By Ken Jackson
Sports Writer

The light faded on Liberty High's playoff hopes Friday with a 55-6 loss to 4A District 7 foe Edgewater at Frank Lough Field.

Alton Howard scored four touchdowns for the Eagles (4-2, 2-0) as Edgewater tallied 513 yards en route to the win.

The loss dropped the Chargers to 3-3, but more importantly 0-2 in 4A-7, meaning that they'll need a tremendous amount of help around the district to finish in the top two by the end of the season.

LHS Coach Dave Benson preferred to think about what his team can still do after the game.

"Football isn't played in the past," he said. "We have to win out."

Edgewater and East River, with a 27-14 win over St. Cloud, are 2-0 in the district. With a win over Poinciana, Harmony would join them at 2-0.

Thanks to falling behind early, and the gimpy ankle of fullback Evan Durand, Liberty eschewed its power running game, and sophomore quarterback was forced to pass it 19 times, completing eigth for 94 yards and a touchdown.

Edgewater led 13-0 seven minutes into the game, but the Chargers showed left when Kason Hooks partially blocked an Eagles punt at the Edgewater 45. A 31-yard pass from Hankerson to Ameer Thompson set up Randy Gil's 8-yard touchdown catch on the first play of the second quarter.

It was 13-6 after the PAT was blocked, and Edgewater answered back with a 68-yard drive that ended with R.J. Altman's second touchdown run of 2 yards five minutes later. Howard scored twice in the last 3:56 of the first half to make it 34-6 at halftime.

The Chargers return home next week to face Palm bay Heritage. It is Homecoming week.