The Liberty Bell High School football team will carry a gaudy 8-1 record into the first round of the state 1B (8-man) playoffs when they host the Panthers of Cusick on Saturday (Nov. 13), with a 3 p.m. kickoff at Mountain Lion Stadium.
Admission is $10 for adults; tickets for seniors, students and active duty military personnel are $7.
The Mountain Lions are the No. 5 seed in the state playoffs; Cusick is the No. 10 seed. The Panthers are 6-3 for the season, with losses to Wilbur-Creston, Odessa and Almira-Coulee-Hartline, all playoff teams. “They have a fast, stealthy quarterback,” said Liberty Bell coach Jeff Lidey. He said the key will be containing the visiting quarterback and playing overall solid defense.
Earlier, in their regular season finale, the Mountain Lions overwhelmed Pateros on the Billygoats’ home field, 61-7. Liberty Bell put 50 points up on the board before the end of the first quarter and Lidey took advantage of the situation to give a lot of young players some extensive playing time.
Quarterback Riley Lidey completed five of 10 passes for 179 yards and two touchdowns and Lucien Paz carried the ball eight times and amassed 179 yards rushing with one touchdown. He also scored on a 60-yard kickoff return and added two interceptions.
Quincy Scott, Brody Barnhart and Noah Holston each caught a touchdown pass while Scott and Morgan Spellman each picked up a fumble and converted those into touchdown returns. Sawyer Crandall kicked a 22-yard field goal, found pay dirt on an intercepted pass return and tackled the Billygoat quarterback for a safety.
