doodoo stains... lhs fan wrote on November 22, 2010 11:14 AM: We can always count on Vegas to keep it classy. M&B you are a true disgrace to high school athletics. Read More Comments |
