Liberty holds off Stockdale
| Saturday, Oct 18 2008 02:39 AM
Last Updated Friday, Mar 27 2009 02:37 PM
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Liberty quarterback Dylan Slayton gets the ball off in time before Stockdale lineman Clinton Hedrick comes in for the tackle Friday at Stockdale during first-half action.
Stockdale received the No. 4 seed in the Central Section Division I playoffs. The Mustangs will play host to Clovis East next Friday.
Liberty running ack Chris Neal gets past Stockdale's J.D. Reed during Friday's game.
Stockdale High students get fired up Friday before the game against Liberty High.
Angelo Ornelas gets some hugs from teammates Ryan Patterson, left, and Sean Santillian after Ornelas scored Friday night against Stockdale High.
Three times this year, Liberty has had a game in its grasp only to let it slip away. Three times, the Patriots have felt the frustration and the disappointment.
And so, when Cody Temple drilled Stockdale quarterback Efren Venegas on a fourth-down play to cause an incomplete pass to seal a 17-10 Liberty victory Friday night at Stockdale, the relief was three times as sweet.
"Amazing," junior running back Tyler Gellinck said. "I thought we were in trouble again, but the defense pulled it off. It was amazing."
Temple's hit was symbolic — he had three sacks in the game and spearheaded a Liberty attack that was the first to shut down Stockdale's Wing T all year. It was also important. The Mustangs (5-1), who have won three close games of their own, looked for all the world like they might steal this one.
Stockdale had a first down at the Liberty 30-yard line with all three timeouts and about 1:45 to play, but the Patriots defense stepped up one more time. Temple sacked Venegas on first down, and after two short passes, got to him again as he let the ball go on fourth down.
"Last week we played four quarters, and this week we played four quarters," Liberty coach Tony Mills said. "It feels good, because these kids deserve it because we've been so close so many times in big games."
Liberty (3-3) led 17-7 on two Angelo Orneales 1-yard touchdown runs in the first half and a 43-yard field goal from Colton Schmidt, but that old familiar dread started to sink in when Stockdale crept back.
"There's always that feeling in the back of your head," Gellinck said.
The Mustangs used Stephen Silva's 79-yard touchdown run to open the scoring. But Liberty tied the game on the next drive, then earned a three-and-out on defense. In that series, Silva was hit hard and had to leave the game with a concussion. The Mustangs wouldn't find the end zone again.
"Stephen's a big part of our offense," Stockdale coach Mike Snow said. "This is a fullback-oriented offense, and you lose a fullback, it tends to slow you down a little bit. We adjusted, still moved the ball, and our kids battled."
Liberty, meanwhile, was able to move the ball on the ground with a varied attack. Chris Neal, who missed last week's game because of disciplinary reasons, carried 12 times for 61 yards, but Gellinck added 95 yards on 14 carries and Orneales had 60 yards on six carries.
"We have some guys who have talent on our team that haven't been able to show it," Mills said. "When we can do that, we're a dangerous offense."
Liberty scored the go-ahead touchdown 42 seconds before halftime and dominated the third quarter. But then Venegas started moving Stockdale through the air. He finished with 134 yards on 12-of-20 passing, though he threw two critical interceptions in the second half, one on a tipped ball. Stockdale also had a Spencer Prince touchdown run negated by a clipping penalty in the fourth quarter, instead settling for Tyler Schleicher's 32-yard field goal to cut the lead to 17-10.
Liberty had already lost fourth-quarter leads of 19-7 against Clovis West and 17-7 against Bakersfield.
"The reason we lost those other games, is because we didn't play through for all four quarters," Temple said.
And, when Stockdale got the ball back with 5:07 to play, this one had deja vu written all over it.
Not so fast, said Temple and the D. This go-round, Patriots made enough plays to thwart the comeback.
"No doubt at all," Mills said. "We're like a heavyweight boxer, and we've gotten knocked out late a couple times. This time, we just wanted to make sure we could withstand a flurry, and we did."
