It can be hard to translate regular season success to the playoffs, but the Liberty Lions had no problem doing just that on Friday. They came out on top against Hamilton by a score of 39-27. Winning may never get old, but Liberty sure are getting used to it with their sixth in a row.
It was another big night for Navi Bruzon, who rushed for 95 yards and three touchdowns, and also threw for 237 yards and a touchdown. Jon Wilson was another key contributor, rushing for 104 yards and a touchdown on only 14 carries.
Hamilton's lost despite a true team effort on the offense, the best among them being Avery Knight, who rushed for 103 yards and two touchdowns on only ten carries. Knight was no stranger to the big play, turning on the jets for a run that went for 62 yards. The team also got some help courtesy of Rich Lucero jr., who threw for 324 yards and a touchdown while completing 79.5% of his passes.
Liberty has yet to lose a game at home this season, leaving them with a 10-1 record. It's not like the team was facing easy opposition over that stretch either, as it included 10-1 Centennial and 10-2 Salpointe Catholic (their opponents had an average overall winning percentage of 64.5% over those games). As for Hamilton, this is the second loss in a row for them and nudges their season record down to 7-4.
Liberty will square off against Highland at 6:00 p.m. on Saturday. The matchup should be an exciting one, as these teams are ranked near one another in Arizona (Highland is ranked fourth, while Liberty is ranked first). Hamilton does not have any more games scheduled as of now.
