Liberty High has another strong outing in 35-22 victory

Eddie Smith finds some running room for Liberty in its victory at Sultana on Friday. (Photo by Doug Spoon)

By Doug Spoon, Editor

A week after scoring a 53-0 victory in its home opener, the Liberty High football team took its act on the road Friday night and the show again played well – at least if you were among the Bison fans who made the trip to Hesperia.

For the home crowd at Sultana High’s home opener, there wasn’t much to celebrate until the final seven minutes of play. By that time, the visiting Bison were well ahead and, even though second-stringers gave up two late touchdowns to the Sultans, this 35-22 victory was another easy one for Liberty.

Andre Skelton rushed for 99 yards and two touchdowns, including a 38-yard run in the fourth quarter to extend Liberty’s lead to 35-6. Anthony Ruelas ran for 127 yards and one touchdown – a 58-yarder in the second quarter. Quarterback Anthony Quinones ran the offense skillfully, and his offensive line pushed around the Sultan defense all night.

Defensively, Liberty set the tone early. After allowing the Sultans to drive 62 yards to the Liberty 8-yard line, Liberty defenders Angelo Serena and Brian Woisin teamed up to sack the Sultana quarterback and hold the home team scoreless.

Then, on their first offensive drive of the night, the Bison marched 85 yards in 8 plays, capped by an 11-yard touchdown pass from Quinones to Zachary Velasco. After the Liberty defense forced a punt on the next series, the Bison got the ball back and drove 60 yards in seven plays to score on a 3-yard run by Serena.

Liberty took a 21-0 lead moments later on the first play of its drive, with Ruelas escaping from the pack and running 58 yards to make it 21-0.

At that point, it was shaping up as another Liberty rout.

“We have a lot of really good players with a lot of potential,” said head coach Adam Contreras. “We just have to keep working week in and week out to get better. I’d love to see how far we can go. We have a really good group and we’re truly a family. That shows.”

Contreras had praise for all his players, including Skelton.

“He’s a great player with a lot of talent,” the coach said. “He’s making things happen and it’s fun to watch. He just goes and goes on offense, he plays some defense, and he does kickoff returns. He’s all over the field.”

Contreras said the fact his offensive line has been virtually intact at the varsity level for three years is a major factor in the offense’s success.

“They’re big and strong and physical,” he said. “They’re fun to run behind. I could probably get some yards behind them.”

We know for sure that Skelton, Ruelas and Eddie Smith can. Skelton’s first touchdown came on a 2-yard run just five plays after Smith recovered a Sultana fumble. And just four plays into the Bison’s next offensive series, Skelton emerged from a pack of players and raced 38 yards to the end zone for his second score of the game.

“The play design was incredible, the way it was drawn up,” Skelton said. “It left me one on one with the safety. I should win that every time.”

Liberty will be back at home next Thursday to play Hemet.