After going down 14-0 in the first quarter against rival Timberland, quarterback Cody McMullen (12) led the Eagles’ offense to two touchdowns tying the game at 14-14. From there, it was back-and-forth up until the third when the Eagles surged ahead for good, securing a 44-34 victory.
Liberty improves to 2-0 and travels to undefeated Warrenton, also 2-0 on Friday.
Trailing by two touchdowns early in the first half, the Eagles rallied and to tie the game 20-20 at halftime.
“We needed a quarter to figure things out,” assistant coach Bradley Smith said. “Once we got things figured out, we played really well. Our defense played with a lot of intensity. Offense took awhile to get going, but once we got going, it was fun.”
The Eagles came out strong in the third quarter and took the lead for good when Jaylen Mack (11) received a pass from Cody McMullen followed by Caiden Galati (11) receiving another touchdown pass from Matthew Mauck (12). Successful two-point conversions on both scores by Mack put the Eagles ahead by 16.
At this point the Eagles are up 36-20 and that’s the game. It was a thriller from the start and the Eagles came out on top, 44-34.
McMullen finished the game completing 24 of 35 passes for 324 yards and four touchdowns.
All of the Eagles touchdowns were caught from the air.
Galati and Mack both had two scores while Caleb Orcutt (10) and Jonah Kaler (10) added one apiece.
“We played really resilient,” Galati said. “We didn’t let anything get in our head. We bounced back. Anytime they scored, we went back and scored.”
Safety Carson Struttmann (11) added that it took awhile for the Eagles to get going. They started to play their game in the second half.
“We came out slow, but after the half we bounced back and played our game the way we are supposed to,” Struttmann said.
LIBERTY 44, TIMBERLAND 34
Timberland 6 14 0 14 – 34
Liberty 0 20 16 8 – 44
First Quarter
T: Deandre Jones 7 pass from Austin Humphrey (kick failed), 3:34
Second Quarter
T: Tristan Moss 1 run (Miles Roby pass from Austin Humphrey), 10:20
L: Caleb Orcutt 30 pass from Cody McMullen (kick failed), 8:28
L: Jaylen Mack 32 pass from Cody McMullen (Jaylen Mack run), 6:06
T: Brayden McKee 1 run (pass failed), 1:12
L: Jonnah Kaler 4 pass from Jaylen Mack (kick failed), 0:07
Third Quarter
L: Jaylen Mack 7 pass from Cody McMullen (Jaylen Mack run), 9:20
L: Caiden Galati 19 pass from Matthew Mauck (Jaylen Mack run), 0:08
Fourth Quarter
T: Austin Humphrey 66 run (Sky Owens pass from Austin Humphrey), 8:05
L: Caiden Galati 28 pass from Cody McMullen (Jaylen Mack run), 6:29
T: Sky Owens 15 pass from Austin Humphrey (pass failed), 2:15
Mike Molitor | Sep 10, 2024 at 9:55 am
Great job by Mason on reporting the excitement of a comeback victory