Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

hs football:

Liberty gets shut out in Florida against top 10 ranked national opponent

Las Vegas Sun HS Football Media Day 2017

Christopher DeVargas

Members of the Liberty High School football team, from left, Crishaun Lappin, Allan Mwata, Octavian Bell and Kenyon Oblad pose for a portrait at the Las Vegas Sun’s high school football media day August 2, 2017, at the South Point.

Prep Sports Now

Show up, ball out

Las Vegas Sun's Ray Brewer and Case Keefer toast all the area teams who defeated out of state competition in week 1, and look forward to an almost-as-loaded week 2 schedule.

Liberty will not knock off a national power on the road in consecutive seasons.

The Patriots were no match for American Heritage High Friday night in Plantation, Fla., losing 31-0 to drop to 1-1 on the year.

“We just couldn’t get any flow going offensively all game,” Liberty coach Rich Muraco said. “I thought our defense played really well and kept the score close in the first half.”

American Heritage looked every bit as tough as its No. 8 national ranking by MaxPreps suggested, as it scored on its initial possession offensively and mauled Liberty defensively throughout the night. The Floridian Patriots dominated the Nevadan Patriots up front, blowing up running plays and not giving senior quarterback Kenyon Oblad any time to operate in the passing game.

American Heritage forced four turnovers, including a fumble recovery that it returned 40 yards just before halftime to go ahead 24-0. The home team then opened the second half with an 80-yard rushing touchdown from Tyler Jones, which would end up as the final points of the game.

“These kinds of trips are great for lots of different reasons,” Muraco said. “You get some team bonding, which definitely happened on this trip. Kids get a chance to play against elite competition, and not only get a chance to make a name for themselves but we get to see where we are against a top-notch team.”

There weren’t many bright spots for Liberty, who went its first four possessions without a first down. Defensive leader Crishaun Lappin did force and recover a fumble in the second quarter, but the offense fumbled the ball right back.

Oblad gave Liberty the best chance to score late in the game when he broke loose on a scramble to get into the red zone, but American Heritage clamped down from there. Liberty, ranked No. 24 by Max Preps, will presumably fall out of the rankings, but can still finish 2-1 in the national portion of its schedule by defeating Alta (Utah) next Saturday at home.

“I don’t pick our out-of-state games thinking, ‘We can beat these teams,’” Muraco said. “I want to play the best teams willing to play us, and we’ve done that the last three or four years, and played a top 10 team in the country. Sometimes, it will go your way, and sometimes like tonight, it won’t. But I know we’re going to be a better team because of this game.”

Case Keefer can be reached at 702-948-2790 or [email protected]. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.