Lillard Leads Eagles Past Stafford 31-16
BEALTON, VA - It only took 12 seconds for the Liberty Eagles to find pay dirt Friday night, as Junior Corey Lillard returned the opening kickoff 65 yards for a touchdown. The Eagles improved to 1-2 on the season and played well on both sides of the ball throughout the game. Eric Moran led the Eagles on defense as he picked up 2 sacks and forced a fumble. Coach Potts' defense held Stafford to just a field goal, up until the final minutes of the fourth quarter.
Up 14-3 late in the second quarter, Coach Tommy Buzzo called out the old "Hook And Ladder" play as Thomas Novak caught Wayne Conner's pass and pitched the ball to Lillard. Lillard got out of bounds at the 12 yard line with 1.1 seconds to go. Liberty then used a time out to discuss their next play, and it was a good one. Conner put a perfect pass up in the right corner of the end zone to Sam Ball-Whitfield as he out-jumped the defender to grab the ball at its highest point. Liberty took a 21-3 lead into halftime.
The Indians had some success on the ground as Dante Cook ran 15 times for 151 yards. Cook accounted for 115 of those yards in the first quarter and got limited touches for the final three quarters. Quarterback Stephen Lamar was unable to match his production from last week. Lamar accounted for 3 touchdowns and 203 yards of total offense in last week's triple overtime loss to the Fauquier Falcons. Stafford fell to 0-3 after the loss and travel to play a very good Brooke Point team in next week's action.
Wayne Conner continues to impress as he leads the Eagles offense. Conner found the end zone via the ground on an 11 yard run in the third quarter. Conner also had success through the air as he connected on big gains to Mark Simpson and Corey Lillard.
The Indians scored twice within the last two minutes of the game as Dexter McDougle and Jake Johnson ran for scores of 10 and 3 yards respectively.
Coach Buzzo and the Liberty Eagles look to build off of this win in anticipation of next Friday's Cedar Run District debut against the Osbourn Eagles. Kip Hull Field should be at maximum capacity for this big match up. Osbourn fell to the Woodbridge Vikings 6-3 in overtime in other action in the area. Next week's contest will feature two solid teams, both at 1-2 and in search of getting off on the right foot in district play. That game can be heard live next Friday, September 28th, exclusively on the Gameday Radio Network, at Gamedaymagazine.com. Coverage begins at 6:45 pm.
