Late scoring outburst has Lakeview alone atop TAC The Bulldogs handed Liberty its second league loss, 28-23.

By DOUG CHAPIN

VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT

CORTLAND — Like two heavyweight boxers who had spent the early rounds jabbing at each other, the Lakeview and Liberty High football teams started throwing haymakers in the second half of Friday’s Trumbull Athletic Conference showdown.

During a stretch of less than 12 minutes, the teams combined for 41 points as Lakeview (5-2 overall) stayed unbeaten in the league at 4-0 with a 28-23 triumph.

Big plays were the story of the second half. Eight plays from scrimmage gained at least 23 yards and another five went for double-digit yardage. After one team scored, the other responded almost immediately.

“That’s the mark of a good team to respond with your backs to the wall,” Lakeview coach Tom Pavlansky said. “But that’s what we expect because we’ve done it several times this year. Our kids believe in each other, they play so well together, I couldn’t be more proud of them.”

Liberty coach Jeff Whittaker also liked the way his squad responded.

“They could have put their heads down at one point and folded, but they came back and they played with a lot of heart,” Whittaker said. “It was probably with as much heart as I’ve seen one of our teams play with.

“I know we’ve had some good teams and we’ve had some good talent, but when you just take the heart, tonight was probably one of our best efforts,” Whittaker said.

The defenses were outstanding in the first half, especially at limiting the opponent’s star running back.

Lakeview, which led 7-3 at halftime, held the Leopards’ Fitzgerald Toussaint to 44 yards in the half, while Liberty (5-2, 2-2 TAC) held the Bulldogs’ Ben Moody to just 14 yards.

The second half was a different story. Moody finished with 170 yards on 20 carries and Toussaint was 18 for 98. The Leopards gained 234 of their 293 rushing yards in the second half.

Despite all the huge offensive plays, the most important play came on special teams, when Lakeview’s Michael Graham blocked a Liberty punt.

After Moody burst 41 yards for a score on the first possession of the second half, Liberty went three-and-out and was forced to punt from its 30.

But Graham broke through to get the block and Lakeview took over on the Leopards 17. Jon Biehl scored from there on a counter play on the next snap as Lakeview built a 21-3 lead.

“We’ve been trying to stress that thing for the last three weeks,” Pavlansky said about the punt block. “We’ve been working on it hard and we finally got one.”

A wingback reverse featuring an inside handoff worked several times for the Leopards in the second half, including the first play after Biehl’s TD. P.J. Finley gained 14 yards on the play and Liberty eventually found itself at the Lakeview 36.

Quarterback Justin Machamer rolled to his right and took off. He broke at least two tackles and galloped into the end zone to cut the Lakeview lead to 21-9.

After forcing a Lakeview punt, Liberty ran the inside reverse again and this time Ryan Pennington went 63 yards to the Lakeview 25.

A pass from Machamer to Finley put the ball on the 2 and fullback Ira Cross took two tries to score from there. The Leopards trailed just 21-16 with 33 seconds left in the third quarter.

Moody started the next possession with a 38-yard run to the Liberty 21. On fourth-and-two from the 13, Moody went off right guard down to about the 5 where he fumbled. Teammate Kyle Smedi recovered in the end zone and the Bulldogs restored their 12-point lead.

Liberty didn’t take long to respond. Finley ran the inside reverse for another 25 yards, then Toussaint rambled into the end zone from 35 yards out and again it was a five-point spread, 28-23, with 9:30 left in the game.

Liberty had two more possessions, but the Bulldogs forced a punt, then stopped the Leopards on downs.