Liberty Hill has enjoyed a two-game homestand but will soon have to dust off their road jerseys. They will square off against the Pioneer Diamondbacks at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Keep an eye on the score for this one: the pair posted some lofty point totals in their previous games.
It can be hard to translate regular season success to the playoffs, but Liberty Hill had no problem doing just that on Friday. They took down Harlandale 43-26. Liberty Hill pushed the score to 43-13 by the end of the third, a deficit Harlandale cut but never quite recovered from.
Ben Carter was the offensive standout of the matchup as he rushed for 152 yards and three touchdowns. Liberty Hill also got a significant boost from Dj Seaborn, who ran away from the competition to the tune of 91 yards.
Meanwhile, Pioneer entered their tilt with Edcouch-Elsa with three consecutive wins but they'll enter their next game with four. Pioneer enjoyed a cozy 48-29 win over Edcouch-Elsa on Thursday.
Pioneer can attribute much of their success to Dylan Tijerina, who rushed for 220 yards and two touchdowns while picking up 11.6 yards per carry, and Julian Valdez, who rushed for 152 yards and four touchdowns while picking up 9.5 yards per carry. Tijerina hasn't dropped below two rushing touchdowns for six straight games.
Their wins bumped Liberty Hill to 7-4 and Pioneer to 10-1.
Liberty Hill came out on top in a nail-biter against Pioneer in their previous matchup back in January of 2021, sneaking past 56-53. One of the biggest obstacles trying to stand in the way of that victory was Pioneer's Eddie lee Marburger, who threw for 460 yards and six touchdowns, and also rushed for 104 yards and two touchdowns. Now that he won't be playing on Friday, will it be that much easier for Liberty Hill to walk away with another win? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
