PITTSBURG — No. 2 Pittsburg’s (10-1) defense and special teams units shined on Friday night, hauling in two interceptions, recovering a forced fumble and snagging a loose ball during a kick off en route to a commanding 42-18 victory over No. 7 Liberty (8-3).
Sophomore Isaiah Harrison impacted the game on both sides of the ball, recording an interception, recovering a fumble and reeling off a 23-yard touchdown run. Senior Truly Bell had an interception of his own as well.
On offense, senior Carlos Torres and sophomore Javale Jones each had a highlight-worthy touchdown pass. Torres lobbed an end zone fade to senior RJ Mosley Jr. for a one-handed snag while Jones found sophomore Kenneth Ward on a perfectly-thrown deep ball for a 62-yard score. Senior Siotame Finau had two rushing touchdowns as well.
“The benefit of playing a team twice — and only a few weeks ago — is the scouting isn’t as involved,” said Pittsburg head coach Charlie Ramirez. “We can really just focus on technique and our basic fundamentals, and it showed itself tonight. It’s telling the guys, ‘As long as we’re doing what we’re supposed to do, nothing else matters.’ And that’s what they stuck to.”
For Liberty, sophomore Jonathan Munoz had an interception of his own while senior running back Jaxon Bell. Junior quarterback Zander Barrows also had a pair of passing touchdowns in the game’s final minutes, one being to his brother, senior wide receiver Makoa Barros.
“I told the guys you’ve got to keep your head up high,” said Liberty head coach Mike Cable. “8-2 is a heck of a season. We deserved to be here, we deserve to play against any team. We didn’t play the best game tonight, but we had our opportunities. That’s the reality of this game: someone’s gotta win and someone’s gotta lose. Tonight just wasn’t our night.”
For all the postgame jubilation, Friday night’s began on a scary note.
On Liberty’s second play from scrimmage, a Pittsburg defender was knocked to the ground and required medical attention. As the player received medical attention from the team’s training staff, Pittsburg players gathered on the sidelines and collectively took a knee. An ambulance drove onto the field to retrieve the player, who had to be carted off on a stretcher.
“The biggest thing was seeing his arms and legs have strength (before he left),” Ramirez said. “I think that helped. We explained to them, ‘He’s doing good, this is out of precaution more than anything else.’ They gave the love and they felt the love, so I think that was the biggest part for them being able to transition after seeing him laying down for so long.”
Liberty opened up the scoring on its second possession with a field goal, but its offense received a fresh set of downs as Pittsburg committed a roughing the snapper penalty. The Lions then turned that second chance into six points as Jaxon Bell rushed for a five-yard touchdown out of the wildcat formation. The point-after attempt was blocked, but Liberty had a 6-0 lead.
Pittsburg’s offense struggled to find a rhythm over its next two possessions. On the Pirates’ second possession, the Lions’ Munoz reeled in an interception. On Pittsburg’s third possession, the offense punted the ball away.
With Pittsburg’s offense needing life, the defense proceeded to step up.
With roughly four minutes left in the first half, Harrison picked off Liberty at the Lions’ seven-yard line. On the very next play from scrimmage, Torres tossed up a fade to Mosley, who reeled in the catch with one hand for a touchdown. Pittsburg converted the point after attempt, and the Pirates had a 7-6 lead that they’d never lose.
Two plays later, the Pirates’ defense paved the way for another touchdown as Harrison recovered a fumble at Liberty’s 15-yard-line. Pittsburg quickly capitalized on the opportunity as Finau rushed for a three-yard score, upping Pittsburg’s lead to 14-6, which would be the score going into the break.
In the second half, Pittsburg turned more defense into offense. Bell hauled in an interception on Liberty’s first offensive possession of the second half, and Harrison subsequently rattled off a 23-yard run for a score. Pittsburg then recovered the ensuing kickoff at Liberty’s 23-yard line, and Finau extended the lead with a one-yard touchdown run to extend the lead to 28-6.
The game already in hand, the Pirates continued padding their lead in the fourth quarter as Jones threw a perfect deep ball to Ward for a 62-yard touchdown. Zander Barros threw a pair of touchdowns for Liberty in the fourth, the Lions’ first points since the first quarter, but Pittsburg was well on its way to a victory — and a matchup against No. 1 De La Salle.