Lewis, Steves Lead Fauquier Past Liberty 17-14
BEALETON, VA - Despite losing their star quarterback to a potential serious knee injury in the 3rd quarter, the Fauquier Falcons made one more play than the Liberty Eagles to win the first edition of the Bird Bowl in 2007 by a score of 17-14 in overtime.
Liberty scored first on a Mark Simpson run that brought the home crowd to its feet. Simpson transferred to Liberty for his senior season and had a strong night running the football. The Eagles then added to their lead mid-way through the second quarter to make the score 14-0, but that lead didn't long. The Falcons came storming back behind the play of senior David Lewis. Lewis, a 6ft 4" inch wide receiver, did his best Randy Moss impression and leaped over Eagle cornerback Sam Ball-Whitfield for a score. Lewis and fellow wideout Pete Kidwell took over in the second half after quarterback Kyle McCarten was taken from the field with a knee injury. Junior Ryan Steves stepped in behind center and calmly looked like he had been playing for years. Steves hit receiver after receiver, completing 5 of his first 6 passes.
Late in the 4th quarter with Fauquier driving, the Eagles intercepted Steves inside the Eagle 3 yard line to force overtime. Derek Lee's turned the momentum back toward Liberty, but in overtime, the Eagles were stopped on 4th down on the 2 yard line.
Fauquier then wasted no time in sending out kicker Bryan Hoysa to take a shot at winning the game on 1st down. The Eagles called timeout to ice Hoysa, but it didn't work. From 27 yards out, Hoysa drilled the kick and sent the Fauquier bench and fans into a frenzy.
At the end of the game, head coach Greg Hatfield caught up with Gameday's Grant Paulsen, and was very excited with the win.
"It was a great game and an exciting win," Hatfield said. "Our kids came back from 14 points down and showed a ton of heart."
With the win, Fauquier improved to 1-0. In the loss, Liberty dropped to 0-1. Liberty will travel to Fauquier in the final game of the season with that game being considered a district game.
Game Notes:
Liberty was penalized 17 times on Friday night's game against Fauquier. Those 17 penalties accounted for over 169 yards in the wrong direction either on offense or defense.
Injuries:
Fauquier quarterback Kyle McCarten was seen on crutches after the game celebrating with his teammates. McCarten injured his knee in the 3rd Quarter after scrambling on a pass play that broke down.
