The Liberty Lions will take on the Centennial Coyotes at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Liberty's defense heads into the game hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Friday. They really took it to Mountain Ridge for the full four quarters, racking up a 71-0 win. The victory was nothing new for the Lions as they're now sitting on four straight.
Jayden Pico
| 10/03/25 @ Mountain Ridge | 177.1 |
| 09/26/25 @ Pinnacle | 160.4 |
| 08/28/25 vs Mountain View | 119.6 |
| 09/19/25 vs ALA - Queen Creek | 99.4 |
| 09/05/25 @ Corner Canyon | 95.7 |
Liberty can attribute much of their success to Jayden Pico, who rushed for 56 yards and one TD, and also threw for 17 yards and one touchdown. The dominant performance also gave Pico a new career-high in passer rating (177.1). Another player making a difference was Marley Chancey, who picked up 52 receiving yards and a pair of scores.
Liberty didn't let much get past them through the air: they limited Mountain Ridge to a completion percentage of just 38.1%. That dominant aerial defense primarily came from six players: Christian Garcia, Mason Lombardi, Lucian Tallman, Pylot Burns, Paz St John, and Darius Stephens, who each logged one passes deflected. Liberty has been improving in that area: they had allowed a completion percentage of 0.63 earlier this season, but they've only allowed one of 0.63 in their last three games.
Special teams was a major factor in the game for Liberty, racking up 21 points in total. The biggest highlight from special teams (and perhaps the team as a whole) came courtesy of Kaden Miller, who ran a punt back for a touchdown. Another bright spot was a kickoff return touchdown from Carter Rothe.
Meanwhile, after only ten points in their last contest, Centennial made sure to put some points up on the board against O'Connor on Friday. The Coyotes breezed past the Eagles to the tune of 35-7. The final result isn't all that surprising considering the Coyotes' considerable advantage in MaxPreps' Arizona football rankings (they are ranked tenth, while the Eagles are ranked 40th).
Liberty better focus on containing Owen Reynoso and Titus Hill as the pair were huge in Centennial's win. Reynoso rushed for 139 yards on only 14 carries, while Hill threw for 183 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Hill's passing game has become a key predictor of Centennial's success: the team is undefeated when his passer rating is 100 or higher, but only 1-2 otherwise. The Coyotes also got help from Sebastian Moreno, who showed off his sure hands for 97 receiving yards.
One reason for the win was Centennial's imposing defense, which managed to get into the backfield for 4.5 sacks. William Bullard refused to say out of the backfield, picking up 1.5 sacks all by himself.
Centennial's win bumped their record up to 4-2. As for Liberty, their victory bumped their record up to 5-1.
We should be in store for an exciting game as the two teams have no problem gaining yardage. Liberty has been on an offensive roll this season, having averaged 386 total yards per game. However, it's not like Centennial struggles in that department as they've been averaging an even more impressive 380.2 total yards. With a pair of commanding offenses duking it out, the defenses are going to have their work cut out for them.
Everything came up roses for Liberty against Centennial in their previous matchup back in November of 2024, as the team secured a 45-17 win. In that matchup, the Lions amassed a halftime lead of 24-3, an impressive feat they'll look to repeat on Friday.
