Antonio Kish high steps it into the end zone to put Liberty up 21-0 against the Wildcats. (Press Pros Feature Photos by Brian Bayless)
A 13-play, 99-yard scoring drive at the end of the first half flipped momentum in a big way as Liberty downed Hilliard Davidson 21-7 and set up a Week 10 showdown against unbeaten Olentangy Orange for the OCC Central title.
Hilliard, OH – Even after the loss of 31 seniors to graduation from its 2024 Division I state championship team, even after starting this season 0-3, not a soul in the Olentangy Liberty locker room uttered or thought the word rebuilding.
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“Look at our history, that’s us,” Patriots senior linebacker Carter Kuhn said. “Through the years, we’ve always played a really tough non-league schedule early and we’ve gotten out of the gates a little slow before turning it on at playoff time.”
To Kuhn’s point, many of Liberty’s most prolific teams stubbed their toes a few times. The final four squads in 2017 and 2018 lost three and five games, respectively. The 2022 regional runner-up lost six times. Even last year’s title team entered the playoffs 8-2 before embarking on a magnificent run that featured successive playoff wins over Upper Arlington, Pickerington North, Lakewood St. Edward and Cincinnati Moeller.
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In fairness, this Liberty team lacks the explosiveness of the championship team, but features many of the finest qualities that epitomized Liberty’s long run of success under retired 20-year coach Steve Hale and his third-year successor John Sansbury.
With yet another workmanlike 21-7 win at Hilliard Davidson Friday, Liberty won its sixth straight game and set up a week 10 showdown on its home field against 9-0 Olentangy Orange for all the marbles in the always-rugged Ohio Capital Conference Central Division.
“We’ve only got 14 seniors, but a lot of them played significant minutes last year and have plenty of experience in big games,” Sansbury said. “Even after the tough start, this team has stayed together and continued to jell. We’ve got guys here who believe in what we’re doing and just go out there on Friday nights and do their jobs. We’ve always had the same concept, and it works.”
Jayden Hawk and the Liberty run defense stepped it up, as in this stop of Davidson’s Marcus Thiaw.
While a high-scoring offense led by first-team All-Ohio quarterback Andrew Leonard was the driving force of the 2024 team, defense is the cornerstone of this squad. The Patriots are allowing just 11.8 points per game, and have yielded just 47 points during their win streak.
“Although we refer to Carter Kuhn as the heart and soul of our defense, we don’t really feature a bunch of superstars – just 11 guys executing their assignments,” said Sansbury, who graduated from Liberty in 2005 and served as an assistant in the program for 14 years.
Kuhn, who had a sack and three tackles for loss, added: “We’re a physical defense with the mentality of hitting you in the mouth. Our guys like to hit and take the ball away. We take a lot of pride on being the most physical team up front, and that applies to both sides of the ball.”
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Alex Leonard, the junior brother of Mr. Football finalist Andrew (now the starting quarterback for undefeated Findlay), threw a pair of touchdown passes and senior running back Antonio Kish rushed for 131 yards and a score on 21 carries to pace Liberty.
Ben Godwin snags an Alex Leonard pass and gets a foot down in bounds for a big gain.
On its first series, Leonard capped a six-play, 70-yard scoring drive with a 9-yard TD pass to Patrick McDonnell. Kish set the table with a 49-yard dash.
With ball control and timely plays on defense, Davidson hung tough and clung to the 7-0 deficit until a seismic shift occurred just before halftime.
After the Wildcats downed a Josh DiBlasio punt at Liberty’s 1-yard-line, it appeared the home team would take the momentum to halftime.
But after two Kish runs resulted in first downs, Liberty switched into its two-minute offense. Leonard connected on 5 of 7 passes for 75 yards, capped by a 4-yard slant at the goal line to Ben Godwin, to tack on a stunning score with 14.8 seconds remaining. Godwin and Carter Nelson each made two big catches on the 13-play drive.
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“They were playing back in coverage and we were just taking what they gave us,” Leonard said. “I feel like we’ve always got a chance to score. Our offensive line played great and we had guys making plays. The drive was great, but when we went in at halftime knowing we had the ball first in the second half, we said we’ve got to put one more on them.”
Josh DiBlasio gets hauled down by Liberty’s Lewis Eben.
In no uncertain terms, the long drive was a kick in the gut to Davidson’s chances.
“That was huge … exactly what we needed to turn the game around,” Sansbury said.
The Wildcats’ offense already was scuffling with standout running back Dayne Schmidt sidelined for the season with torn ligaments in his ankle.
“I thought we played pretty well in the first half, but that long drive was a back-breaker,” Davidson coach Jeremey Scally said. “Momentum, confidence, belief … whatever you want to call it, is a funny thing. It certainly went their way at that point.”
As Leonard alluded to, Liberty (6-3, 4-0) answered with a 12-play, 69-yard scoring drive to open the half and, for all intents and purposes, put the game on ice. Kish scored on an 8-yard run out of a wildcat formation.
Some wanted a flag for pass interference on this attempted catch by Ben Godwin, claiming the defender arrived early. Despite the pleas, no flag was thrown.
Playing for pride, Davidson (4-5, 0-4) averted the shutout when DiBlasio engineered a last-gasp 80-yard scoring drive that was capped by his 7-yard TD pass to Drew Osborn with 25.4 seconds left. It marked the fourth straight defeat for Davidson, which was clinging to the 12th and final playoff spot in Division II, Region 2.
Leonard echoed his coach’s and teammates’ remarks about Liberty not folding the tent or lowering expectations after the 0-3 start. The defeats, by the way, came to Olentangy (8-1), Cleveland Glenville (5-3) and Gahanna (7-2).
“After those losses, I think we knew that kind of performance just wasn’t going to cut it,” he said. “We knew what we had. It was a just a matter of getting better week by week. I don’t think we ever lost sight of the fact that we still had a chance to reach all our goals.”
Scally said he holds the highest esteem for Sansbury and what he has helped build at Liberty.
“I don’t know that it’s a certain scheme or anything like that, but when they walk on the field you can see it in their faces and they way they go about business. They expect to win.”
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