Football Preview: Liberty Lions vs. Pittsburg Pirates
Liberty hasn't had much luck against Pittsburg recently, but that could start to change on Friday. The Liberty Lions will venture away from home to square off against the Pittsburg Pirates at 7:00 p.m. After the two teams made easy work of their previous opponents, one won't be so lucky on Friday.
Liberty is headed in fresh off scoring the most points they have all season. They claimed a resounding 42-7 win over Deer Valley at home. Perhaps unsurprisingly given the team's high-flying offense, the game also marked the team's biggest victory of the season.
Liberty relied on the efforts of Sage Robertson, who threw for 251 yards and six touchdowns while completing 83.3% of his passes, and Jaxon Bell, who gained 203 total yards and two touchdowns. Bell got the majority of those receiving yards when he pulled down a pass and took off for a gain of 60 yards.
Meanwhile, Pittsburg entered their tilt with Heritage on Friday with two consecutive wins but they'll enter their next game with three. They blew past the Patriots 45-0 on the road. The result was nothing new for the Pirates, who have now won four contests by 27 points or more so far this season.
It was another big night for Jamar Searcy, who rushed for 138 yards and two touchdowns on only six carries. Leduane Thomas also helped out with an impressive 84 receiving yards.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Pittsburg was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 209 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 159 rushing yards in three consecutive games.
Pittsburg didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off three passes before the game was over. It was truly a group effort as Etene Pritchard, Jewelous Walls, and Jadyn Hudson picked up one apiece.
The win made it two in a row for Liberty and bumps their season record up to 5-2. As for Pittsburg, their record now sits at 6-1.
Friday's match will pit two of the most dominant backs against one another: Bell and Searcy. Bell has put up some stellar numbers this year, and currently owns excellent season averages 130 rushing yards per game this season. For his part, Searcy has averaged 123.9 rushing yards per game this season.
Liberty suffered a grim 34-13 defeat to Pittsburg in their previous meeting back in October of 2023. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Pittsburg's Elijah Bow, who rushed for 174 yards and two touchdowns. Now that Liberty knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
