Liberty’s Andrew Leonard celebrates first blood on opening night against the Olentangy Braves.(Press Pros Feature Photos by Logan Gapen)
Quarterback Andrew Leonard threw a long touchdown pass and ran for another, while getting ample support from a swarming defense and excellent special teams play to whip its intra-district rival.
Lewis Center, OH – The great unknown always surrounds week one of a new high school football season. The picture often remains fuzzy through the first three or four games. The perception of which teams are good and not so good changes like Ohio’s fall weather.
Second-year coach John Sansbury knew this much about his Olentangy Liberty Patriots. Thirty seniors returned from 2023’s exasperating 4-8 campaign – just the third losing record in the program’s 21-year history – and they were bound and determined it wasn’t going to happen again, not on their watch.
“I would describe the offseason as hungry, and that began in the weight room and continued though our preseason practices,” Sansbury said. “We knew we had a lot of good football players with a lot of experience.”
One of those seniors, third-year starting quarterback Andrew Leonard, had little doubt that Liberty would return to the ranks as one of central Ohio’s most successful programs.
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Veteran central Ohio columnist Steve Blackledge writes the OCC and sports at large for Press Pros.
In reality, Liberty was much better than its record indicated last season. The Patriots started 0-4. They lost to defending state champion Cleveland Glenville, state semifinalist Hilliard Bradley, regional semifinalist Gahanna , Dublin Coffman (twice) and knocked off regional finalist Upper Arlington. Their opponents were a combined 108-47 counting the postseason. The Pats dropped four games by a touchdown or less.
“All through our preparation for this season, we had a chip on our shoulder,” Leonard said. “We were so ready for this season, and this first game, to get here.”
Liberty’s response was swift and decisive, and ended with a 28-0 trouncing of intra-district rival Olentangy Friday before a sellout crowd at Braves Field. The Patriots did it with big plays, a swarming defense and stellar special teams play.
Liberty junior Antonio Kish (24) dials in on Jackson Wiley (1) as Wiley hauls in a long pass.
Leonard, who earned second-team All-Central District last season after passing for 2,414 yards and rushing for 554 yards with 18 total touchdowns, was front and center once again for Liberty.
On Liberty’s opening series, he drove the Patriots 55 yards in just six plays. On fourth-and-4, he scrambled for 13 yards to the Braves’ 15. On the next play, he offered a brilliant pump fake to the end zone before racing untouched up the middle for a touchdown.
At just 5-feet-10, Leonard may look small for the part but he manipulates the pocket well, is adept at wide receiver screens and, obviously, he is a threat with his feet. And, by the way, he can throw the deep ball, too.
“In addition to being a three-year starter, he’s one of our hardest workers and a great leader,” Sansbury said. “I love having him on my side.”
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After a second straight defensive stop, Jake Struck returned Cooper Tracy’s punt 76 yards to the house for a 14-0 Liberty lead.
Later in the first half, Braxton Winks thwarted an Olentangy drive with an interception in the end zone.
On the next play, Leonard hit Christian Moulton in perfect stride down the middle of the field for an 80-yard TD bomb.
Christian Moulton (3) breaks into the Braves’ secondary for big yards until he is wrestled down by Crosby Meyer (29) and Kaden Gebhardt (34) (Press Pros Photo by Brian Bayless)
“We game-planned that all week in practice and waited for just the right moment to unleash it,” Leonard said. “Moulton is a burner and ran right where I threw it.”
In the final minute of the third quarter, Landon Hunter pounced on a Liberty fumble deep in Braves territory. On the next play, Struck scored from two yards out on a direct snap.
That was all she wrote as the Patriots’ defense had its way with Olentangy from the outset. Junior Luke Chilicki – making his first start at quarterback in hopes of filling the shoes of graduated first-team All-Ohioan and Penn State recruit Ethan Grunkemeyer – was under siege all night. Replacing Grunkemeyer’s 3,517 yards and 39 TDs in 2023 was more than a tall task.
“Our guys were running to the ball like a crazy wild pack of dogs,” Sansbury said.
Hunter, who was one of seven Patriots to record a tackle for loss or sack, said Liberty wanted to throw the kitchen sink at Chilicki.
Liberty’s Bailey Byrd hovers over Olentangy’s Jet Cornelius as Cornelius tries to recover a loose ball.
“We came in with the idea of blitzing a lot, flushing the ball carriers toward the sideline and keeping a close eye on their top targets,” he said. “We felt pretty strongly coming into the season our defense was going to be a strength.”
Olentangy coach Wade Bartholomew was quick to deflect blame and support his first-year quarterback.
“We had a pretty significant graduation and tonight’s performance shows us that we have a lot of growing up to do,” he said.
“Experience is everything. Our kid was kind of thrown to the wolves, and I take the blame for that in putting him in tough situations. Those Liberty guys came ready to play and pushed us around a little bit. Across the field, that kid Leonard showed why he’s one of the more accomplished kids in the area. He’s hard to bottle up.”
It marked the fifth straight win for Liberty over the original Olentangy school in the rivalry that dates to 2008. Liberty won the first two meetings, then Olentangy the next five. Eight of the 12 games have been decided by seven or fewer points.
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