[Baltimore Sun] Liberty football’s season ends with 36-13 loss to Frederick Douglass-PG
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UPPER MARLBORO — Liberty football entered Class 2A/1A state quarterfinals on the highest of highs, tapping into a sense of hope that can only be unlocked by a surprise win to keep the season going.
Coming off an upset, come-from-behind win over Williamsport last week, Liberty was in the quarterfinals for only the second time in program history.
It was a difficult draw for the Lions, traveling to Frederick Douglass-PG. The undefeated Eagles swooped in with an unrelenting run game and a lockdown defense to stampede the Lions, 36-13.
Liberty’s season ends at 7-5, while Frederick Douglass (12-0) advances to host three-time defending state champion Dunbar.
“They ran a little harder than we tackled,” Liberty coach Larry Luthe said. “A lot of the game, if it was third-and-1, they got 2 [yards]. If it was third-and-4, they got 5. They did just enough to keep the chains moving.”
His Lions surrendered multiple big runs when the Eagles’ line opened holes through the defense. Frederick Douglass piled up five touchdowns, dominant enough that it still converted on three of five two-point attempts while openly missing a kicker on their roster.
Liberty’s pass-first scheme simply couldn’t hang while Frederick Douglass’ ground game was chewing up the clock. The Lions fell behind in the first quarter and could never catch up.
“I guarantee you the number of plays doubled ours and our time of possession,” Luthe said. “We missed some plays and had to make some plays to keep the chains moving, and we weren’t able to do that.”
Liberty had its chance in the third quarter, although it started with the Eagles’ third touchdown of the day. Frederick Douglass benefited from a good kickoff return, buying advantageous yards in the Lions’ territory. But Liberty retaliated in the quickest way possible, with a kickoff return of its own where senior wide receiver Tristan West took the football all the way to the end zone and bring the score to 22-13.
A few minutes later, a Lions defense that struggled holding back the Eagles early, impeded another grueling Douglass trudge downfield with a fumble recovery. However, the afternoon’s blustery winds sabotaged Liberty quarterback Chase Miller, who came into the day just shy of 2,000 yards passing on the season. The conditions hindered his attempts at bringing it to a one-score game.
Liberty turned it over on downs after the Eagles’ front line chased him into a scramble, where the signal caller chucked a 40-yard prayer to the end zone that just got under the gale and found the ground before the target could get his gloves on the ball.
Luthe credits his team for playing hard, but that’s the moment West remembers watching the fire leave his teammates’ eyes.
“They kind of wanted it more,” the senior said.
West, who’s high school football career concluded with this defeat, remembers that Williamsport win as one in which his team entered with a completely different mindset.
“I feel like we came in with a different intensity,” he said. “That was a different game, but all year we struggled to stop the run, and it really showed out here.”
The Eagles are as formidable an opponent Maryland has to offer, as Liberty became only the second team to score in double figures on a defense that has posted six shutouts.
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