Team

Niles

Record	Div.	Conf.
2/8	Div. III	All-American Conference Red Tier

Team

Liberty

Record	Div.	Conf.
8/3	Div. V	All-American Conference Blue Tier

By John Rozum

sports@vindy.com

LIBERTY

From the opening kickoff to the final whistle the Niles Red Dragons played old-school smash mouth football against the Liberty Leopards.

They controlled the line of scrimmage on both side of the ball, which ultimately lead to the 29-0 victory.

“Well, first off let me just say that I have a lot of respect for coach [Jeff] Whittaker and he’s done a great job out here in Liberty. But I wouldn’t want to prepare against Kullen Smith and Frank Saban in middle with two fast ends on the side,” Niles (2-0) coach Brad Yeager said of his defensive lineman. “We’re keeping it simple, and that’s allowing them to use their strength and quickness to make plays.”

And that defensive line was able to isolate Sharron Walls and the Leopards’ rushing attack, by only allowing 31 rushing yards at halftime, as Niles led 16-0.

“I think we need to continue to improve fundamentally,” said Whittaker. “We basically just need to continue to practice and then we’ll get better.”

Offensively for Niles, Red Dragons’ running back Tommy Duffy was the leader by compiling 117 yards on 17 carries, including one TD.

“He’s a traditional Niles back,” Yeager said of Duffy. “He’s a north-south runner and we’re blessed to have those year-in and year-out. And he does a nice job of staying up-inside the hole and just going north and south.”

There was also much success through the air, as three-year starter QB Zach Bailey was given time by the offensive line, allowing him to throw for over 150 yards and two TDs.

Bailey’s first TD pass came only 68 seconds into the game, when he dumped the ball off to Duffy in the flat, who then did the rest by making two Liberty defenders miss en route to a 58 yard TD.

“He’s comfortable back there,” Yeagley said of Bailey. “He has a lot of poise and sees the field before the ball’s snapped. The bottom line is he shows no greed and he goes with what’s open first, and that’s his first choice.”

At times the Leopards were able to move the ball, such as their final drive of the first half where QB Michael Moamis completed a 33-yard pass to Doan McKinney.

Three plays later, kicker David Hight just missed a 45-yard field-goal that was wide right by only a few feet to end the half.

Then in their opening drive of the second half, Walls exploded for a 37-yard gain getting Liberty into Niles territory.

However, the Red Dragon defense stiffened and forced a turnover on downs to get the ball back.

“You have to have a philosophy that every day is a new day, and you got to get up and practice to get better,” said Whittaker. “We’re a young football team, and it will come for us, we just have to continue to get better.”