Liberty North football wins showdown on the road against Lee’s Summit North

Once Liberty North took a two-score lead midway through the third quarter at Lee’s Summit North, the Eagles put themselves in great position to come away with a 38-35 victory Friday evening in front of a large, enthusiastic crowd.

“Just coming out, I told someone this felt like a playoff atmosphere from the moment you walked out on the field,” Liberty North coach Greg Jones said. “Both teams were flying around, knocking the guts out of each other. It was a great high school football game.”

The way each team was answering the other team’s score, the fourth touchdown by senior running back Cayden Arzola with 5 minutes, 43 seconds remaining was vital. It pushed the Liberty North lead to 38-28.

“After that play, we kind of realized we had it in the bag,” Arzola said. “They have a good defense. They have some big boys over there. We came into this game knowing it was going to be a fistfight.”

In a game of big plays, that touchdown was instrumental in helping Liberty North improve to 5-1 while giving Lee’s Summit North its first loss in seven games.

The Broncos didn’t go quietly. They scored their final touchdown with 1:26 left when junior Zackary Coetzee caught his second touchdown of the game, a 13-yard toss from senior quarterback Tre Baker.

“All wins are special, but this was a big win,” said Liberty North quarterback Sam Van Dyne.

“Our offensive line came out in the second half and just owned the front seven, and it showed because we drove down the field twice and ate up a lot of clock.”

Lee’s Summit North took its first lead with 5:20 left in the third quarter on a 19-yard touchdown run by Baker.

In this drive, the Broncos took a small gamble that paid off. On fourth-and-eight at its 36, Lee’s Summit North went for it and converted on a 9-yard run by sophomore Tanner Howes, who rushed for 130 yards in seven carries in the first half.

Liberty North went right back in front on a 78-yard drive, capped by Arzola’s third touchdown of the game, making it 31-28 with 2:03 left in the third quarter.

The scoring started in the first quarter with a monster, 53-yard field goal by Liberty North junior Craig Blake, and that signaled that something amazing was going to happen in a highly entertaining first half.

Liberty North managed to take a slim 24-21 lead into the locker room in a half filled with explosive plays. Some of the plays were so good that it almost made you forget the initial booming field goal.

However, Lee’s Summit North appeared briefly stunned by the NFL-level field goal and had a turnover in its next possession. Liberty North quickly capitalized and scored on a 20-yard touchdown run by senior Arzola.

In less than 2 minutes, the Eagles put 10 points on the board. But they were in the Broncos’ house. Howes reminded the Eagles of that fact.

Making sure a blowout wasn’t imminent, Howes broke off a 76-yard touchdown run, making it 10-7 with still 3 minutes remaining in the first quarter.

Arzola scored his second touchdown early in the second quarter, pushing the Eagles’ lead back to 10.

Lee’s Summit North’s answer came on fourth-and-10 at the Liberty North 34. Baker threw a 34-yard touchdown pass to Isaiah Mozee. Once again, the Broncos closed to three.

It turns out that Liberty North had a long touchdown pass in its arsenal. Van Dyne tossed a 33-yard touchdown pass to Justis Braden.

The Broncos had one more response before the half ended. A 13-yard touchdown pass from Baker to Coetzee pulled Lee’s Summit North back to within three.

“You don’t want to let them get the upper hand,” Van Dyne said. “If they make a big play, we got to match it, and we did a good job doing that.”

This story was originally published October 8, 2021 at 10:31 PM.