On Friday, Liberty faced Salpointe Catholic in a battle between two of the state's top teams. The Liberty Lions came out on top against the Salpointe Catholic Lancers by a score of 34-24. The win was nothing new for the Lions as they're now sitting on three straight.
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. Fletcher showed off some serious burst, turning on the afterburners on one carry for 64 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. Another thorn in Salpointe Catholic's side was Zeth Thues, who picked up a sack and made six total tackles (4.0 for loss).
Despite the loss, Salpointe Catholic saw an underclassman step up: Matthew Avelar rushed for 78 yards, and also threw for 35 yards and a touchdown. Those 78 rushing yards gave Avelar a new career-high. Morgan Quiri was another key receiver, picking up 92 receiving yards and a touchdown.
Liberty's victory was their fifth straight on the road dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 6-1. As for Salpointe Catholic, their defeat ended a nine-game streak of wins at home dating back to last season and dropped them to 4-2.
Both squads will have to hit the road in their upcoming games. Liberty will square off against Saguaro at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Liberty is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 38.1 points per game this season. As for Salpointe Catholic, they will face off against Mountain Pointe at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Salpointe Catholic also hasn't been messing around on offense: they've averged 35.2 points per game.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
