By ADAM McFADDEN
amcfadden@rentonreporter.com
Standing on his own 10-yard line ready to receive a kickoff, Jake Bainton knew he needed to make a move. After Juanita had chewed up Liberty’s 21-point lead, the game now stood at a draw and the Rebels had all the momentum.
In a flash Bainton took the kickoff back 71 yards and gave Liberty the spark it needed on the way to a 28-21 win in a battle of KingCo unbeaten teams Friday night.
“I was just looking for the open hole,” Bainton said. “From then on out it was just me running down the sideline. It was a race and it turned out pretty well. They were really driving on us to that point. We just came back and fought through it. We overcame that adversity.”
The Rebels (4-1 overall, 1-1 KingCo 3A/2A), who had allowed 19 total first-half points through four games this season, couldn’t stop Liberty’s (5-0, 3-0) offense early. Some key mistakes made the Patriots’ job a little bit easier.
Juanita lost a fumble when a low snap on a punt attempt went into Liberty’s hands. Chandler Jenkins scored on a 14-yard rush the next play.
The Rebels later turned a field goal into another chance for a scoring opportunity when they roughed Liberty kicker Dean Byron on a field goal attempt in the second quarter. That gave Liberty a first down and Trey Wheeler found Bainton for a two-yard scored a few plays later.Mostly though in the early part of the game, it was what opponents have come to expect from Liberty this year: points, points and more points.
The Patriots have averaged 24.8 points in the first half of games this season.
“Our team doesn’t surprise me,” said Liberty coach Steve Valach. “I thought we were playing our game. We got some opportunities and did what we should’ve done.”
The full Liberty crowd reached grew louder as they sensed another easy win for the football team on the horizon.
Then Juanita’s Cole Graves scored on a seven-yard rush in the second quarter that shifted the game’s momentum going into the half.
That momentum continued to build as the Rebels’ Jerimiah Laufasa scored on a two-yard run to bring the score to 21-13.
While it continued to make up ground, Juanita found a way to slow down Liberty’s offense: keep the ball away. The Rebels controlled much of the early second half with long, clock-draining drives that kept the Patriot offense on the sidelines.
“It was like I thought it would be,” Valach said. “Their offense shortened the game. We’re more of an explosive offense, they’re more of a grind-it-out offense.”
After a failed fake punt by the Patriots, Juanita took over at the Liberty 49-yard line with nearly three minutes left in the third quarter. Juanita scored a few minutes later when Derek Kaufman found Kris Otterholt for 23 yards. Kaufman scored on a two-point conversion to tie the game.
Now the small Juanita crowd was the loud one as the Liberty side sat, stunned the Rebels had come back to tie the game.
Liberty senior lineman Coleton Langdon marched along the Liberty sideline, prodding his team: “Where’s the excellence? If you’re going to be excellent you can’t take a play off!”
The Patriots would find momentum on the very next play. Bainton snagged Juanita’s kickoff and ran up the left sideline, returning the kick 71 yards and giving his team new life.
“Momentum plays are the key to any big game,” Valach said. “You need to get the momentum. That play was huge for us, huge.”
Wheeler then found Bainton in the end zone again from nine-yards out to give Liberty a 28-21 lead.
Liberty’s defense stopped any Juanita attempts after that and Jenkins swatted away the Rebels’ final pass attempt on fourth down.
