Liberty: Unbeaten and Big South Champs Again

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No. 22/24 Liberty ran its unbeaten Big South streak to 11-straight games, finishing back-to-back conference championship seasons with a 30-10 victory over Gardner-Webb, Saturday evening, at Williams Stadium.

With the victory, the Flames raise their record to 9-2 on the year and finish the conference slate unbeaten at 5-0. The loss ends the Bulldogs' season at 5-6 and 2-3 in Big South play.

Liberty's victory allows the Flames to become the first team in league history to win five conference games in a season and to join Gardner-Webb as the only two teams to post consecutive unbeaten seasons.

The game remained scoreless until midway through the first quarter of play. Rashad Jennings caught his longest pass of the year, a 42-yarder on the far side of the field, where the senior used several key blocks to tip toe down the sidelines, getting the Flames into Bulldog territory.

Seven plays later, the Flames drive was halted at the Gardner-Webb 11-yard line, leaving the Flames to settle for a 28-yard Ben Shipps field goal at the 4:43 mark of the opening 15 minutes of action.

The early low-scoring affair continued until the middle part of the second quarter. Brock Smith completed a 36-yard out-of-bounds pass to Jonathan Crawford, moving the Flames to the Gardner-Webb six-yard line.

On the next play, Liberty handled the ball off to Jennings, who burst through the line of scrimmage for his 16th touchdown of the year, giving the Flames a 10-0 lead with 9:12 left before halftime. The scoring run tied Jennings with Lawrence Worthington for the school's single season record, as Worthington did so in 1994.

On Gardner-Webb's first play of the ensuing drive, Wes Cheek stepped in front of a Devin Campbell pass, intercepting it and returning it nine yards to the Gardner-Webb 25-yard line.

The Flames quickly shook off the slower offensive start of the game, adding seven more points six second later. Smith hooked up with Crawford again, this time finding the senior in the corner of the end zone for a 25-yard touchdown scoring play, extending Liberty's lead to 17-0 at 8:55.

The Bulldogs collected themselves on the next drive, stringing together their most effective offensive series of the first half to put points on the scoreboard against Liberty for the first time in six quarters.

Gardner-Webb had the ball first-and-goal on the three yard line; however, an 11-yard sack by Nick Hursky, the Flames third of the opening 30 minutes, helped keep the Bulldogs out of the end zone.

The visitors were forced to settle for a 32-yard field by Ryan Gates with 4:41 left in the second, marking the first time Gardner-Webb scored on Liberty since a fourth-quarter field goal the last time the Bulldogs visited Williams Stadium on Oct. 21, 2006.

Lengthy plays by Dominic Bolden bookended Liberty's final scoring drive of the first half to give the Flames their 24-3 advantage. The senior return the kickoff 23 yards, and eight plays later, Smith found the wide out open for a 31-yard touchdown reception 32 seconds before the half time buzzer sounded. The scoring reception was the ninth of Bolden's season, leaving him shy of Eric Green's single-season record 10 touchdown receptions in 1989.

The Flames dominated the game during the first half, both on the scoreboard and on the stat sheet. Liberty doubled up Gardner-Webb in total offensive yards, 262 to 131, despite the Flames finishing with only three more plays than the Bulldogs, 35-32.

Liberty amassed nearly two-thirds of its yards via the passing game, as the Flames quarterbacks combined to complete 9-of-14 pass attempts for 180 yards.

Just like the first quarter, Liberty was the only team able to add points to scoreboard in the third quarter, getting 42-yard field goal by Bevins at the 8:39 mark, the Flames longest field goal of the year and giving them a 27-3 lead.

However, the Bulldogs didn't go quietly, as Gardner-Webb pieced together its longest drive of the contest to open the fourth quarter and pull back within 17 points.

Long runs of 21 and 12 yards by David Montgomery helped Gardner-Webb march 91 yards downfield to score their first touchdown of the game. After the Bulldogs got when the 10-yard line again, the Flames tried to piece together another goal line stand.

Liberty stopped Gardner-Webb on third-and-goal from the one, as Campbell was unable to sneak the ball cross the goal line. However on the next play, the senior handed the ball off to Patrick Hall, who was able to sneak around Liberty's offensive line, scoring from one-yard out, to cap off a 13-play drive and make the score 27-10.

The Flames handed the ball off to running back Zach Terrell five straight plays on their next drive. The senior picked up 31 yards on those carries, moving Liberty into field goal territory, and allowed Shipps to knock down a 28-yard field goal and give Liberty a 20-point lead with 7:28 left in the contest.

The Bulldogs managed to push the football back onto Liberty's side of the field on the ensuing drive. However, Jamal Giddens struck Montgomery on a third-and-seven run from the 23-yard line, forcing the junior to cough up the ball and bring the celebratory Gatorade shower down upon head coach Danny Rocco.

Liberty outgained Gardner-Webb by 79 yards overall, 442 to 363, despite the Bulldogs nearly doubling their first-half production with 232 total offensive yards in the second half.

Gardner-Webb, who came into the game with the nation's No. 27 ranked rushing defense (110.6 yards per game), allowed nearly double their average yards, as Liberty rushed for 195 yards on 42 carries. The Bulldogs finished the game rushing for 116 yards on 34 attempts.

The two teams finished the game with equal passing yards despite different paths. Liberty's quarterbacks completed 13-of-21 pass attempts without an interception. Gardner-Webb's hurlers finished the game 25-of-41 with two passes being picked off by the Flames, accounting for two of the Bulldogs five turnovers.

Jennings set one school record and saw another come to an end in the contest, as the senior finished the game rushing for 56 yards on 14 carries. The yardage gave the senior 1,391 yards on the year, allowing him to become the program and Big South single-season leader, while seeing his 100-yard game rushing streak come to an end at 10 games.

Hall finished the game as the leading rusher, gaining 88 yards on 16 carries for the Bulldogs. Terrell paced the way for the Flames, as the senior ran for 84 yards on 16 attempts.

Smith was 11-of-18 for 226 yards and two touchdown passes, while Campbell completed 24-of-40 attempts for 242 yards and the two picks.

Crawford (84 yards) and Bolden (81 yards) each caught four passes for 80-plus yards, while Dodson Collins was the game's leading receiver with 10 catches for 109 yards.

Hursky and the Bulldogs' Jeffrey Williams each led their respective squad with 15 stops apiece, while Chris Rocco followed for the Flames with a career-high 11 tackles and two of Liberty's three fumble recoveries.

The Flames will close out their 2008 regular-season schedule, looking to reach the 10-win mark for the first time in program history. Liberty will host No. 11 Elon at Williams Stadium for a 1 p.m. contest next Saturday.

Both teams enter the game with postseason aspirations, as the Phoenix dropped a narrow 24-16 decision on the road to No. 2 Appalachian State to fall to 8-3. The pair of squads are two of numerous teams leading the discussion for an at-large berth to the NCAA FCS Playoffs, which would be a first postseason appearance for either team.

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Liberty: Unbeaten and Big South Champs Again

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Team Stats

Brock Smith

Zach Terrell

Spencer Landis