By Rick Pedone
Sports Editor

East River cashed in on its only red zone opportunity of the night – a 1-yard touchdown run by Deshawn Dexter on the game’s first series – and the Falcons held on for a 6-0 4A District 7 win at Liberty Friday.

East River stayed unbeaten at 7-0 and 3-0 in the district, while the Chargers fell to 4-4 and saw their playoff hopes vanish at 0-3 in district play.

It was a frustrating evening for the Liberty offense, which three times in the first half drove inside the Falcons’ 10-yard line without scoring.

The Chargers defense, meanwhile, after surrendering 126 yards during East Rivers’ first two possessions, clamped down. The Chargers held the Falcons to just 18 yards for the rest of the half and only 234 total for the game.

The Chargers defense came up with a pair of turnovers in the second half. Dario Bennett’s third-quarter interception set the Chargers up at the East River 25, but back-to-back penalties killed the drive.

In the fourth quarter, Jalen Benn’s crunching hit on East River punt returner Chris Street knocked the ball loose and Diovante Bedford recovered at the Falcons’ 32 with seven minutes to play.

Again, the Chargers couldn’t convert and turned it over on downs.

“I don’t know what to say. My guys played like champions. They left everything on the field,” Liberty Coach David Benson said. “It comes down to the fact that you have to score in the red zone. We didn’t do that.”

The Chargers drove 60 yards on their first possession before stalling at the Falcons’ 3 after quarterback Greg Hankerson’s fourth-down pass in the end zone fell incomplete. Hankerson (5-18-109) hit Randy Gil for 22 yards on third down to set up the scoring opportunity.

In the second quarter, receiver Demetrius Taylor made a remarkable, twisting 25-yard reception to keep alive a drive that reached the 10 before Hankerson was sacked for a 10-yard loss on fourth down.

Just before the end of the half, Hankerson hit J.J. Elisis on a screen pass for 45 yards to the East River 3-yard line. But, with the clock ticking off the final seconds, and without a timeout, Liberty couldn’t run another play.

East River ran a fake punt on fourth-and-8 from midfield with two minutes to play to run out the clock.

“It was a good call, but I don’t know what our guys were thinking. We work on that in practice,” Benson said.

The challenge now for the Chargers is to prepare for St. Cloud next week in a game that could make Liberty bowl eligible. The Chargers can also play spoiler, as St. Cloud, 4-4, clings to faint playoff hopes with a 1-2 district record.

East River is tied with Edgewater, a winner over Harmony Friday, for the district lead.