The Liberty Lions are taking a road trip to square off against the Saguaro Sabercats at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Liberty knows how to get points on the board -- the team has finished with 31 points or more in their past six contests -- so hopefully Saguaro likes a good challenge.
Liberty is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Arizona's top teams: Salpointe Catholic, who was ranked 13th in their home state at the time (Liberty was ranked second). Liberty came out on top against Salpointe Catholic by a score of 34-24 on Friday.
Liberty's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Hayden Fletcher led the charge by throwing for 278 yards and a touchdown, while also rushing for 74 yards. The dominant performance gave Fletcher a new career-high in rushing yards. Dominic Lombardo was in the mix too, providing Liberty with three touchdowns.
Liberty's defense stepped up as well, laying out the QB nine times. The heavy lifting was done by Paz St John and Cannon Garday, who racked up four sacks between them. Garday is also on a roll when it comes to total tackles, as he's now made six or more in the last four games he's played dating back to last season. Liberty got some further help from Zeth Thues: he picked up a sack and made six total tackles (4.0 for loss).
Meanwhile, Saguaro had to endure a six-game losing streak, but that streak is no more. They enjoyed a cozy 35-21 win over Chaparral on Friday.
Saguaro can attribute much of their success to Marcel Jones, who threw for 250 yards and two touchdowns while completing 73.9% of his passes, and Elias Johnson, who rushed for 201 yards while picking up 11.2 yards per carry. Johnson was no stranger to the big play, taking off on a dash that went for 58 yards. Tristan Armstrong was Jones' top target, picking up 50 receiving yards and two touchdowns.
Liberty pushed their record up to 6-1 with the victory, which was their fifth straight on the road dating back to last season. As for Saguaro, their win ended a five-game drought on the road dating back to last season and puts them at 1-6.
Everything came up roses for Liberty against Saguaro in their previous meeting back in October of 2023, as the squad secured a 31-3 victory. The rematch might be a little tougher for Liberty since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
