By Rick Pedone
Sports Editor

Liberty’s home football opener Friday at Charger field had a little of everything ­­- emotion, excitement, threatening weather – and a lot of J.J. Elisis, who scored two Liberty touchdowns on a 75-yard kickoff return and a 57-yard run.

But, what, it didn't provide was satisfaction for the host Chargers.

Spruce Creek, dominating throughout thanks to a punishing Wing-T ground attack, held off  Liberty’s fourth-quarter rally to win, 16-14. The game was delayed 50 minutes because of lightning at halftime.

It was a special win for the Hawks, who were able to celebrate after a harrowing week that saw Spruce Creek receiver Jordan Peterson nearly die after being injured in practice Tuesday. The game was dedicated in his honor.

Fortunately, he is expected to recover and he received good news from his teammates, who out-gained the Chargers, 291-185, and led by scores of 13-0 and 16-7 before Elisis sparked Liberty.

Jacob Roth scored both Hawks TDs in the first half, when Liberty managed just 32 yards of offense, but Elisis got the Chargers on the board with 40 seconds left in the second quarter when he took a short kickoff after Roth’s second TD and brought it back for the score.

“He’s special,” Chargers Coach David Benson said afterward.

But, special hardly described Liberty’s play Friday. The defense had problems solving the Hawks’ Wing-T, and the offense, except for Elisis, who rushed for 146 yards and caught three passes from Greg Hankerson for 18 more, was inconsistent.

But, after Elisis zipped up the middle for his TD run late in the third quarter, closing the deficit to 16-14, Liberty was in position to win.

The Chargers defense stopped Spruce Creek at the Liberty 15 on downs with 6:03 left, and after a Liberty drive stalled at the Spruce Creek 23, the Liberty defense held again, forcing a punt.

The Chargers took over at the Spruce Creek 39 with 2:54 to play, and on first down Elisis sprinted to the 15. A penalty against the Hawks moved it to the 7 for a first-and-goal, but Liberty couldn’t punch it in. A procedure penalty on fourth-and-goal from the 1 forced Benson to try a potential game-winning 23-yard field goal, which went wide with 1:08 to play.

The Hawks ran out the clock.

Benson expected an inspired performance from Spruce Creek, because two years ago Liberty’s players went through a similar experience when linebacker Alonzo Smith died of MRSA four weeks into the season.

“We came out the next game against Celebration all fired up. I told our guys that Spruce Creek either was going to come out with a lot of fire, or they were going to be drained, but that we had to be prepared for both,” Benson said. “I give that coach and that team a lot of credit for how they played. I thought our guys played hard. I was disappointed with the result, but not the effort.”

Both teams are 1-1. Liberty hosts Gateway next week.

Benson said the loss does not affect Liberty’s goals.

“It’s not a district game. We’ll take a lesson from this,” he said.

In other games Friday, St. Cloud improved to 2-0 after a 30-21 win at Stuart Martin County … The Bulldogs rallied from a 21-0 halftime deficit as quarterback Phillip Steinmetz ran for a pair of second-half TDs and threw a 42-yard TD pass to Pat McCloskey in the fourth quarter. Alain Moise kicked a 20-yard field goal, and Irving Huggins ran for a touchdown ... Harmony also stayed perfect at 2-0 after routing 1-1 Gateway, 55-10 … Celebration evened its record at 1-1 with a 25-20 win at Lake Placid … Palm Bay Heritage surprised winless (0-2) Poinciana, 27-6, at Eagle Field.