Liberty locks up No. 1 seed in Open Division with 10th win
November 11, 2022 by Jackson Groff, AZPreps365
A perfect regular season for the Liberty Lions.
10-0.
Their tenth win ended in dominating fashion at Boulder Creek, 37-7, Friday night. The Lions were unstoppable, quickly taking a 30-0 lead in the first half.
Liberty’s Nazi Bruzon threw touchdown passes to senior wide receiver Prince Zombo for 30 yards and junior tight end Braylon Gardner for 20. The Lions were just as dominant in the run game, too.
Another two first half touchdowns were added by senior running back Noah Olson for 98 yards and senior running Raneill Calvin for six.
"We like starting fast and staying aggressive against any opponent we play," Liberty head coach Colin Thomas said.
The throttle was still engaged when the second half started.
On the first play of the second half, Bruzon found senior wide receiver Grant Brunelle for 60 yard for Bruzon's third touchdown of the night. The starters were benched shortly after.
At the end of the third quarter, Boulder Creek senior running back Joshua Prue punched in a 6-yard touchdown run, but it wasn't enough for the Jaguars.
Liberty eventually ran out the clock to pick up the win.
"I'm proud of this team through 10 games,” Thomas said. “We've stayed consistent, physical and dominant throughout. But the job's not finished. We will regroup, get some guys healthy through the next weeks and prepare for the team ahead of us in the first round."
Thomas praised the importance of home field advantage in the Open Division playoffs.
"It's going to be a great atmosphere,” he said. “We have been playing on the road a lot this year, and it's nice to reward our amazing fan base with a home playoff game in two weeks."
The Lions will start their surge for their first Open title on Nov. 25.