Above left, Liberty Bell Coach Jeff Lidey had a quiet pre-game moment of contemplation. Center, Damon Alumbaugh and Bubba Carter teamed up to control the line of scrimmage. Right, only Riley Lidey’s shadow beat him to the end zone on his fourth-quarter, 42-yard scamper.
Big second half gives Mountain Lions state crown
The Liberty Bell High School Mountain Lions are state champions in football for the first time in the school’s history, after a dominating second-half performance on their way to a 50-12 victory over the Neah Bay Red Devils at Mount Tahoma High School on Saturday (Dec. 3).
About 300 Mountain Lion faithful were in attendance at the South Tacoma area high school stadium to witness the historic event.
“It was a full team effort,” said Liberty Bell head coach Jeff Lidey. “Everybody contributed to this win in so many ways.”
On a sunny, cool Puget Sound afternoon, it was evident early that both defenses were up to the task. In the first quarter, the Red Devils stopped the potent Mountain Lion offense on a fourth and 8 yards to go, tackling quarterback Riley Lidey a yard short. The Liberty Bell “D” returned the favor, forcing and recovering Neah Bay quarterback Julian Carrick’s midfield fumble. The Mountain Lions forced five turnovers on the day.
Lidey then got the Mountain Lion offense powered up with a couple of runs and a defensive pass interference call to set them up first and 10 at the Neah Bay 30 yard line. Lidey rolled left and pitched to Remy Paz, who had the option to throw. He targeted Sawyer Crandall, but the pass was lofted directly into the north breeze and was intercepted by Red Devil Makyah Chambers at the 5 yard line. Crandall adjusted, and nailed Chambers as he latched onto the pigskin, knocking him to the turf for no return.
The Red Devil offense went to work, moving the ball upfield when time ran out in the first half, the score knotted at zeroes.
The second quarter opened with what looked like a 60-yard touchdown for Neah Bay, but a penalty flag flew as Lidey, playing defensive back, was lit up by an illegal blindside block, resulting in a 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty that sent Neah Bay back to their own 25 yard line, quashing the drive.
The Mountain Lions broke the ice when Lucien Paz capped an extended drive with a 2-yard dive into the end zone. The point after touchdown conversion failed and the green-clad Lions were up 6-0 with 4:50 left in the first half.
Crandall tried an ensuing on-side kick, but Neah Bay fell on the ball near midfield. The Red Devils put together a drive covering 50 yards, converting on a fourth down and 2 yards at the 25-yard line on the way to a 1-yard plunge by Carrick for the tying score with 33.4 seconds left in the half.
Neah Bay’s onside kickoff was recovered by the Mountain Lions at their 49 yard line. Lidey scrambled 19 yards to the Neah Bay 32. On the next play, Lidey’s pass to Crandall deflected off the senior receiver’s hands and into the arms of Carrick with 10.5 seconds left.
The LBHS roster
The players: Merek Johnson, Beau Tanguy, Connor Arndt, Nick White, Brodie Barnhart, EZ Kirk, Lucien Paz, Riley Lidey, Remington Paz, Sawyer Crandall, Dylan Carpenter, Mason Lappin, Bubba Carter, Kaden Borowski, Damon Alumbaugh, Holden Riggs, Damien Spears, Alex Ramsay George, Ethan Phelps, Zack Baldwin, Andy Garcia, Gavin Blank, Darra Kelly, Fischer Edwards.
Head coach: Jeff Lidey.
Assistant coaches: Jacob McMillan, Jim McMillan, Quinn Wengerd.
Back on offense, Carrick opted to pass into the breeze toward midfield. The ball found the hands of Remy Paz for his first of two interceptions, and what ensued had to have been drawn up by the Paz brothers during a childhood backyard game of Keep Away.
Remy began to return the ball and was headed off by a Neah Bay tackler. He stopped, turned and flipped the ball to brother Lucien, who encountered another defender, pivoted and tossed the ball back to Remy.
Remy accelerated toward the opposite sideline, nearly breaking free, but was bounced out of bounds on the Neah Bay 15 yard line. Somewhere in the middle of all that, the clock ran out and the first half expired, the teams leaving the field tied at 6.
The third quarter started with the same frenetic tone. Neah Bay took the opening kickoff, recovering another onside kick at their own 36. Carrick fumbled the first snap from center, and Crandall pounced on the ball at the Neah Bay 33 yard line.
But on first down, the Mountain Lions returned the favor: Lidey was intercepted by Neil Bowechop, giving possession back to the Red Devils, for the moment. Another Neah Bay fumble and Lion recovery, the third straight play with a turnover, put Liberty Bell in business at the Neah Bay 21 yard line. A 5-yard pass to Crandall, a couple of runs mixed in and a 3-yard scoring run by Remy Paz, with a 2-point conversion by Lucien Paz, moved the scoreboard to 14-6 and Liberty Bell was in the lead for good, it would turn out.
Liberty Bell’s onside kick attempt backfired, the ball spinning and bouncing awkwardly backward, falling dead at the Lions’ 40 yard line. Advancing to a first and 10 at the Liberty Bell 17 yard line, the Red Devils self-destructed with a first down holding penalty, incomplete pass, 10-yard gain to the 18 yard line, and an ill-fated fourth and 11 pass that was intercepted at the Mountain Lions’ 7 yard line by Remy Paz.
Paz took off up the Neah Bay sideline, broke across the field, picked up some great blocking along the way, and sprinted into the end zone for a state 1B record 93-yard interception return for a touchdown. That score, with 4:31 left in the third quarter, ran the tally to 20-6 and seemed to give the local boys a huge lift.
The Red Devils weren’t quite done yet. They took the ball downfield quickly, Carrick throwing a near-perfect pass to Aidan Ellis in the right corner of the end zone, an exquisite diving catch by the sophomore receiver pulling the Devils to within a touchdown at 20-12 with 2:46 left in the third quarter.
Liberty Bell covered yet another onside kick at their own 43 yard line, taking only two plays and a Merek Johnson 11-yard dash through the left side to run the score to 28-12.
The Mountain Lion front line did yeoman’s work, setting up great pass protection and opening holes for the running game that would especially dominate the last 10 minutes of the contest. Anchored by sophomore center Damon Alumbaugh, Bubba Carter, Damien Spears, EZ Kirk, Nick White and others all contributed to the offensive onslaught that was about to happen as the third quarter wound down.
Liberty Bell outscored Neah Bay 22-0 in the final period, Lidey on a 42-yard run, Beau Tanguy with an 11-yard pass reception and Merek Johnson with his second touchdown, a 1-yard run with just under a minute remaining.
“I want to make sure people understand this was a full team effort,” said Coach Lidey. To illustrate his point, the livestream commentators for the WIAA sanctioned NFHS live stream each had a different choice for their Player of the Game. But the coach was even more distributive in his comments to the Liberty Bell student body.
“It’s the little things,” Lidey told the students, who listened intently from the packed east side bleachers in the gymnasium before the team left for the west side. He listed school staff, faculty and administrative positions responsible for teaching, providing for comforts like clean rooms and food.
“The little things, like clearing the practice field of snow, mowing the grass and maintaining the grounds earlier this year. Everything that people do around here has contributed in some way to this,” he said.
Introducing his team, the coach continued the theme. “These guys,” said Lidey pointing to the front line of starters, “are where we are because of these guys,” using a sweeping motion to include all of the other standing players. “These guys, who act as the scout team, sacrifice themselves every practice so the front line can be ready to play every week.”
Senior defensive end Fischer Edwards, who was a force in the defensive line all game long, received the WIAA’s Sportsmanship Award for the championship game, offering a hand up to Red Devil players, and frequently seen tapping the helmets of opponents in recognition of effort and good play.
The sheer joy of earning the title of state champions was obvious on the field as the clock expired, a celebration that was spontaneous and ripe with emotion. “We did it!” exclaimed senior Nicholas White as he jumped with unrestrained happiness, still with his helmet on minutes after the clock had expired.
Riley Lidey was a little more restrained, but no less beaming after the trophy presentation and celebration had died down to a dull roar. “It feels great,” he said. Asked about the first quarter blindside block, he said, “That’s kind of on me. I didn’t have my head on a swivel, so I didn’t see it coming. But we take those things sometimes, then get right back up. It’s what we do for each other.”
Another shot to the ribs sidelined Lucien Paz early in the game for a couple of plays, but he recovered quickly and jumped right back in. “Yeah, they’re pretty sore,” he said post-celebration. “But this is better than ibuprofen,” referring to being crowned as the best in the 1B class.
This was the first playoff tournament championship for Liberty Bell in the traditional team sports, and is the eighth WIAA non-individual title for the Methow Valley school since it opened in the mid-1970s. Girls’ cross country leads the way with three state championships, boys’ cross country and boys’ wrestling each have two. Liberty Bell also has two state titles from the Washington State Knowledge Bowl Association, earned in the 2B class from 2017 and 2019 tournaments.
Turf talk
Kickoff temperature under sunny skies Saturday was about 42 degrees, with small traces of an overnight snow shower present. KING 5 television was present on the sidelines shooting video and asked how the Liberty Bell boys were dealing with the cool temps. “I think they’ll be fine,” replied your reporter. “When they woke up at home before the trip yesterday it was minus 14.”
Mount Rainier (or Tahoma) was out in all of its splendor on Saturday. Beautiful as it is, as a landmark it creates all sorts of confusion with its multiple personalities and namesakes. Several travelers who ended up at Tahoma High School in Maple Valley found a vacant school yard, about 45 minutes short of Mount Tahoma High School.
