It's hard to turn regular season success into postseason wins, a fact Liberty can now relate to. They took a 23-15 hit to the loss column at the hands of the Bishop O'Dowd Dragons on Friday. The Lions were given a dose of their own medicine in this game as the Dragons apparently hadn't forgotten their defeat the last time these teams played back in September of 2021.
Despite the loss, Liberty still got an impressive performance from Jaxon Bell, who rushed for 183 yards and a touchdown while picking up 7.6 yards per carry. Bell's rushing production has been exceptional for a while as that marked his tenth straight game with at least 101 rushing yards. The team also got some help courtesy of Benjamin Hill, who rushed for 110 yards and a touchdown on only nine carries.
Liberty wouldn't let Bishop O'Dowd keep a hold of the ball as they managed to force three fumbles. Richie Beltram was the leader in that area as all came courtesy of his dominant performance. Angelo Orgoglio was another major factor on D, making seven total tackles (2.0 for loss) and snagged an interception.
Even though they lost, Liberty was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 298 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 194 rushing yards in seven consecutive games.
Bishop O'Dowd's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Saliou Sow, who rushed for 132 yards and a touchdown. That's the most rushing yards Sow has posted since back in September.
Liberty's loss ended a three-game streak of wins at home and dropped them to 8-4. As for Bishop O'Dowd, the victory (which was their eighth in a row) raised their record to 10-2.
Liberty does not have any more games scheduled as of now. As for Bishop O'Dowd, they will face off against Amador Valley at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Amador Valley knows how to get points on the board -- the team has finished with 31 points or more in their past four matchups -- so hopefully Bishop O'Dowd likes a good challenge.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
