Liberty football rolls to mercy-rule win over Dieruff in battle of unbeatens

Liberty High School and Dieruff soared into their Eastern Pennsylvania Conference cross-divisional clash Friday night with 4-0 records.

The Hurricanes' 42-0 victory over the host Huskies at J. Birney Crum Stadium showed, in this case, strength of schedules didn't lie.

Liberty's four victories came over teams with a combined 9-7 record entering Week 5 while the Huskies, off to their best start since 1992, produced their perfect mark against programs that were 2-14.

Still, the Hurricanes needed to take care of business as the favorite – something that's been a rarity the past few seasons – and they did so after experiencing some early turbulence.

"The word I used with the team in pregame was 'maturity,'" said Liberty coach Shawn Daignault. "I told them I wanted to see them take a mature approach to the game and put them away. I wanted to see us grow up.

"This is new for us, and I wanted them to show maturity in winning, grow into this and act like they're supposed to win."

Liberty dominated the first quarter, running 24 plays to Dieruff's six, but only had a 7-0 lead to show for it. After Gabe Green almost fumbled away the opening kickoff, quarterback Antonio Fontanez did lose the ball into the end zone just before crossing the goal line for a touchback on the 11th play of a 59-yard drive.

The Hurricanes didn't panic. Instead, they forced a three-and-out and manufactured a 10-play, 61-yard march culminating in a 12-yard touchdown pass from Fontanez to senior tight end/H-back Cole Daignault, the coach's son. By this point, Green had rushed for 74 yards on 13 carries.

"I was the secondary receiver on the play," said the 6-foot-4, 225-pound Daignault, who is committed to play football and lacrosse at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine. "I ran a corner pattern and was open. Our goal this week was to play a clean and crisp game."

While Coach Daignault confirmed the fumbles – something that hadn't been an issue in previous games – will be something to nit-pick and critique in film sessions, they didn't deter the Hurricanes from completing their mission to become the first LHS squad since 2007 to start 5-0.

Fontanez made sure he protected the ball on a 3-yard touchdown run in a 10-play, 54-yard sojourn in which Brayden McKinley was the featured running back.

Liberty's defense pinned Dieruff deep in its territory to then take possession near midfield. Fontanez ran for 27 yards and completed a 17-yard pass to junior wide receiver Jake Pukszyn, who dragged three defenders to the 1-yard line. Junior Adriaan Deleon did the honors with a 1-yard dash up the middle.

Eli Dalrymple's 41-yard kickoff return set up Dieruff's best scoring threat while the game was still competitive. Senior quarterback Jack Herter completed a 6-yard pass to Yadiel Bermudez to keep the drive alive on fourth-and-3. However, the Huskies stalled out at Liberty's 23 on fourth-and-13.

"Our guys didn't quit, and they battled to the end," Dieruff coach Dave Lutte said. "We were missing several key guys, which forced us to play other guys out of position tonight. But Liberty was the better team, and they took it to us."

The second half couldn't have started worse for the Huskies. They fumbled the kickoff out of bounds at their 2. Three plays later, a missed exchange from center to quarterback put the ball on the turf where it was recovered by Liberty's Jahsi Cole at the 3.

Green immediately scored behind the right side of the line. Green capped his 19-carry, 127-yard night with a 4-yard touchdown run with 5:41 to go in the third quarter. The highlight of the drive was a 29-yard, back-shoulder catch by Pukszyn on the previous play. He finished with five catches for 94 yards.

Christian Hackett converted his fifth PAT – and second after performing with the Grenadier band at halftime along with fellow kicker Casey Huie – to up the lead to 35-0 and set the mercy rule, running clock in motion.

Green knew where to throw the bouquets after his workmanlike effort.

"The line play was phenomenal tonight. Everyone did their assignments," said Green of center Louis Haz, guards Keegan Brennan and Jayden Perez and tackles Nicholas Schenkel and Daunte Morrison. "Going into this game we wanted to play with a lot of energy knowing they were 4-0. We knew it wouldn't be an easy game, but we were very effective, which kind of made it easy. We had a great week of practice."

Reserve quarterback Christian Contakes scored Liberty's final touchdown on a 2-yard run after sophomore Mekkhi McKenzie rushed seven times for 18 yards. Contakes also converted a fourth-and-2 with a 16-yard completion to Zyaire Davis.

Liberty's defense held Dieruff's dangerous junior running back Riyell Wann to 39 yards on 12 carries. He had been averaging more than 10 yards for his 34 previous attempts. Herter, often throwing under duress, completed five passes for 46 yards with four of them going to Dalrymple for 40 yards.

"Our defensive coordinator (Joe Bottiglieri) wanted us to go out and play our best game," Cole Daignault said. "He wanted us to be perfect. I'd give us an A."

Liberty makes the long trip to East Stroudsburg North next Friday before concluding its schedule exclusively against Northampton Division opponents. Dieruff embarks on its five-game Lehigh Division schedule next Friday at Whitehall.

"I told the kids we are still 4-1 and have a lot to play for like qualifying for the district playoffs," Lutte said.