Liberty Wins Bird Bowl XV and Playoff Berth
BEALETON, VA - The Liberty Eagles hoisted the Fauquier Times Democrat Bird Bowl Trophy in the air for the 11th time on Friday night by defeating the Fauquier Falcons 28-21. The win guarantees the Eagles a spot in the AAA Division 5 Northwest Region playoffs, a feat that has eluded the team over the past three seasons despite going 24-6 in that time frame.
Liberty wasted no time getting on the score board as QB Nick Potts connected with WR Derrick Lee on an 84-yard touchdown pass just 28 seconds into the game. Potts' second completion of the game resulted in a 45-yard touchdown pass to junior Wayne Fleming with 1:12 left in the first half. Senior Corey Lillard added a two point conversion to give the Eagles a 15-0 lead at halftime.
The Eagle defense played extremely well as they intercepted Fauquier QB Kyle Neumann twice in the first quarter which ultimately led to his benching in the second quarter in favor of Ryan Steves. Senior DB Bobby Newton had the first of the two as he read a corner route perfectly and picked off the ball at the Eagle 3 yard line and returned it 17 yards to give the Eagles some breathing room. Junior LB Willie Propps had the second interception and unfortunately for Liberty, they were unable to score off of either turnover.
Liberty's defensive ends John Washington and Stefan Ross applied constant pressure off both ends throughout the game causing Neumann to rush many of his passes. Junior DT Brian Lanham has really been coming on in recent weeks and may have had his best game yet as the 255 pound defensive tackle was a force all night long.
Fauquier pulled within eight points at 15-7 after Shawn Blount scored from 2 yards out with 4:34 to go in the third quarter. Blount came into the game averaging 100 yards rushing but was held in check as he ran for just 48 yards on 13 carries.
The Falcons did a good job of limiting the Eagles success on the ground in the first half as the Eagles ran for just 63 yards on 14 carries, a low total for the Eagles. Liberty got their ground attack going in the second half however and ultimately ended up with 157 yards rushing. Corey Lillard led all Eagle runners as he racked up 125 yards on eight carries and added a 4-yard touchdown run in the 4th quarter.
Neumann would regain the reigns to the Falcon offense in the second half and ran for a 10-yard score with 5:07 to go in the game to get Fauquier within one score at 22-14. Liberty would answer right back as Potts threw his third touchdown pass of the game to James Rogers for a 71-yard score. Rogers run after the catch was highlight reel worthy as the junior caught the ball at the Eagle 40, cut back across the field and made a few nice moves to get into the end zone. Potts completed only 4 of his 15 attempts for 210 yards. Of those 4, 3 went for touchdowns.
Neumann found Brandon Thompson in the end zone for a 12 yard score late in the fourth. Thompson had a nice game as he caught six balls for 54 yards. Neumann finished the game 24-40 for 160 yards.
Liberty will most likely travel to Roanoke next weekend to face William Fleming. Once all of the pairings are finalized I will post them on the website, so stay tuned. Make sure you check out next week's edition of "The Eagles Nest" with Head Coach Tommy Buzzo as coach and I break down the Bird Bowl and look forward to the playoffs.
