By Jacob Seliga
Lead Writer
With two minutes left in the contest and a 56-24 lead on the Hamilton Huskies, the Liberty Lions attempted and recovered an onside kick to send a message to the state.
That message was clear, through the highs and lows and everything in between, the Lions are still very much the kings of Arizona.
And the kings will defend their crowd at Mountain America Stadium on Saturday night in the open division championship game against the Basha Bears, the consensus top two teams in the state all season.
From the first drive of the semifinal matchup, the Lions came out and were the aggressors.
Liberty quarterback Hayden Fletcher completed four passes to get into the red zone. From there he’d get the scoring started with a 19-yard touchdown pass to tight end Kamden Segall.
That would be the first of five touchdown passes on the night, the second time this season Fletcher has reached that mark.
“I think our strength is being flexible with what other teams do and I thought our guys did a really good job attacking,” said Liberty head coach Colin Thomas.
With the Lions in a zone early, the Huskies needed to attack themselves and right away Hamilton quarterback Rich Lucero Jr would do just that.
Lucero would target four different Husky receivers on their opening drive highlighted by a 38-yard reception from tight end Logan James that set up a Lucero rushing touchdown to tie the game.
That would be the lone touchdown of the first half for Hamilton as the Lions defense buckled down from that point onward.
With the early back and forth affair, the Lions offense needed to quickly get back to work and after using his arm to get down the field on the opening drive, Fletcher alongside running backs Dom Lombardo and Jayden Sanchez rushed Liberty into the red zone.
Once again, Fletcher would find Segall for a 16-yard touchdown reception.
With Hamilton adjusting each series, the Lions unbalanced attack created a mismatch throughout the game.
“You can’t let someone else dictate how you play, you have to be able to play any style,” said Thomas.
With the offense humming, the defense of the Lions needed to step up and the game plan was simple, containing all-state running back Jacob Brown.
Leading the charge up front was senior defensive lineman and Colorado State football commit Caden Branston.
“Don’t flinch, especially when a play doesn’t go your way no matter who you’re facing, just get ready for the next play and make something happen,” said Branston.
That next play mentality was crucial as Branston and the Lions defense held Brown to just 17 yards rushing in the first half following a 9-yard run early in the contest.
“We just focus on ourselves and our teammates, that’s our brotherhood and we just want to be us, that’s big for what we do,” said Branston.
With a 35-10 halftime lead following another Fletcher touchdown pass to Drace Wadlington and two Dominic Lombardo touchdown runs, the Huskies were on the verge of the knockout punch.
After receiving the opening kickoff of the second half, Lucero, after struggling to get star freshman receiver Roye Oliver the ball in the first half, started targeting the 2028’s pass catcher right away.
On the first drive of the half, Oliver pulled in two receptions including a 10-yard catch for a Hamilton touchdown to cut the deficit to 35-16 in what would be the lone explosive drive for the Huskies for the remainder of the game.
“I feel like we were doubted a little, we have great DB’s and we’re a great defense and it showed tonight for everyone to see,” said Liberty safety Zeth Thues.
The Lions starting defense would not concede another point for the remainder of the game as the Huskies offense which relies on the rushing game to open up the passing game couldn’t find any stability with the Liberty defense’s attack all night.
“We wanted to try and stop the run and force them to open the playbook up and I think we did that,” said Thues.
What’s Next
The Lions now advance to the open division championship game for the second consecutive year hoping to join Chandler as the only schools to repeat in the open division era.
Entering next Saturday’s contest, Liberty will be looking to continue a streak that started on December 3, 2022 as the Lions have not lost to a team from Arizona since that date.
Standing in their way is the team that has been jockeying with the Lions as to who the “team of the 2020’s” may be, the Basha Bears.
Liberty and Basha both compete against one another each season in a preseason scrimmage and have faced off twice in recent years.
With familiarity abound with both teams, the Lions know what they have to do in order to repeat.
“We have to be physical up front and stop the run game which will help stop the pass game too, I’m confident in our defense to help us win," said Branston.
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