Southwest Kansas Survived the Liberty's Furious Comeback 22-20

The Southwest Kansas Storm traveled cross-state to take on rivals, Salina Liberty, in an early season clash. The Storm look to bounce back to the win column after a two-game skid. On the other side, the Liberty looked to tally their first win. 

The Storm haven’t found a consistent answer on offense, making their record a result of that. While the Liberty have had nearly no answers all year. However, when rivals play, records need to be thrown out the window. For Salina, this is a must-win game. For the Storm, this is a critical game to maintain playoff seeding. These two teams have a history of games against each other and that showed tonight. 

Game Recap

The Liberty came out with a quick punch. Malik Honeycutt and Jamario Benson, for the Liberty,  were in sync, two quick passes to convert for a touchdown. Jalen Morton, for the Storm, looked like he was seeing the field well, driving into the Liberty territory. However, the Liberty brought pressure, and Morton threw the ball into traffic, getting picked off by Shaq Bond. Due to two unsportsmanlike penalties, the Liberty’s drive started on the one-yard line, where the Storm were able to cause a safety. Even with great field position twice, the Storm could not find the endzone. 

The second quarter started out with multiple defensive stands. When it seemed like the Storm would stall out again deep in their own territory, it was 4th & 21, Morton found Demarius Washington. A few plays later, they connected again for the Storm’s first touchdown of the game. Salina again stalled out on downs. Demarius Washington continued to tear up the Liberty's defense, flipping the field position. This allowed the Storm to convert a field goal with sixteen seconds left. Sending up a hail mary with seconds left on the clock, Salina looked to have secured a touchdown, but after review, it was ruled an incompletion, ending the half with a 12-6 Storm lead. 

Coming out of the break, DeWayne Autrey made an acrobatic interception giving Salina early momentum. Just when Salina felt the swing, Michael Lawson snatched the ball back giving the Storm their first turnover. Washington continued his dominant day, grabbed a pass near the wall, bounced off, and trotted it in for another score. The Storm's defense was able to make a huge stand on the goal line late into the third. 

Demarious Washington on the first play of the fourth quarter went down with an apparent leg injury. Javin Kilgo came in after a big hit on Jemario Benson, which sent him to the bench. Immediately, he delivered a strike to Honeycutt, and the Salina Liberty cut the lead down to six. Demarious Washington came back from the injury scare and got the Storm within field goal range, which converted and pushed the lead back to 9. Kilgo stayed in the game firing a shot to Honeycutt stopping on the one-yard line. Tracy Brooks ran the final yard for a touchdown, bringing the Liberty back to two points. Shaq Bond made a big play to stop the Storms's drive to give them a chance to take the lead with a minute left. The Liberty attempted to win the game with a field goal, however, an irate snap caused them to not be able to make an attempt. With the turnover on downs, the Storm were able to run out the clock with a 22-20 victory. 

While the Storm were not able to mount much of an offense before Javin Kilgo entered, their defense allowed them to hang around just long enough to give them a chance. 

Early Defensive Pressure

Both defensive lines came ready to play. Nearly every snap out of the gate and defenders were getting in the backfield. This caused so much havoc that Morton and Benson were constantly scrambling. The pressure created a multitude of irate throws and the offenses stalling out. Both quarterbacks tried to make plays with their feet but were instantly met by a defender. 

While the Liberty were able to adjust to the pressure, the Storm continued to struggle with Southwest Kansas pressure throughout the rest of the game. 

Key Players

Demarius Washington was a problem all game long. He was nearly unstoppable. Collecting multiple big gains and scores, Washington finished with 144 yards and 2 touchdowns. Demarius was a key cog in the Storm’s offense tonight and all season long. 

The Liberty had a pair of standout players, offensively, Malik Honeycutt was able to carve up the Storm once the quarterback switch happened. Finishing with 86 yards and 2 touchdowns. Shaq Bond was critical in the comeback attempt by the Liberty. He had multiple key pass breakups and an interception. 

Flags Flying

The Liberty and Storm played a gritty game, as one would expect in a rivalry game. That caused a ton of penalties for each team. The game started to get chippy late in the second quarter when things got heated on the boards after a play. Both teams had quite a few sloppy, undisciplined plays, which constantly caused both offenses to get off tempo. The game ended with 23 flags, which was fairly evenly spread between the two teams. 

With the 22-20 win, the Storm moved to 3-2 while Liberty fell to 0-4. Both teams have a lot of penalties to clean up and questions that need to be answered as they head into the middle of the season. The Storm needs to find another option on offense to complement Demarious Washington. For the Liberty, it might be time to turn to Javin Kilgo. 

The Salina Liberty will host the Oregon Lightning next Saturday. The Southwest Kansas Storm will be bringing the Corpus Christi Tritons to town for their Week 6 matchup. Fans can catch all the action from around the AF1 live on EVERGREENNOW.