Liberty hangs on to beat Milan
Liberty Tech had to fight harder toward the end than it looked like it would have to, but the Crusaders came out with a 28-25 victory over Milan on Friday.
While Liberty starts Region 7-3A play with the victory, there wasn’t a lot of elation on the Liberty sideline at the end.
The Crusaders led 28-10 at the end of the third quarter.
“I’m not happy with this win and how we ended it,” said Liberty defensive back Alec Long. “We’ve got to finish better … play better at the end. We didn’t do that tonight.”
Milan, who was down 21-3 at halftime, fought its way back into the game with defense and better control of the ball in the fourth quarter.
Special teams played a role as well as the Bulldogs recovered two onside kicks to set up the score to cut the Liberty lead to three and to give them a chance to take the lead in the end.
Milan’s Chandler Smith caught a roll-out pass from Blake Miller with 1:47 to go before the Bulldogs converted a 2-point conversion to cut the lead to a field goal.
The Bulldogs then recovered the onside kick to get the ball back at midfield, but a false start put the Bulldogs back and forced them to have to pass more than they wanted to in the end.
“We had to make those passes, and their defensive backs are a good group,” said Milan head coach Jeff Morris. “We didn’t help ourselves with that, and then their No. 3 showed how good he can be when they need him to be.”
The “No. 3” Morris referred to was Long, who intercepted a long Milan pass at about the 15-yard line with 52 seconds to go to seal the win after Liberty took a couple of knees to run the clock out.
“There was a little panic there on our sideline after they got that second kick, but I just told our guys to calm down on defense and just go do our jobs,” Long said. “That ball came to me, and I had to be the one to do my job when it was time.”
Liberty head coach Tyler Turner said there will be a lot of emphasis for the Crusaders in the next week on finishing games better and handling onside kick situations in a more effective manner.
“Our hands team has got to do a better job because we knew it was coming,” Turner said. “But both of those kicks couldn’t have gone any better. They were beautiful kicks, and you can tell they’ve worked on that some.”
Liberty running back Christian Ballard recovered from a slow start with a fumble in the first play from scrimmage to have a couple of big runs that set up Liberty touchdowns in the second and third quarters and ended the night with 136 yards on 22 carries.
Crusaders receiver Rodney Castille had three touchdown catches and 143 yards on nine receptions.
“This win is big because it’s a win in a region game,” Castille said. “A win is a win, and that’s all we cared about.
“We weren’t worried about what happened last year or last week. Just tonight, and we came away with a win, so I’m happy.”
Turner said the play of Castille and Milan’s Lamartez Brooks made for an entertaining game for fans.
“Their No. 21 [Brooks] is the best receiver in the state of Tennessee,” Turner said. “That kid is an amazing athlete.
“But I’m pretty happy with the one we have. He did a great job tonight making catches when we needed him to. Our guys made the plays when they were needed, and that’s what you’ve got to do against good teams.”
Brandon Shields, 425-9751
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