Fletcher throws 4 TD passes in the third quarter in victory
WEEKLY BLOG: 11/23/24
The Liberty Lions went into their locker room at halftime Friday night holding a 22-19 lead and knowing they would be kicking off to begin the second half.
Over the next 12 minutes, the cage was open and the Lions were unleashed displaying their fury. It was reminiscent of the 2023 team that claimed the Open Division title. Scoring fast and often while shutting down the opposition.
Liberty exploded in the third quarter for five touchdowns to pull away for a 64-26 victory over Higley in an Open Division quarterfinal game on its home field in Peoria. With the semifinals moving to neutral sites, it was the last time for the Lion seniors on their familiar grass, capacity crowd, and surroundings.
“Our community is amazing,” Liberty head coach Colin Thomas said. “They’ve supported us nonstop every year. This group of seniors has won a lot of games on this field, so we wanted to close it the right way.”
The Lions (10-1) advance to the semifinals and will play Hamilton (10-1) next Saturday. Hamilton defeated top-seeded Marana, 31-22 on Friday.
The Liberty offense began the game with an interception, a punt, and getting stopped on downs. After that, the Lions scored eight offensive touchdowns to set a new single-game Open Division scoring record. Hamilton held the previous mark with 58 points in a 2020 win over Salpointe.
Offensive depth at the skill positions
Liberty isn’t a team with one superstar at running back or receiver. It’s truly a team effort.
The Lions had not one, but two players go over the century mark with Jayden Sanchez (9 carries, 120 yards) and Esteban Demby-Lamas (16 carries, 120 yards). In addition, Dominic Lombardo had a pair of short scoring runs.
“We’re one,” Lombardo said of the running back room. “We have a good rotation going and I love it.”
As a team, the Lions averaged more than eight yards per carry and posted a season-high 343 yards rushing.
The passing game was a little out of sync in the first half (57 yards), but got going in the decisive third quarter as senior Hayden Fletcher, a Northern Arizona commit, threw touchdowns to four different receivers.
“I needed that little reset button,” Fletcher said. “I had more confidence and trust in myself and played more free.”
Fletcher finished the game 11-of-19 passing for 239 yards.
A back-and-forth first half
Higley (7-4) came in determined to play its normal up-tempo, fast-paced offense (like Liberty does) that is tilted more heavily in the passing game. It worked early as the Knights took advantage of a Justice Brathwaite interception to score the game’s first touchdown.
Liberty then cashed in on a short field via a blocked punt and reached the end zone. The Knights responded with a TD pass from Gunner Fagrell to Justin Bender, who scored for the second time in the half.
The Haymakers continued as the Lions struck back with a touchdown run from Demby-Lamas. Lombardo had his second short scoring run of the half to increase the lead, but Higley came back with Fagrell’s second touchdown pass of the half.
Each team scored three touchdowns with the difference on the scoreboard reflected in the PAT’s as Higley was 0-for-2 going for two and Liberty was 1-of-1 and led by three points.
The first-half numbers were similar as Liberty posted 200 yards of total offense with Higley close behind at 181.
The pivotal third quarter
It was 45 minutes of real time and 12 minutes of game clock. What was a close game turned into a rout.
Liberty faced a third-and-eight from its own 31 yard line. Fletcher rolled right and fired a pass up to Drace Wadlington. The defender swung to try and bat it down, but whiffed. It landed in the senior’s arms and with no one behind the defense, Wadlington ran down the sideline to the end zone.
It was disaster for Higley as it fumbled deep in its own end on the next series (7-yard line). On the first play from there, Fletcher faked the handoff, moved right and hit Kamden Segall in the end zone.
Starting from its own 15-yard line following a three-and-out, it only took the Lions five runs to add to the lead. Sanchez took a handoff, went left and got all the way around the defense and down the sideline for a 40-yard touchdown.
The Lions got it back and got another big pass play from Fletcher. Sophomore Braxton Huynh got behind the defense and was wide open. That turned into a 60-yard scoring play.
Finally, after another three-and-out forced the seventh Higley punt of the night, Hayfield connected with Brody Pilegaard, who beat his defender and hauled in a pass for a 35-yard touchdown.
And all of a sudden, a 22-19 game turned into 57-19.
Special teams were special for Liberty
The 64-point output wasn’t the work of the offense alone. Special teams helped put the Lions in position on multiple occasions, and even added to the total themselves.
Sanchez helped Liberty begin drives around midfield with three kickoff returns totaling 108 yards (long of 45).
With the work Sanchez was also doing at running back, he was subbed out in the fourth quarter and Pilegaard brought one back 95 yards for the Lions’ final score.
It was just the second kick return for the senior, who said even though he doesn’t normally return kicks, it’s something the team works on daily.
“Our coaches and players want it really bad,” Pilegaard said of a second straight title. “Our coaches put together such good schemes. We get them down and walk through them every single day.”
For Liberty’s first touchdown (which didn’t occur until its fourth drive), the Lions only had to go 15 yards because Zeth Thues blocked a punt. The junior also starts in the secondary for the Lions.
Video Highlight
The big play that jump started the passing game (and the third-quarter onslaught) was the deep throw from Fletcher to Wadlington. It was Liberty’s third play from scrimmage in the quarter.
Higley accomplishes preseason goal
After two straight 5A gold ball titles, Higley had been there and done that in the bracket for its current classification. All offseason, the talk was about getting to the Open for the first time.
The Knights traveled to San Juan Capistrano in Week 2 and bagged an out-of-state victory over a California team that would go on to finish 10-2. There was a setback against Marana in September, but we would all eventually see how good the Tigers were.
It appeared a narrow 16-14 loss to ALA-Gilbert North would put the Knights back in the 5A bracket, but the Northeast Valley Region was highly regarded thanks to the entire region going 26-5 in freedom (non-region) games. Every week, those wins in the first half of the year were magnified as those opponents gained victories. Ultimately, Higley ended up at 7-3, but was ranked No. 5 in the final Open standings.
The rest of the state was taking notice at halftime as the Knights were showing they belonged after matching Liberty blow for blow. But then that third quarter got in the way.
“The momentum got on their side and we just couldn’t claw back out of it,” Higley head coach Eddy Zubey said. “That’s a really good football team. It was a good litmus test for us and our program of where we are and where we want to make improvements.”
Zubey wasn’t making excuses, but the Knights played without their top receiver, Jaden Taylor (high ankle sprain) and then lost four defensive starters in the first half alone due to injuries.
In the past three seasons, Higley has gone 31-8 making this a memorable senior class that has some rings to go with their upcoming graduation.
“They’ve raised the standard,” Zubey said. “Now it’s the job of everybody else to hold it. These guys have been the winningest team in school history over the last three years.”
Finally, there was talk among some 5A schools about teams at that level not belonging in the Open. Despite the lopsided score, Zubey said 100 percent yes about being glad his team played on Liberty’s field instead of at home in the 5A bracket.
“It’s not the outcome that we wanted,” Zubey said. “But we got the opportunity to play with the best teams in the state.”
Upcoming Opponent
Liberty’s motto for this season is TDLC with the C squared. it stands for Toughness, Discipline, Leadership, Commitment, and Composure and is the program’s code of values. The Lions will take that into a semifinal matchup at Mountain Pointe HS in Ahwatukee against Hamilton (6 pm kickoff on 11/30). Liberty didn’t face Hamilton this season, but did twice in 2023. The second of those battles came in the first round of the Open where the Lions eliminated the Huskies, 39-27 in what was the closest in-state game last year’s team had.
Hamilton has a new coaching staff with alum Travis Dixon in his first year with the Huskies. HHS comes in with a five-game winning streak (Liberty’s is now seven), so both teams have been on a roll.
“They are really talented and well-coached,” Thomas said of Hamilton. “It’s what you expect to see in an Open semifinal. They’re a really good team and we’re going to have to play really good football to win the game.”
First Quarter:
Higl - Justin Bender 1 yard run (run failed), 10:26
Lib - Dominic Lombardo 6 yard run (Karsten Dombrovsky kick), 3:28
Higl - Bender 6 yard pass from Gunner Fagrell (run failed), 0:51
Second Quarter:
Lib - Esteban Demby-Lamas 2 yard run (Jace Garnder run), 10:09
Lib - Lombardo 1 yard run (Dombrovsky kick), 5:32
Higl - Gatling Drake Walton 25 yard pass from Fagrell (Kaden Olson kick), 0:41
Third Quarter:
Lib - Drace Wadlington 69 yard pass from Hayden Fletcher (Dombrovsky kick), 10:34
Lib - Kamden Segall 7 yard pass from Fletcher (Dombrovsky kick), 10:19
Lib - Jayden Sanchez 40 yard run (Dombrovsky kick), 7:25
Lib - Braxton Huynh 60 yard pass from Fletcher (Dombrovsky kick), 4:09
Lib - Brody Pilegaard 35 yard pass from Fletcher (Dombrovsky kick), 0:44
Fourth Quarter:
Higl - Antonio Young 10 yard run (Olson kick), 9:01
Lib - Pilegaard 95 yard kickoff return (Dombrovsky kick), 7:56
