By Ken Jackson
Sports Writer

Somebody’s leaving the Ridenour Athletic Complex on Friday with a 2-0 7A District 6 record and at least a share of the lead in the standings when Gateway hosts Liberty at 7:30 p.m.

Liberty (1-3) and Gateway (3-2) are 1-0 in the district after Gateway received a forfeit from St. Cloud last week.

Gateway will be looking to get its offense back on track after a 19-0 loss last week to Eau Gallie. The Panthers managed just 93 yards, including 11 yards rushing — about 230 less than they gained at St. Cloud two weeks ago.

Coach Marlin Roberts said a stalled drive in the red zone that resulted in no points set a bad tone for the evening.

“We came out of the locker room a little flat, but we moved the ball down field through the air on our first drive,” he said. “We got inside the 10 and then had to settle for a field goal try and missed it. We couldn’t get anything sustained going after that. It was just one of those nights.”

Gateway went into the half down just 6-0.

“The defense did a good job from the second quarter on,” Roberts said. “I told the kids at halftime we were going to win the game. We could have won it.”

Quarterback Anthony Rodriguez hit 8-of-11 passes for 82 yards.

Liberty played a bit better last week in a loss at University, 34-28. The Chargers led 28-20 with 9 minutes left  after Ameer Thompson took a swing pass 73 yards to the end zone.

But, the Cougars (2-3) scored twice in the next 3:24 on a 45-yard run by D.J. Holley, who had 233 yards and three TDs, and a blocked punt returned 21 yards by Victor Escobar for the game-winner.

The Chargers fumbled five times, losing three, and dropped eight passes.

“As poorly as we did the little things, I still think we played well enough to win it. We’ve got to do a better job of closing out games.,” LHS Coach David Benson said. “Every dropped pass was a drive killer. I honestly think we left 28 points on the field. We played in spurts.”

Demetrius Taylor  made two huge plays on defense, returning interceptions 83 and 55 yards for touchdowns that turned a 13-6 deficit into a 20-13 lead.

University played a no-huddle style that kept the Charger defense off balance.

“Their tempo forced us into a lot of assignment errors,” Benson said.

Chargers quarterback Terrell Bonds kept his team in it the best he could, rushing for 92 yards and passing for 121 more (7-for-21). He will be the key to a Liberty victory Friday,  Roberts said.

“That kid is scary. He’s faster than he looks on film,” he said. “If he gets outside of you, it’s over. We’re working on a scheme to keep him boxed in.

“Their defense flies to the ball even through they’re supposed to be young on that side. They’ll be pumped up; we had a spirited game in the summer 7-on-7 league and our kids remember.”

Benson, returning to the place where he was an assistant from 1999-2007 (Roberts was an assistant much of that time, too), said his team will need to be intense to beat an athletic Panther squad.

“Marlin’s got them in the right direction. They gave St. Cloud fits,” he said. “He’s got a great group of athletes playing a lot more physical than in the past.”