Liberty Hill 55, Salado 39

[LH Panther Mom]

Wow! What a game! QB is out for undetermined time, so Brent Bode is filling in there. Kociuba sat tonight out to rest his knee, but should be back next week; Craig Burns filling in.

Our offense struggled after receiving the kickoff, then had a bad punt. Salado was in good field position, but defense recovered a fumble. We ended up having to punt, and Salado scored a FG. Ensuing ko & 1st play from scrimmage, Burns runs 81 yds for TD. We had all 3 backs - Escamilla, Burns and Nick Shrock with huge runs and a 35-40 yd TD pass from Bode to Escamilla.

I'd like to say a special congrats to freshman Cody Lattimore, who had a great interception that he ran in for a TD. Your boys miss you, but are proud! Great job!

Salado should probably win their district pretty handily. Good job!

BTW, Cats - I like that score! :D

[Bandera YaYa]

congrats to the Cats!!!!!! :clap:

[West22]

PANTHER MOM DID THE TWO GOOD RUNNING BACK HAVE A GOOD NIGHT ?

[LH Panther Mom]

Originally posted by West22
PANTHER MOM DID THE TWO GOOD RUNNING BACK HAVE A GOOD NIGHT ?

Well, Kociuba was out nursing his knee. Escamilla plugged away at the 3, 5 & 7 yard gains and had a 55 yard TD run. Stats should be pretty good for all the boys.

[ILS1]

Congrats to LH. Wow!!! Looks like both defenses took the night off!!! LOL!!! That's alot of points between the both of them.


:D :D

[hutex04]

could this be the year Hutto beats Liberty Hill?!

[LH Panther Mom]

Originally posted by ILS1
Congrats to LH. Wow!!! Looks like both defenses took the night off!!! LOL!!! That's alot of points between the both of them.


:D :D

:p Actually, our defense had some very good stops. # 8, their QB, might be small, but he's a slippery fast thing. :)

[LH Panther Mom]

Originally posted by hutex04
could this be the year Hutto beats Liberty Hill?!

Uhm......NO! :D

[Hupernikomen]

Originally posted by hutex04
could this be the year Hutto beats Liberty Hill?!

mandy called and said she doesn't care as long as they beat cameron!!

j/k mandy.

[hutex04]

all good things must end LibertyHill. We have played you for 5 years now. This being the 6th. All good things must end. Hutto 34 Liberty Hill 26

[ILS1]

could this be the year Hutto beats Liberty Hill?!

If Hutto's bald headed DC ever figures out that LH is NOT gonna throw 20-25 times a game. Then if just quit running that 2 deep zone on just about every play that he loves sooooooo much!!!


By John Hock

AMERICAN-STATESMAN CORRESPONDENT

Saturday, August 27, 2005

LIBERTY HILL — With a pair of 2,000-yard rushers returning from last year's prolific offensive attack, Liberty Hill figured to pick up where it left off Friday night.

What the Panthers did not expect was to be trailing 3-0 with a grand total of minus-20 yards of offense with 4:49 left in the first quarter.

All that changed, however, as Craig Burns took the ball 81 yards for a touchdown on a classic Liberty Hill misdirection play, sparking a run of 21 unanswered points as the Panthers (1-0) cruised to a 55-39 win over Salado.

By the end of the game, the statistics looked familiar to Liberty Hill fans. Three rushers topped the century mark, led by Nick Schrock's 181 yards and two touchdowns. Burns added 137 yards and a pair of scores and Matt Escamilla contributed 124 yards and three touchdowns.

The Panthers just needed to work out a few first-game jitters, said Escamilla, one of last year's 2,000-yard rushers for Liberty Hill.

"We have a lot of new people out there," said Escamilla, one of last year's All-Central Texas co-players of the year. "It just took a little while for everyone to settle down, but you knew that someone would step up and come through."

With Casey Kociuba — the state's returning rushing leader from 2004 — sidelined with a leg injury and expected starting quarterback Thomas Perrin also out, Panthers Coach Jerry Vance knew he would have to rely on contributions from other players. Schrock and Burns both excelled in filling the gaps.

"Certainly with Casey and Thomas out, we knew we would have a lot of inexperience out there," Vance said. "But Nick and Craig did a great job of stepping up and making plays for us."

Indeed, Liberty Hill's offensive attack must have looked disturbingly familiar to their foes, as they had five scoring plays of 40 yards or more. What may come as a mild surprise to some, however, is that one of those big plays was a pass.

Quarterback Brent Bode hooked up with Escamilla on a 47-yard scoring play in the second quarter, giving Liberty Hill a 28-10 halftime lead.

The Panthers wasted no time opening the gap in the second half, as Schrock raced 60 yards for a score two minutes into the third quarter, increasing their lead to 25 points.

For the game, the Panthers totaled 436 yards rushing and six rushing touchdowns. Bode completed three passes for 58 yards and a score.

Salado's offense was a study in contrast, as playmaking responsibilities fell squarely on the shoulders of quarterback Wes Ruth. He rushed for 174 yards and three touchdowns and threw for 196 yards.



Liberty Hill/Salado Game Summary (www.statesman.com/sports/content/sports/stories/highschool/08/27libertyhill.html)

[SintonFan]

Good job LH! :clap: :clap: :clap:
I am going to make sure I'm gonna make one of your games this year since YaYa refuses to invite me to Bandera.:D

[LHMom]

Way to go, Panthers!

They did give us a scare at the beginning, but got it together! Man - those were some big 'ol boys from Salado.

Congrats, Panthers on win #1!

THUNDERSTRUCK! Cats are ALIVE in '05!