Eagles Take Out Hawks 20-6
BEALETON, VA - Despite 3 turnovers and 10 penalties the Liberty Eagles improved to 3-2 on the season by knocking off the Skyline Hawks 20-6 in a sloppy game Friday night at Kip Hull Field. The Eagle defense dictated the flow of the game as they were able to limit Cliff Woodard, Skyline's featured back who came into the game with 675 yards rushing and 12 touchdowns in just 4 games.
Skyline came into the game averaging almost 37 points per game after knocking off Kettle Run, Brentsville, Fauquier and Strausburg but was unable to sustain any kind of rhythm of offense due to 12 penalties that set them back 120 yards. The Hawks were only able to turn the 3 turnovers into 3 points.
Junior kicker Derek Helsley gave Skyline the lead late in the first quarter when he connected on a 29 yard field goal. Skyline recovered a fumble by Liberty's Darrell Yates deep in the red zone but got pushed back by penalties and stout defense.
The Eagles answered back on their next drive as Bryon Williams ran in from 14 yards out. Williams was forced into the lead role in the running game as standout Wayne Fleming sat out the game with an injury. Fleming missed last week's game against Loudoun County and will be sorely missed if the Eagles don't have him back when district play opens up next week.
Josh Spindle found himself on the receiving end of a perfectly placed pass as Lou Chiccehitto threw his only touchdown of the game for a 20-yard score to give the Eagles a 14-3 lead going into halftime.
Chiccehitto was intercepted twice by the Hawks as Dylan Hill and Kwaunte' Stewart. Chiccehitto finished the game with 107 yards passing on 8 of 15 attempts. Chiccehitto used his quickness to elude pressure from Skyline's front four that applied pressure throughout the game. Junior Alex Nickens came away with 1.5 sacks as he and Luke Pingley found themselves in the Eagle backfield often.
Hill's interception set the Hawks up deep in Eagle territory down 14-3 but penalties pushed them back and they were forced to settle for Helsley's second field goal of the game from 37 yards.
Cortez Carter gave Liberty the decisive score as he rumbled through and over defenders en route to a 26 yard score. Carter was a force on the defensive side of the ball by helping Liberty limit the Hawks to just 117 yards rushing. Carter teamed up with Williams as the Eagles rolled up 208 yards rushing.
Skyline travels to Milbrook next week as they look to bounce back from their first loss of the season. Liberty will also take to the road as they face off with Warren County next Friday night as Evergreen District play opens up for the first time. Kickoff is set at 7:00 with the "Integrated Sports Medicine and Physical Therapy" pre-game show slated for a 6:30 start.
