By JOHN BASSETTI

sports@vindy.com

LIBERTY

Liberty standouts Lynn Bowden and Ben Phillips may be crowd-pleasers, but will their risky running come back to bite the Leopards if they go deep in the postseason?

Phillips ran for two touchdowns, while Bowden ran for a TD and passed to Kaylon Davis for another to lead Liberty over Girard, 40-13, for its seventh straight win after a season-opening loss to Villa Angela-St. Joseph.

“Sometimes I get on them, but I never had that out-of-this-world ability, so I try to take the handcuffs off of them and live with the results,” Leopards coach Kevin Cylar said. “Sometimes they make great plays, but sometimes they get caught for a loss. But the reality is that they’re 7-1, so I don’t second-guess those guys out on the field.”

After 27 rushing plays that netted 186 yards in the first half and put Liberty in front, 27-0, the Leopards added 91 yards on 16 running plays to finish off the Indians (6-2, 4-1 All-American, American Division).

Although Liberty is 5-0 and hasn’t clinched the AAC title yet, the Leopards are in the driver’s seat.

That prompted Cylar to respond: “So keep your seat belts on.”

Bowden and Phillips seem to relish the challenge of turning a sure first-down gain into a broken play-like exhibition that includes some backward and backyard running in a zig-zag pattern.

Liberty scored on its first possession on Phillips’ 31-yard run at 8:56 of the first quarter.

Prior to the TD, Liberty lost three yards on a run and was flagged for an illegal block in the back, but the penalty was declined.

“They declined it and then we did our thing,” Cylar said of his team that, after losing a down, faced second-and-13.

“I thought they would take the penalty,” Cylar said, “but we made a play.”

Although Liberty dominated the first half, its output slipped in the second half.

“That’s a tough team, so it’s hard to keep a tough team down,” Cylar said. “We tried our best, but, in the end, Girard has spirit and heart and they made some plays [in the second half]. So hats off to them, but hats off to Liberty, too, for maintaining the lead.”

Phillips also had an interception late in the game that led to Liberty’s final TD by Junior Blair.

As an upback in Liberty’s stacked-I formation at times, Blair scored his first touchdown since transferring from Youngstown Christian.

“They put me in the mix for more power,” Blair said.

Brian Spence and Cory Twyford had fumble recoveries for Girard, which got its points from two Christian Bello 1-yard runs and a Kyle Harris’ point-after kick.

“We tried to move the ball offensively, but their defense flew around, so we just didn’t get it done the way we wanted it,” said Girard coach Pat Pearson, who was complimentary of his players’ second-half effort.

“I told them in the locker-room that the stands would be full of people who love them and it was. I’m proud of how they finished and we’ll get better from this. ”