By Jon Moffett

LIBERTY — The tone for Saturday’s playoff game between Chagrin Falls and Liberty was set within five minutes of the opening kick.

Liberty forced the visiting Tigers to punt on their opening series and turned to star running back Fitzgerald Toussaint to lead the Leopards to Week 12.

But the Tigers defense had other ideas and forced into a three-and-out. On the ensuing punt, Chagrin Falls linebacker Andrew Klindera broke through the protection and blocked the punt. Teammate Matt O’Hearn retrieved the ball and returned it 12 yards for the touchdown.

“I had a perfect block from the guy in front of me,” Klindera said. “He took out the fullback, and I just fully extended on it.”

The Liberty offense never recovered and Chagrin Falls went on to defeat the Leopards, 21-0.

Toussaint was limited to only 14 yards on 26 carries and couldn’t find running room, courtesy of the Tiger defense.

“We didn’t get it done up front,” Liberty coach Jeff Whittaker said. “We have the number one back in the state of Ohio and we couldn’t run the football. Obviously we didn’t get done up front.”

While Liberty struggled with the running game, Chagrin Falls flourished.

Running back Sean Kuenzig scored on a 40-yard run in the second quarter to give the Tigers a 14-0 lead going into halftime. He finished with 57 yards on eight carries and the touchdown. Teammate Chris Gorman led the Tigers in rushing with 105 yards on 15 carries.

Liberty received the kick in the second half and started with good field position. Toussaint and quarterback Anthony Cleveland led the Leopards down the field and to the one-yard line.

However, the Tiger defense made plays and stopped Toussaint on a fourth-and-1 from the one, forcing the Leopards to turn the ball over on downs.

“Unfortunately we didn’t finish it, and it was a big turning point in the game for us,” said Whittaker. “I think it affected us quite a bit mentally.

“To make that kind of a drive and not be able to finish it on the one-yard line, that was a big turning point. If it was 14-7, it would have been a whole different ball game.”

The Leopards offense struggled to get anything going. Cleveland completed five of 12 passing attempts for 74 yards, but was sacked three times. Toussaint and his backfield teammates were limited to 25 rushing yards on 36 carries. The Tigers rushed for 168 yards on 28 carries. Quarterback Chris Trinetti completed nine of 23 attempts for 116 yards and a touchdown. The score came on a six-yard pass to Kuenzig with 6:03 left in the game.

jmoffett@vindy.com