Preview: Pittsburg Pirates vs. Liberty Lions
Pittsburg is 9-1 against Liberty since October of 2014, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Friday. The Pittsburg Pirates will head out on the road to face off against the Liberty Lions at 7:00 p.m. Each of these teams will be fighting to keep a win streak alive as Pittsburg comes in on eight and Liberty on three.
Pittsburg can now show off five landslide victories after their most recent contest on Friday. They blew past Heritage, posting a 56-28 victory at home. Pittsburg pushed the score to 56-21 by the end of the third, a deficit Heritage cut but never quite recovered from.
It was another big night for Elijah Bow, who rushed for 233 yards and two touchdowns while picking up 14.6 yards per carry, and also caught a touchdown. Bow was no stranger to the big play, turning on the jets for a run that went for 68 yards. Another player making a difference was Jamar Searcy , who rushed for 125 yards and two touchdowns while picking up 7.8 yards per carry.
Meanwhile, Liberty can now show off five landslide victories after their most recent game on Friday. They breezed by Deer Valley at home to the tune of 49-6. With Liberty ahead 21-0 at the half, the matchup was all but over already.
Sage Robertson and Ryan Mckendry were among the main playmakers for Liberty as the former threw for 238 yards and four touchdowns and the latter gained 136 total yards and three touchdowns.
Pittsburg's win was their eighth straight at home, bumping their overall record up to 8-0. That said, the team wasn't facing the toughest opposition over that stretch, as it included 0-8 Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory and 1-7 Freedom (their opponents had an average overall winning percentage of 43.4% over those games). As for Liberty, they are on a roll lately: they've won five of their last six matches, which provided a nice bump to their 6-2 record this season.
Keep an eye on the end zone in Friday's game as the pair haven't had much trouble getting there this season. Pittsburg commands a daunting offense this season, having averaged 5.9 touchdowns per game. However, it's not like Liberty struggles in that department as they've been averaging 5.4 per game. With these two high-octane teams facing off on Friday, fans should be in for an exciting offensive matchup.
Pittsburg skirted past Liberty 31-29 when the teams last played back in October of 2022. One of the biggest obstacles trying to stand in the way of that victory was Liberty's Nate Bell, who rushed for 117 yards and a touchdown, and also threw for 232 yards and three touchdowns while picking up 10.5 yards per attempt. Now that he won't be playing on Friday, will it be that much easier for Pittsburg to walk away with another win? There's only one way to find out.
