Liberty Unleash Fury, Crush Lightning 47-32 in Statement Victory

by Cody Zeeb

The Salina Liberty made a change at quarterback, finally put it all together, and crushed the Oregon Lightning 47-32 Saturday night in Salina. 

All Liberty 

The Liberty came into this Week 6 matchup with a deceiving record of 0-4. In three of the four games, Liberty had a win within reach, and three of their four losses were to undefeated teams. After shaking up their quarterback room and losing to the Southwest Kansas Storm by just two points in Week 5, the Liberty signed veteran quarterback Rakeem Cato. 


Cato started Saturday night, while Javin Kilgo was inactive. Cato’s first snap was a bomb to the speedy Ed Smith, and the two connected for a touchdown. The Liberty only took nine offensive snaps in the first half, while the Lightning took 30. Despite that, the Liberty led 18-12 at halftime.


As it Happened - First Half


The Lightning started the game with the ball and slowly and methodically drove down the field. They took over 8:00 off the clock before Dalton Cole ran the ball in to take the 6-0 lead. The Lightning wasted no time, with Cato launching that touchdown on his first pass for the Liberty touchdown to tie the game up at six. 


The next Lightning possession was an interesting one. The Lightning fumbled the ball with the Liberty recovering, but after review, the call was overturned. Then Salina’s Shaq Bond picked off a pass on fourth down, but on the return, he fumbled it, and Oregon recovered. Giving the Lightning a fresh set of downs. After a penalty (the Lightning committed 19 penalties on the night for over 145 penalty yards), Dalton Cole launched a touchdown pass on 4th & 20 to a very wide-open Richy Anderson II. 


The Liberty took the field for their second offensive snap of the game with just 8:35 left in the second quarter. Another crazy exchange as Cato threw an interception that was fumbled in the end zone and recovered by Salina, but after offsetting penalties, they just replayed the down. Cato threw his first of three touchdown passes to Malik Honeycutt, and the Liberty grabbed a 13-12 lead from which they’d never look back. 


After stopping the Lightning on downs, Salina took over with just 53 seconds left in the half, for their sixth snap on offense of the game. Cato once again found Honeycutt as time expired, and the Liberty took the 18-12 lead into halftime. 


Second Half


Malik Honeycutt started the second half off by completing the hat trick and snagging his third touchdown of the game. The Lightning answered with a Cole to Goggin touchdown. Then Rakeem Cato hit Ed Smith for their second touchdown connection. The Lightning fumbled the ball on their ensuing drive, and the Liberty recovered. Tracy Brooks would grab his first touchdown of the game and break the game wide open to end the third quarter with a 40-18 Liberty lead. 


The Liberty defense had already been wreaking havoc on Dalton Cole and company, and on the next possession, three straight sacks led to another turnover on downs for the Lightning. With just 6:50 left in the game, the Liberty turned the ball over on downs. It was their first offensive possession where they didn’t score. 


Dalton Cole hit Bryce Goggin on an incredible touchdown catch over the wall as Goggin lost his helmet, making the grab. Tracy Brooks answered and punched in his second touchdown on the ground for the Liberty before a Dalton Cole to Maurice Ashley touchdown pass to end the game and keep the score respectable. 



Standout Players 


The Liberty had a duo that stood out. Of course, their new quarterback, Rakeem Cato, stole the show, tossing a touchdown on his first pass in a Liberty uniform. He threw just eight passes on the night, but five of them were touchdowns. His favorite target was Malik Honeycutt. The duo connected four times, for three touchdowns and 59 yards. 


For the Lightning, Dalton Cole once again put up good numbers when he wasn’t on his back. He threw four touchdown passes and added another on the ground. Bryce Goggin was his favorite target, the duo connected nine times in total and twice for touchdowns.