By Doug Chapin

The offensive line worked hard to help Fitzgerald Toussaint rack up 261 yards and four TDs in the 40-13 victory.

LIBERTY — Let’s get the seemingly routine part of a Liberty High football game over right away.

Senior running back Fitzgerald Toussaint gained 261 yards on 15 carries and scored four times as the Leopards (3-0) rolled over Campbell, 40-13, Friday night.

But this Liberty victory included, as most of them do, some unsung heroes, the offensive linemen working hard in front of Toussaint — Jordan Wagner, Quincy Harris, David Berry, Charlie Dann and Randall Gillum, along with tight end Jabrae White.

“I think we’ve done a pretty good job of growing up front on offense,” Liberty coach Jeff Whittaker said. “We’re getting a lot of different looks because of our speed. We’ve done a nice job of being able to make some adjustments up front. We are inexperienced up front but the kids are relatively smart.”

Another unsung hero for Liberty was linebacker Antonio Kinard, whose 92-yard run with a Campbell fumble in the second quarter provided a momentum shift in what was a close game at the time.

After Toussaint raced into the end zone from 17 yards out on Liberty’s fourth play from scrimmage, Campbell responded later in the first quarter with a 12-play, 54-yard scoring drive. Lester Hughes’ (18 carries, 57 yards) quarterback sneak on fourth down from a yard out tied the game, and the extra point by Alex Lopez put Campbell ahead, 7-6, with 11:19 remaining in the second quarter.

“I was really pleased with the way we played a lot of the time tonight but we turned the ball over at key times,” Campbell coach Jeff Bayuk said. “I think we’re playing really hard and I think we’re improving every week, but we’re young and we make young mistakes sometimes. It’s part of the process.”

Toussaint rambled 59 yards on Liberty’s first play after the Red Devils’ touchdown, then scored two plays later from 8 yards out and Liberty was back on top, 12-7.

Campbell (1-2) once again battled back and found itself in good position when Jose Martinez picked up a Liberty fumble near midfield and ran it back to the Leopards’ 28-yard-line.

A 24-yard run by Darrio Bivens (15 carries, 69 yards) took the ball to the 4, but then Kinard returned the favor, scooping up a Campbell fumble to give the Leopards a 20-7 lead with 4:47 left in the half.

Campbell thought it had a touchdown on its next possession, but the Devils were flagged for offensive pass interference and went into halftime down 13.

Toussaint all but decided the contest on Liberty‘s first two possessions of the second half, running 49 and 48 yards for touchdowns to make the score 33-7.

Ryan Pennington added 72 yards to Liberty’s ground attack. Hughes had a solid game through the air for the Devils, completing 7-of-12 passes for 71 yards.

Both teams begin division play next week in the All-American Conference, Liberty in the White Division at Struthers and Campbell in the Blue Division against Brookfield. Both coaches said they’ve not been emphasizing their respective division races.

“We just take the season one game at a time,” Whittaker said. “We’ve set some lofty goals. We have those goals in our mind every day we are working, but our focus is always on our next opponent.”

Bayuk said the focus in Campbell’s program is on the Red Devils.

“To be honest, we don’t really worry about who we’re playing week to week because we have so much improvement to make ourselves,” he said. “So we go into the game just trying to improve and get better and we figure everything else will take care of itself. Our main focus is on us and the elimination of mistakes.”