Liberty High pulls out all the stops in a 53-0 victory
Angelo Serena dives across the goal line for a touchdown during Liberty's victory. (Photo by Rick Rowell) By Paige Mendez, Corresponden...
By Paige Mendez, Correspondent
The Liberty High School football team started off the season with a 53-0 win at home Friday night against Valley View.
In the first three minutes, Liberty’s defense held the line and forced a punt. Senior Andre Skelton returned the kick with a 90-yard touchdown to give the Bison an early lead.
For Skelton, who was injured at the start of his junior season last year, a big first play of his senior season was exactly what he hoped for.
“It felt good, because last year my first play of the season I tore my ACL and it was bad,” said Skelton. “So to just come out here and in the first play make a 90-yard touchdown, it was crazy. But regardless of what the first play would have looked like, we would have handled business the way we always do.”
And handle business they did, with their defense forcing turnovers in the next two possessions on just four plays each. The Bison capitalized on those turnovers with two touchdowns from Anthony Ruelas and Angelo Serena, who both ran it in from the 4-yard line.
Those two touchdowns with their respective extra points put Liberty up 21-0 with just under three minutes to go in the first quarter.
But they weren’t done scoring in that quarter until Nyjir Scott intercepted a pass and brought it to just outside the red zone. On the next play, Zachary Velasco caught a 25-yard touchdown pass from Anthony Quinones with 11 seconds to go, bringing the score to 28-0 by the end of the first quarter.
The next Bison touchdown came just under the four-minute mark in the second quarter with another Ruelas run from 14 yards out, followed by a 3-yard run from Eddie Smith into the end zone with 25 seconds left in the half.
Liberty went into the locker room up 40-0, having scored each of those six touchdowns in just five plays or less.
Skelton started the second half strong with a kickoff return all the way to the end zone, making his total yards on the night over 150 yards with just two touches.
The coaches gave some younger players time on the field at that point, with a solid 47-0 lead and a running clock. Valley View made its first third-down conversion of the night at that point but did not convert that into a score, after a drive riddled with flags and finished with an interception.
Seniors like Skelton took to the sideline to cheer on their team at that point.
“I remember as a sophomore having that senior who would push me and motivate me throughout the year and I’m just trying to be that person for someone else,” said Skelton.
Devin McNeal-Dillard went in as quarterback at that point and led the Bison up the field 70 yards in nine plays. Then, on a run attempt into the end zone, the ball was fumbled by Liberty but recovered by offensive lineman Augustine Martinez, who brought it over the line to give his team the last touchdown of the night—the only touchdown for which they received a penalty for excessive celebration when half the sideline emptied to cheer him on in the end zone.
“I was going through the play and everyone kept falling and tackles kept pushing the ball farther out and I saw it and picked it up and ran it in,” Martinez said. “It felt so good. I get to be the first offensive lineman to scoop and score for Liberty.”
In another “big firs”’ story, for head coach Adam Contreras, this win will go down as his first win as the leader of this Bison squad. For him, this win is a testament to how close they are as a team.
“It feels great to see the stands and the guys hyped up all night,” Contreras said. “We have so many weapons on the team that it’s going to be a great year. They tore it up from the first play and it was fun. We’re truly a family.”
His team will continue their nonleague play at Hesperia next Friday at 7 p.m.
Quarterback Anthony Quinones throws on the run in Friday night's victory. (Photo by Rick Rowell)
Anthony Ruelas cruises into the end zone for another Liberty touchdown. (Photo by Rick Rowell)
Zachary Velasco hauls in a pass in front of a defender in the first half Friday. (Photo by Rick Rowell)
Angelo Serena prepares to wrap up a Valley View defender Friday night. (Photo by Rick Rowell)
Anthony Ruelas makes one of many big plays for the Liberty defense. (Photo by Rick Rowell)
