After Liberty scored just 12 points all last season, first-year head coach Dee Hart called the Chargers 41-13 loss to Davenport last week a “moral victory.” But after Thursday night’s 20-17 actual win over Celebration, Hart said he doesn’t want to talk about “moral victories” ever again.
“I’m so happy for these guys,” Hart said. “Despite starting 0-4 and not staying within 30 points of any opponent all season, this team never gave up in any of those games and kept fighting regardless of the score. But at the same time, this team really needed a win and needed to know what a win felt like and we were able to get that tonight.”
The victory was the first as a head coach for Hart and was the first win by Liberty since a 48-0 win over Poinciana to close the 2021 season.
Quarterback Jeremiah Pierre-Louis led the Chargers to win, running for two touchdowns and passing for a third. Pierre-Louis ran for 90 yards – scoring on runs of 15 and 3 yards. He also completed five of 17 passes for 112 yards.
“He was the best player on the field tonight in my opinion,” Hart said. “Here’s a kid that stuck through a really tough year last season. He could have transferred somewhere else and played, but he stuck with the program and is a four-year starter. He has exhibited tremendous leadership for our younger guys.”
Liberty jumped out to a 6-0 lead late in the first quarter when Joshua Alezi slipped behind the Celebration secondary and caught a 52-yard touchdown pass. The Chargers upped the lead to 12-0 in the second quarter as Christian Tai intercepted Landen Yaw on the 25 and returned it to the Storm 3-yard line. One play later, Pierre-Louis ran it in for a score.
Celebration got its running game going in the second half. Anthony Parris broke off runs of 32 and 24 yards to set up a Kobe Orr 6-yard touchdown run. Orr also ran in the conversion to make it a 12-8 game.
But Liberty scored the game clincher three series later. Pierre-Louis capped a 12-play, 60-yard drive with a 15-yard touchdown run and added the conversion to make it 20-8. The key to the drive came when the Chargers converted a third-and-32 situation when Pierre-Louis ran for 13 yards, and a personal foul tacked on 15 more. The senior quarterback converted a first down on the next play and scored six plays later.
Still, the Storm fought back. The Celebration defense recorded a safety to make it 20-10 and on Liberty’s next possession, they blocked a punt and recovered it for a touchdown to make it 20-17. The ensuing onsides kick failed, however, and the Chargers were able to run out the clock.
“We certainly had our chances tonight, but we made too many mistakes to win and I believe that can be attributed to the youth of our team,” Celebration coach Jeremy Palmer said. “Give them some credit though; I thought their defense played really well, especially in the first half. They were aggressive and did a great job of plugging the holes and stopping our running game.”
The Chargers will host Gateway next Friday; Celebration travels to undefeated Tohopekaliga, a team they upset last year 21-20.
