Liberty runs by Harmony, 50-20, in 5A-7 opener

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Liberty runs by Harmony, 50-20, in 5A-7 opener

Sports

Thursday, 29 September 2011 00:00

By Rick Pedone
Sports Editor
Liberty picked the perfect time to win its first game of the football season Saturday when it raced past Harmony, 50-20, at Longhorn field.
Not only did that lift the Chargers’ record to 1-2, but the win also put Liberty at 1-0 in 7A District 6. Harmony fell to 1-3 and 0-1.
“I told the guys that we made history, we won our first district game of the season,” Chargers Coach David Benson said.
Liberty travels to University Friday at 7:30 p.m. for a non-district contest.
Last week’s game was moved to Saturday an hour and a half delay because of rain and lightning Friday.
“We got back to the school at about 10 and got everybody back by 7:45 Saturday morning,” Benson said. “I’m very proud of them for the way they handled that situation.”
The Chargers were led by quarterback Terrell Bonds, who threw a school-record four touchdown passes, and receiver Demetrious Taylor, who scored twice on pass receptions and again on a punt return. Ameer Thompson had a 75-yard TD catch and run just before the half that made it 26-7.
Taylor scored the Chargers’ first two touchdowns on receptions of 8 and 41 yards in the first quarter for a 14-0 lead.
Harmony answered, moving 65 yards on a 14-play drive that was aided by a pair of third-down penalties against Liberty, but the Chargers scored two series later on Bobby Jones’ 4-yard run. Bonds, who threw for 201 yards and leads the county with 723 yards through four games, hit Julian Aleman on a 25-yard pass play to set up the score. The PAT failed, leaving it 20-7.
“We’re getting better,” Benson said. “We’ve got a few guys that can make big plays.”
Bonds found Perrion Hopkinson for another TD pass play in the second half, Jalen Benn scored on a run and Taylor returned a punt to give the Chargers plenty of cushion under the hot afternoon sun.
Benson said his players handled the hot weather well thanks to preseason conditioning.
“It’s something we work on all summer, something that we take very seriously,” Benson said. “Coach (Ray) Hines is the sprint coach for the track team and he always has some little twist he’s doing to keep our kids in shape. It paid off.”
Benson was encouraged to see the defense play its best game of the season.
“I think a lot of that is that the guys played inspired football, and they played with a lot of heart,” Benson said. “We’ve got some new defensive coaches his year and I think the kids are still working out the terminology and where they are supposed to be. I think they are beginning to catch on, and you could see that by the way they played Saturday. It’s a step in the right direction.”
Benson said University presents a challenge after the Cougars nearly upended Winter Park, 34-26, last week. University is coached by one of Benson’s friends, Don Stark. They both were assistants at Gateway High.
“They do a lot of different things (offensively), a lot of one back spread and one back with a tight end,” Benson said.
Cougars quarterback William Solomon passed for 190 yards and one touchdown and running back Deejay Holley rushed for 120 yards and three touchdowns.
“The important thing is that we’ve got to keep working, we’ve got to get better,” Benson said.
After University (1-3), the Chargers travel to Gateway Friday before finally returning to Chargers field Oct. 14 against Freedom. Liberty’s last home game was the regular season opener against Haines City Sept. 2.