San Jacinto deals Liberty its first loss of season, 42-0
Liberty High running back Eddie Smith heads downfield during Friday's game. (Staff photo) By Doug Spoon, Editor All season long, as L...
By Doug Spoon, Editor
All season long, as Liberty High piled up impressive victories in its first varsity season and without a senior class, football coach Kraig Broach described his team as a work in progress, an unfinished product.
For the first time, that became obvious on the field Friday night.
Host San Jacinto High – arguably the class of the Mountain Pass League – showed why it has that reputation, dominating from start to finish in a 42-0 victory over the Bison. Besides being Liberty’s first loss of the season, it was a one-sided football clinic in which Broach said he hopes his players learned a thing or two about themselves.
“Well, we kept on playing,” Broach said about the Bison, who were still battling when the score was 33-0 to start the third quarter. “A lot of this we’re going to have to see on film and find ways to improve. There’s another level we need to get to, and we will. It’s just part of the process..
“Like I’ve said before, we’re an unfinished product. We learned a lot of lessons today and [the loss] didn’t take anything away from these kids. We’re going to get better. It’s a journey.”
There wasn’t much else to say about the way the Tigers (6-2, 3-0) took it to the Bison from the opening drive, when they methodically moved 47 yards in 9 plays to take a 7-0 lead on a 4-yard touchdown run by David Myers. The speedy running back picked up 41 of those yards himself in running through the Liberty defense – a sign of things to come.
Liberty moved the ball 20 yards to its own 43 on the next series before quarterback Anthony Quinones was intercepted by defensive back London Miguel. From that point, it took the Tigers only four plays to make it 13-0 when Daylen Love scored from 4 yards out. That play followed a 44-yard run by Sandro Lopez to set up the score.
Following a Liberty punt just five plays later, San Jacinto was at it again, driving from its own 16-yard line to inside the 50-yard line, from where Malachi Brown ran 45 yards to make it 20-0. The Tigers scored twice more before halftime on a 23-yard pass from Dereun Dortch to Myers and a 7-yard run by Brown.
The only time Liberty came close to scoring was late in the third quarter when the Bison had the ball on the San Jacinto 21-yard line. But Quinones’ pass to the goal line was intercepted, killing the threat.
San Jacinto’s victory capped an impressive two-week stretch in which they outlasted a tough Tahquitz squad, 55-48, and then shut out Liberty.
As for the Bison, it’s time to prepare to host Perris next Friday before closing out the regular season with a game at Tahquitz.
"San Jacinto is a good football team and they were prepared for us tonight," Broach said. "We just have to forget this one and move on."
