By J. Daniel Pearson
For the News-Gazette

The flu and a tough Liberty defense could not slow Eric Pfeifer down. The senior running back carried the ball a season-high 29 times for 143 yards and three touchdowns as the St. Cloud Bulldogs (2-5, 1-2) recorded a thrilling 21-20 win over the Liberty Chargers (1-6, 1-2) Thursday at Chargers field

“The kids never gave up and we rode our defense and running game to victory,” Bulldogs assistant coach Bryan Smart said. “Eric came to school today with the flu and said he wasn’t feeling good in the first half, but we kept feeding him the ball and he kept gaining yards.”

Pfeifer said determination paid off.

“The yards were hard to come by at first,” Pfeifer said. “I didn’t feel very good early in the game and they were doing a good job of clogging up the middle. But we kept on grinding and good things began to happen.”

From the start, it looked like Liberty would dominate. After the defense stopped St. Cloud on a three-and out, Chargers freshman quarterback Isaiah Wilson hit Justin Winkler on a 65-yard catch-and-run on Liberty’s first play from scrimmage to set up Steven Phillips’ 2-yard touchdown run.

The Chargers would up the lead to 14-0 on its next possession, as Wilson directed a 7-play, 83-yard touchdown march that ended on Winkler’s 5-yard touchdown run. Wilson was hot on the drive, completing both his of pass attempts for 44 yards and adding 25-yard run.

But Liberty failed to pull further ahead as four additional drives were stalled by two missed field goals and several penalties as the first half ended with the Chargers holding the touchdown lead.

St. Cloud got its offense going in the third quarter. After failing to cover an on-side kick to open the second half, the Bulldogs forced a quick turnover on an errant snap to set itself up on the Chargers’ 36-yard line. Five plays later Pfeifer would then break loose up the middle for a 25-yard touchdown run to make 14-7.

Liberty then muffed the ensuing kickoff and Shaquan Drayton recovered on the Charger 25. Quarterback Matt Chavel fed Pfeifer five straight times, with the final carry resulting in a 7-yard touchdown. Nick Askey booted the extra point to tie the game at 14-14 at the 6:24 mark of the third period.

Neither team could move the ball on the game’s next seven possessions, but a short punt by Liberty was followed by a 50-yard punt by Askey to pin the Chargers on their own 5-yard line. Three plays netted no yards and a shanked punt traveled just 5 yards to set St. Cloud up at the Liberty 10. Pfeifer would once again do the work, covering the 10 yards on two carries to give the Bulldogs a 21-14 lead.

Wilson would put together a terrific scoring drive to give Liberty a chance, leading the Chargers 80 yards on 10 plays. He completed 6 of 7 passes for 76 yards, hitting Joey Casillas for a 12-yard touchdown pass play to make it 21-20 with 1:46 remaining. But, the PAT failed.

After again failing to recover an on-side kick, the Liberty defense forced a quick three-and-out, but another outstanding Askey punt pinned the Chargers on their own 15. After the Chargers gave up the ball up on downs, Chavel would take a knee twice to end the game.

Although neither team was eliminated from playoff consideration, at 1-2 in 7A District 6, both teams would need to win out and receive help to stay alive.

“It was a frustrating loss for us,” Chargers Head Coach David Benson said. “I thought we came in with a good game plan and we executed well early in the game. But the bottom line is we had chances to put them away and we let them stay in the game. Second half turnovers, a breakdown in our kicking game and penalties really hurt us.”

The loss spoiled an outstanding game by Wilson. He completed 16 of 26 passes for 273 yards and rushed 10 times for 30 more yards. “He’s a terrific young athlete,” Smart said. “For a freshman he really threw the ball well and gave us a lot of trouble. We were fortunate that our defense made some big plays in the second half.”

Liberty outgained St. Cloud in total yards (372-193) and first downs (17-14), but it could not overcome breakdowns in the kicking game, two turnovers and 10 penalties for 98 yards.

The Chargers go to district co-leader Osceola Friday, while St. Cloud will host winless Celebration.