Juanita loses to Liberty despite late push | Prep football

Published 7:49 am Saturday, October 25, 2014

The Juanita High School football team outscored Liberty 19-14 during the second half of its game on Friday but it wasn’t enough, as the Patriots held on for the 31-22 victory in Kirkland.

Liberty built a 17-3 lead heading into the locker room for halftime.

But the Rebels came out with the determination to get back into the game.

Salvon Ahmed got Juanita started, taking the second-half kickoff 80 yards for a touchdown. Ahmed then scored again but this time from scrimmage, running 49 yards for a touchdown. A missed two-point conversion left the Rebels down 17-16 but back in the game.

The Patriots would score a touchdown before the end of the third quarter but Juanita kept pace with a drive and a one-yard score by Austin Cole. But once again a two-point conversion failed. Liberty would score one more time to put the game out of reach.

The loss is Juanita’s third in a row after starting the season 5-0.

With the loss, the Rebels drop to third place in league play with two losses. Juanita is now 5-3 overall on the season.

Juanita will try to get back on track at 7 p.m. on Oct. 31 in Bellevue, as it takes on Interlake.