Liberty Vs. Brookfield

Gallery

Photo by: Robert K. Yosay

Photo

Liberty #4 Isaiah Bell takes off for a decent gain in first half action at Brookfield - chasing him is Brookfield Taylor Broooks - blocking Taylor is #58 Anthony Gutierrez

Photo by: Robert K. Yosay

Photo

Brady, 17 months, and dad Mark Hinerc both of Brookfield watch opening night Football as Liberty beat Brookfield in the season opener,

By Jim Flick

The Leopards overcame Mack O’Brien’s 87-yard kickoff return with a dominating performance.

BROOKFIELD — Brookfield High landed the first blow in Thursday night’s game against Liberty, but the Leopards quickly unleashed a talented, multi-faceted attack and defeat the Warriors, 55-21.

Mack O’Brien fielded the opening kickoff at the 13-yard line and dashed 87 yards down the right sideline without being touched by a Liberty defender to give Brookfield (0-1) the early lead.

But that was the only lead the Warriors would hold all night.

The score evened less than three minutes later when Fitzgerald Toussaint pounded into the end zone from 5 yards out.

Liberty’s Anthony Cleveland threw passes for two more touchdowns before Brookfield scored again, this time on a 65-yard run by quarterback Matt Palumbo.

But Cleveland found the end zone two more times before halftime, running 1-yard into the end zone and tossing a 48-yard pass to Toussaint to give Liberty (1-0) a 35-13 halftime lead.

Liberty’s offense racked up 231 yards in the first half. The Leopards’ defense was also strong, yielding only 122 yards in to total offense to Brookfield, and holding the Warriors without a first down in the first half.

Liberty’s Jamon Wagner scored the first points of the second half when he grabbed the ball as Brookfield’s quarterback tried to pitch the ball to a running back. Wagner dashed, untouched, 38 yards into the end zone.

O’Brien scored Brookfield’s only second-half touchdown when he snagged a pass from Palumbo and dashed 31 yards into the end zone.

Backup running back Nico Minniti scored the final two touchdowns of the day, rambling in from 8 and 40 yards out.

Ironically, Toussaint and Palumbo each rushed for 115 yards to share the lead for the game, Toussaint amassing his yardage in 19 carries while Palumbo accumulated the same total in just 14 carries. O’Brien totaled 175 return yards while returning four kicks.

“We’re not perfect, we have some mistakes to correct,” Liberty coach Jeff Whittaker said.

“We knew we’d be in a dogfight,” he said. “They [Brookfield] are aggressive and well-coached.”

When asked about Brookfield’s early lead, Whittaker said, “It takes a while to figure out what they’re doing.”

Brookfield coach Randy Clark noted he lost two starting players to injuries in the game’s opening minutes and said his team “missed a lot of tackles.

“But overall, our kids played tough and I’m proud of them. They gutted it out and played tough,” Clark said.