Liberty falls short in California

CORONA, Calif. — If Liberty football coach Rich Muraco wanted to, he easily could have spun Friday’s outcome in a more positive light.

Instead, Muraco gave an honest assessment of the Patriots’ performance.

“I was proud the kids didn’t quit and that we fought hard through the whole game,” Muraco said. “But there’s a lot we can learn from this loss tonight.”

Liberty took the field on a picture-perfect night in Southern California hoping to prove worthy of its national ranking by going toe-to-toe with one of the Golden State’s top programs.

Instead, the Patriots committed a bevy of mistakes in the first half — four turnovers and two offside penalties at critical junctures — and lost 49-32 to host Centennial-Corona (California) in a game that wasn’t quite as close as the score indicated.

“Again, our ultimate goal is to win a state championship and to beat Bishop Gorman,” Muraco said. “We want to play these caliber of teams because we wanted to replicate what it’s going to be like in state. If we were playing Gorman tonight, if we make those mistakes, they’re going to jump on you and make you pay, and that’s exactly what Centennial did.”

Kenyon Oblad threw for 339 yards, and Ethan Dedeaux had 137 yards receiving along with a rushing touchdown for Liberty (3-1), which entered the game ranked No. 21 in USA Today’s Super 25 poll but fell behind 35-6 early in the second quarter.

The Patriots scored two touchdowns in the final 4 minutes, 32 seconds, to make the score more respectable.

“That first half was just rough for us,” Dedeaux said.

Centennial (4-1), ranked No. 12 by USA Today, racked up 370 of its 519 yards in the first half despite losing starting quarterback Tanner McKee to injury midway through the second quarter.

Miles Reed gained 212 of the Huskies’ 286 rushing yards and scored four touchdowns, including a 30-yard burst up the middle to put Centennial on top 49-18 with 11:21 left to play in the fourth quarter.

“We knew coming in this week, as well as our defense has been playing, that we were not going to stop this offense,” Muraco said. “They’re high-octane. We felt like we needed to take some chances on some things, be aggressive, go for turnovers.

“Unfortunately, they were scoring early, and then we weren’t executing on the offensive side of the ball to keep pace with them, and that just puts more pressure on everybody. The stress of the moment gets a little big.”

Oblad completed 24 of 41 passes, but was intercepted three times by the Huskies. Centennial defensive back Jaylan Shaw, who has committed to UCLA, had two of those picks.

Bryson Delacruz finished with a team-high 74 rushing yards and scored on a 38-yard run in the first quarter for the Patriots.

The game turned against Liberty during a four-minute stretch in the first half. After the Patriots had a field-goal attempt blocked on their second drive, McKee connected with wide receiver Justin Fisher on a big pass play.

Fisher was caught from behind by Liberty’s Octavion Bell and stripped at the 2-yard line, but the ball rolled into the end zone and Centennial’s Cameron Ashby fell on it for a touchdown and a 21-6 lead with 2:29 to go in the first quarter.

“Our emotions went high when he fumbled,” Dedeaux said. “It’s the game of football. There’s going to be ups and downs, and we just got more downs than ups.”

Liberty went three-and-out on its next drive, and the Huskies took advantage of good field position after a poor punt to go 37 yards in six plays. Reed ran over a defender inside the 5-yard line and scored on a 16-yard run to put Centennial on top 28-6 less than a minute into the second quarter.

After the Patriots fumbled on their next possession, McKee hit Fisher for a 38-yard touchdown reception that put Centennial ahead 35-6 with 10:39 remaining until halftime.

Damanhy Whittle blocked a punt and recovered in the end zone late in the first half for Liberty, which trailed 35-12 at the break, and the Patriots went 80 yards on their first drive of the second half.

Dedeaux scored on a 1-yard run to cut Centennial’s lead to 35-18, but Huskies backup quarterback Arturo Herrera scored on a back-breaking 28-yard run on third-and-14 to put Liberty in a 42-18 hole with 4:23 left in the third quarter.

“They just execute,” Muraco said of Centennial. “They do a great job of doing the little things right, and tonight we just didn’t do that.”

Contact reporter David Schoen at dschoen@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5203. Follow on Twitter: @DavidSchoenLVRJ