PEORIA — Following a difficult Oct. 15 loss to Queen Creek, the Liberty Lions walked off their home field feeling down, disheartened and disappointed. What a difference three weeks can make.
You must be a member to read this story.
Join our family of readers for as little as $5 per month and support local, unbiased journalism.
Current print subscribers can create a free account by clicking here
Otherwise, follow the link below to join.
To Our Valued Readers –
Visitors to our website will be limited to five stories per month unless they opt to subscribe. The five stories do not include our exclusive content written by our journalists.
For $6.99, less than 20 cents a day, digital subscribers will receive unlimited access to YourValley.net, including exclusive content from our newsroom and access to our Daily Independent e-edition.
Our commitment to balanced, fair reporting and local coverage provides insight and perspective not found anywhere else.
Your financial commitment will help to preserve the kind of honest journalism produced by our reporters and editors. We trust you agree that independent journalism is an essential component of our democracy. Please click here to subscribe.
Need to set up your free e-Newspaper all-access account? click here.
Non-subscribers
Click here to see your options for becoming a subscriber.
Register to comment
Click here create a free account for posting comments.
Note that free accounts do not include access to premium content on this site.
I am anchor
WEST VALLEY PREPS
Tough Liberty D leads way to region title, 21-9 win over Brophy
Lions eyeing Open Division playoff berth
Posted
We learned a lot during that Queen Creek game and we tried to make real change. Our kids and our coaches bought into that and we’ve improved — this is three straight weeks against three good teams where we have found a way to win.”
Colin Thomas, Liberty Head Football Coach
SCORING SUMMARY
B — Sam Williams fumble recovery (PAT failed, 10:25 1st)
L — Anthony Ruiz 2 run (Nathan Hawkins PAT, 4:45 1st)
B — Marcus Lye 34 FG (10:19 2nd)
L — Navi Bruzon 5 run (Hawkins PAT, 5:09 2nd)
L — Jordon Guevara 54 pass from Dom Ochoa (Hawkins PAT, 5:14 4th)
PEORIA — Following a difficult Oct. 15 loss to Queen Creek, the Liberty Lions walked off their home field feeling down, disheartened and disappointed.
What a difference three weeks can make.
Riding a wave of dominating defense and more fourth-down heroics, Liberty claimed the 6A Desert Valley Region title on Friday night with a grinding 21-9 victory over Brophy on Senior Night at Lions Field.
“You win or you learn,” Liberty Head Coach Colin Thomas said after the game. “We learned a lot during that Queen Creek game and we tried to make real change. Our kids and our coaches bought into that and we’ve improved — this is three straight weeks against three good teams where we have found a way to win.”
The Lions’ ferocious defense didn’t allow a touchdown all night — only a field goal — as the Broncos scored their lone TD on a special teams miscue.
“We put a great plan together — we wanted to get as much speed on the field as we could knowing how much they throw the ball and how quickly they throw it,” Thomas explained. “We felt good about it. We stayed the course and I’m proud of the players and the coaches — it was a grind-it-out game and we proved we can win that kind of game.”
The win was Liberty’s third straight after that Queen Creek setback and it snapped Brophy’s five-game winning streak.
“We have worked hard and it feels great to take the region title,” said Liberty senior wide receiver Jordon Guevara, who had a big night with 3 catches for 158 yards. “Ever since that Queen Creek game, we haven’t looked back.”
Liberty junior linebacker Anthony Ruiz agreed.
“After that loss, we came out stronger,” Ruiz said. “Tonight was a great team win.”
The Lions entered the night ranked #4 in 6A and #7 in the eight-team open bracket. A convincing victory over Brophy (#6 in 6A, #9 in Open) could propel Liberty even higher when the AIA’s new rankings are released Tuesday morning.
Friday’s game started in rough fashion for Liberty (7-2, 3-0).
An attempted punt went haywire when the snap flew over Nathan Hawkins’ head and rolled back into the end zone. Brophy’s Sam Williams easily fell on the loose ball and Broncos had a lead as some fans were still settling into the bleachers. The Broncos botched the snap on the PAT but still led 6-0 just 1:35 into the game.
Williams made his presence felt again on the next series with an interception but the Lions’ D forced a punt to get the ball back.
It took Liberty seven plays to get on the board.
Quarterback Navi Bruzon completed a couple short passes and ran for a 15-yard gain. On first down at their own 48, Bruzon then connected with Guevara on a 47-yard strike to put the Lions five yards from paydirt.
Three plays later, Ruiz entered the game on offense and bulled his way through for a 2-yard score:
47-yard bomb to Jordon Guevara leads to a 2-yard rushing TD by @anthony_ruiz_22. Hawkins PAT good.
“Got that first one,” Ruiz said of his touchdown. “It was a good night.”
Hawkins nailed the PAT and Liberty led 7-6 at the 4:45 mark of the first quarter.
Brophy (6-3, 3-1) responded with a 16-play drive but had to settle for a field goal as the Liberty defense stopped quarterback Elijah Warner (son of NFL Hall of Famer Kurt Warner) and the Brophy offense on the outskirts of the red zone.
Marcus Lye kicked the 34-yard field goal and Brophy was back on top 9-7 early in the second quarter:
After Brophy kept the ball for 16 plays, Liberty responded with a 15-play drive — but the Lions cashed in for 6.
Bruzon and Jaqua Anderson gained yardage on the ground while Darin Barrows and Johnathan Kennedy caught key passes on the march. Bruzon eventually scored on a 5-yard keeper to put Liberty back in the lead:
Liberty QB @navibruzon coming right at you for a 5-yard score. Hawkins PAT good.
Hawkins’ PAT made it 14-9 with three minutes to go before halftime.
The Broncos looked to take a lead at the break but Liberty’s defense said “no” on two occasions in the final couple minutes. First, the Lions’ D forced Warner to throw a ball away on 4th-and-1 at the Liberty 5.
“We kept pressure on Warner all night. He wasn’t comfortable,” said Ruiz, who was in the Brophy QB’s face on the fourth-down incompletion. “We made him throw it out too quickly.”
With under 30 seconds left, Lye missed a 35-yard field goal wide left and Liberty held a 14-9 halftime lead.
The third quarter was truly a defensive struggle as the teams combined for five punts and no scores.
As the fourth quarter began, Liberty’s defense came up big again. Joey Rojo and Jax Stam were seemingly all over the field as Warner threw another fourth-down incompletion to the right sideline midway through the final stanza.
Thomas felt it was time to go for the jugular. With Dom Ochoa now in at QB, Liberty — as they did the previous week in a close win over Pinnacle — rolled the dice on fourth down and it paid off.
Facing 4th-and-4 at their own 46, Ochoa lofted a long ball down the left side. Guevara went up and snagged it, eluded a couple defenders and danced in for a 54-yard TD as the home crowd went wild.
“Dom and I have worked on that,” Guevara explained. “He and I communicated and I knew once it was in the air, the defenders couldn’t compete with me for that ball.”
It marked the second fourth-down gamble in as many games that worked out prefectly for the Lions.
“We had to make a play to flip the field,” Thomas said. “Dom made a tremendous throw and Jordon — on Senior Night — made a great play like you expect seniors to make.”
Hawkins made the point after to give Liberty a 21-9 cushion with five minutes left.
That final TD seemed to take the steam out of Brophy’s offense — talented wideouts David Lopez and Taj Hughes did what they could but Liberty’s defense was just too much on this night. In the second half, Brophy scored no points, punted five times and had one turnover on downs against an inspired Lions’ D.
With the region title in their pocket and a possible Open Division spot on the horizon, Liberty will head across town for their final regular-season contest against struggling rival Centennial (3-6, 0-3). Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 12.
“We certainly are not overlooking them,” Thomas said. “I’ve been a part of seven games against Centennial since 2015 and it’s always a war. We have to be ready for that.”
Matt Loeschman Editor | Daily Independent @MattLoeschman
I have edited and written about almost everything in my 20-year journalism career, but I have a strong passion for sports since my father was a teacher and coach when I was young.
My job has allowed me to meet many influential people, including Hillary Clinton, Al Gore (I have a brief, on-camera part in his second movie), George Strait, Matthew McConaughey and several world-class athletes.
I have worked for Independent Newsmedia on two separate occasions – 2000-09 and 2018-present – after studying journalism at the University of Texas at Austin.
By 
