The Eagles’ fought their last battle for the season last Friday in the first round of district playoffs. And while at the end of the game they fell short in a 16-7 to Fort Zumwalt West, they ultimately had a successful season. The team brought home four consecutive wins and excitement for Liberty’s student body every Friday they played. This season should be remembered not for the mistakes made, but rather for the successes and the performance of the players and the group.
To start off in the first quarter, the Eagles brought out their offense but they didn’t take charge like they normally do out on the field. There wasn’t the same energy that Eagles are known to bring, especially for home games. Due to this, it gave the Jaguars an advantage against the team. After a scoreless first quarter, the Jaguars would strike three times with a trio of field goals by kicker Cade Williams to take a 9-0 lead into halftime.
After halftime, the third quarter brought the Eagles a 1-yard touchdown run from Sullivan Thornton (12), the team’s quarterback. After this touchdown and an extra point by Zander Killian (11), spirits were up in terms of energy and the student section’s excitement. The Eagles trailed 9-7. Even with this new momentum, the Eagles still fell short, with the ending score of 16-7.
In the fourth quarter there was a player injury on the Jaguars team. This affected the spirit of the game while also uniting the two teams in prayer and camaraderie over the players that were injured.
“Just all the injuries in general kind of just slowed everything down, everyone’s worried about everyone that was playing,” Jon Fereday (11) said. In addition to the injury of the player on the Jaguars’ team, there was a player on the Eagles’ team who tore his ACL, Jonah Kaler (11).
“I was looking into my own injury, and after that happened, I kind of, like, took a step back and was like, ‘wow, that was a lot worse than what I went through,’” Kaler said. Though both injuries affected the group’s spirit, the Eagles stayed strong and nearly prevailed.
Team Reflects on the Season
As they look back on their season, the Eagles have had a successful run. Many memories were made which means moments remembered.
“The things I remember most are waking up early in the morning on Wednesday, having most morning practices, and team bonding after at the Town Square,” Jaylen Mack (12) explains. Many of the seniors appreciated the time they spent together after practice the most. “I think just hang out with my friends every day, I practice, and after every game on Saturday morning is eating breakfast,” Van Kozlowski (12) said.
One of the biggest parts of playing is the energy and vivacity of the players, furthermore the balance between confidence and nerves out on the field. The group all individually found that spot yet most had the same response: They gave it to God. Every game, they play together and likewise they all pray together. Another view of this is the faith that joins the group together and makes the players go beyond teammates and makes them into brothers. This energy is always crucial in order to perform well as a collective group. Having faith in not only God but in each other is what makes the team work so well.
Through the season there has never been a successful player without the group effort, however, there have been leaders. These leaders are the seniors that guided the lower grades through tactics and even through emotions. “Be patient and just trust the process and just be kind to others and be kind to teammates,” Jonah Chisholm (9) states. Some other things that players learned from seniors were more practical. “I learned how to be a good leader going into next year, and I learned what I meant to kind of bring up the team together instead of just bringing up individuals, kind of making our entire team better,” Kaler explains. Every underclassman or junior player has something that they learned from the seniors, and those lessons will be taught to the underclassmen players next year and keep the spirit of seniors past alive in Liberty.
Yes, the season is over but the Eagles brought the best winning percentage in school history (in third place behind North Point and Fort Zumwalt North), as well as lining in #2 in terms of points (with 49.31 points, behind St. Dominic with 47.26 points). The season was summed up as “amazing” by Christian Martin (12) and “[we played] tough” by Logan Shuster (12).
ZUMWALT WEST 16, LIBERTY 7
Zumwalt West 0 9 0 7 – 16
Liberty 0 0 7 0 – 7
Scoring
Second Quarter
F: Cade Williams 39 FG, 11:59
F: Cade Williams 35 FG, 1:10
F: Cade Williams 34 FG, 0:04
Third Quarter
L: Sullivan Thornton 1 run (Zander Killian kick), 3:03
Fourth Quarter
F: Reece Kline 19 pass from Clayton O’Bryan (Cade Williams kick), 10:38
