Lillard, Liberty Secure First AAA Region Title 41-14
Liberty's Corey Lillard took control of the game early and often, scoring three times in the win.
Photos By: Dave Bernhardt | VIEW GALLERY
Derrick Lee started the scoring for the Liberty Eagles in their regional title win over G.W. Danville.
Photos By: Dave Bernhardt | VIEW GALLERY
The Eagles captured their first ever regional title with their win over the G.W. Danville Eagles 41-14.
Photos By: Dave Bernhardt | VIEW GALLERY
BEALETON, VA - Coach Tommy Buzzo and the Liberty Eagles hoisted a Region title into the air for the first time as they dismantled GW-Danville 41-14 in the Division 5 Northwestern Region Championship game. Liberty put 21 points on the board in the first quarter and never looked back.
After recovering an onside kick to start the game Liberty moved down the field quickly and got in the end zone just two minutes into the game when Senior Derrick Lee ran around the right side of the line for an 8-yard touchdown. Lee then ran in the 2 point conversion to give the Eagles an 8-0 lead. Five minutes later Junior WR James Rogers caught a 19-yard touchdown pass from Nick Potts to give Liberty a 14-0 lead. Rogers has now caught a touchdown pass in three consecutive games.
The night truly belonged to arguably the best player to ever don the blue and red at Liberty high school. That young man is Corey Lillard. His counterpart, David Wilson, may be the higher ranked running back on national recruiting websites but Lillard's star shined brighter at Kip Hull Field on Friday night as he scored three touchdowns and played lights out defense all night long.
Lillard's first touchdown came just 36 seconds after the Rogers score. Lillard ran into a pile of players and seemed to have been brought down, next thing you know he ran out of the pile and over another pair of defenders on his way into the end zone for a 14-yard score. The talented senior scored his second touchdown of the game at the 2:49 mark in the second quarter from 30 yards out to give the Eagles a 28-7 lead going into halftime. Lillard then capped off the opening drive of the second half with his longest run of the night, a 59-yard score to push the Eagle lead to 34-7. Lillard also had a 71-yard punt that was downed at the GW-Danville 2-yard line.
GW-Danville featured the number six rated running back in the country in Senior David Wilson. Wilson, a Virginia Tech commit, came into the game with 2,231 rushing yards and 33 touchdowns on the season. Wilson showed off his speed in the 2nd quarter with a 31-yard touchdown run off right tackle. Wilson found his way back into the end zone in the 4th quarter with a 5-yard score, but outside of those two runs Wilson was limited to just 9 yards on 18 carries. FB Tahron Goods had great success however as he ran the ball 22 times for 122 yards and came very close to breaking a few long runs. Patrick Clifton had a great game at wide out as the 6'2" senior caught five balls for 91 yards.
Needless to say the Liberty defense played one of their best games by containing one of the best backs in the country. Senior DT Chris Foddrell found his way into the backfield on numerous plays throughout the game and was instrumental in limiting the Danville ground game. Sophomore Cortez Carter had yet another solid game at linebacker as the PA announcer called his name frequently during the game. The Eagle defense also recovered four fumbles the biggest coming on their own 1-yard line in the 3rd quarter.
Liberty racked up 380 total yards on the night, 347 coming by ground. Senior special teams standout Ryan Burroughs saw carries late in the game after Wayne Fleming (8 carries 53 yards) left the game with an injury. Burroughs ran for 48 yards on 7 carries and scored the final touchdown for the Eagles in the fourth quarter on a 6-yard touchdown run.
Liberty now moves on the AAA Division 5 State Semi-Finals as they travel to Dinwiddie to take on the Generals next Saturday at 1:00. Dinwiddie knocked off Hanover 34-17 to advance to the State semis. Stay tuned to GamedayMagazine.com this week for "The Eagles Nest with Coach Tommy Buzzo" and a preview article for both AAA Division 5 match-ups.
