Scott shocks Liberty, 41-8

Scott shocks Liberty, 41-8
By Randall Jett
Register-Herald Sports Writer

B.T. Roberts shredded the Liberty defense for 254 yards and three scores to lead Class AA No. 5 Scott over No. 12 Liberty, 41-8, in Glen Daniel Friday.

The loss puts the Raiders (5-3) on the playoff bubble with just two games remaining.

Scott (8-1) shut down the Raiders’ offense, limiting running back Tommy Newman to 34 yards on 16 carries.

“We felt like we had some speed on (Liberty) coming into the game,” Scott coach Shane Griffith said. “We knew that was probably going to make a difference. Our defensive line did a tremendous job in the middle and really stuffed their inside run game. That limited them in what they could do.”

The Skyhawks got their offense going late in the first quarter. After forcing Liberty to punt from deep in their own territory, Scott marched 40 yards in five plays for the first score of the game. Fullback Timmy Chapman bulled four yards to cap the drive.

The floodgates opened in the second quarter.

Playing the short field again, Roberts sprinted 23 yards for his first score at the 11:30 mark of the second quarter.

On the Skyhawks next possession, Roberts found the end zone again. His five-yard jaunt finished a six-play drive that started at the Liberty 40.

“We’ve had great tailbacks the last four or five years that went on to play in college,” Griffith said. “B.T. stepped right into that role. For a couple of weeks, our offense got a little stale. We stopped executing like we should but he’s just a great high school tailback and probably has a chance to go to the next level.”

Scott rolled up 416 yards of total offense in the contest, while limiting the Raiders to 118 yards.

“They outplayed us,” Liberty coach Jeff Alexander said. “No excuses. They just outplayed us. They really did. They did everything that they wanted to do on offense and pretty much anything they wanted to do on defense. There wasn’t a whole lot we could do about it. We’re just not a very good football team right now. We’re looking for answers.”

Down 41-0, the Raiders found the end zone late in the third quarter. Nick Hylton scooped up a Skyhawks fumble and raced 11 yards for the score.

Liberty hosts Shady Spring in its final home game Friday before traveling to Wyoming East Nov. 4 to close the regular season.