Knights shut out Heritage on the gridiron

The Liberty Middle School football team still hasn’t allowed a point in 2024, knocking off visiting Heritage by a 48-0 final on Wednesday to improve to 3-0 in Foothills Athletic Conference play.

The Knights are now 4-0 overall, outscoring their opponents by a combined total of 144-0 thus far. And in its three FAC contests, Liberty has scored 40.7 points per game.

During Wednesday’s game, the Knights received two touchdowns apiece from Gunner King and Carter Smith, with Nate Coffey, Trenton Abee, and Harper Robison each adding one score. Liberty also recorded three two-point conversions.

Defensively, Liberty held Heritage (0-3 in FAC) to fewer than 10 yards of total offense and only allowed the Eagles to pick up one first down. Hayden Snipes recovered a pair of fumbles for the Knights, while Eli Peahuff also recovered a fumble and King had an interception.

GIRLS SOCCER

Liberty, EB blank county rivals

Liberty (3-0) collected a 5-0 home victory over Walter Johnson (1-1) on Thursday, getting two goals from Angie Vicente-Lopez to go with one each from Emilie Cosovan, Ava Hensley, and Norah Lor.

Although the Lady Knights possessed the ball for most of the match, they also put forth a strong defensive effort that was led by Kacey Mendoza and Priscilla Velasquez.

Also on Thursday, East Burke (3-1) handed Heritage (3-1) its first loss of the season courtesy of a 3-0 road triumph. Sarabeth Bradley, Cassie Chang, and Taylor Parker scored one goal apiece for the Lady Raiders, who also received two assists from Bradley and a shutout from Jaiden Bame in goal.

Other defensive standouts for EB included Kiyiha Pyatte and Thea Gilbert, who helped keep the Lady Eagles scoreless after Heritage previously defeated the Lady Raiders by a 3-2 final in Icard last month.

BOYS SOCCER

Liberty, EB nab three-goal victories

Liberty (3-0) was a 4-1 home winner over Walter Johnson (1-1) on Thursday in a contest that saw Baldemar Martinez score twice for the Knights and Jacoby Bonkowske and Francisco Ailon Rodriguez register one goal apiece.

Goalkeeper Landon Anthony was solid for the Knights as well, with the Yellow Jackets’ lone goal coming from Mario Mendoza Lopez.

In other action on Thursday, East Burke (4-0) remained unbeaten thanks to a 3-0 road win over Heritage (0-4), which also lost to the Raiders by a 5-1 score at home last month. No further details were available at presstime.

VOLLEYBALL

Liberty bounces back; EB stays perfect

After suffering its first loss of the fall in its previous match, Liberty (3-1) got back in the win column thanks to a four-set road win over Walter Johnson (0-4) on Thursday. Set scores were 25-22, 20-25, 25-11, and 30-28.

Statistical leaders for the Lady Knights included Piper Ellis (25 digs, seven aces, two kills), Mera Woodlee (16 digs, 11 aces), Presley McCoy (13 digs, five assists, two aces, one kill), Asia Brown (nine digs, four kills, four aces), Finley Duvall (six digs, five assists, two aces), and Emma Fish (six aces, two kills, two digs). Meanwhile, the Lady Yellow Jackets didn’t report any stats.

And in Thursday’s remaining contest, East Burke (4-0) outlasted Heritage (3-2) in five sets in Icard, although no set scores were available. According to Lady Raiders head coach Nancy Kelly, the following players had at least five kills for EB: Emma Price, Braleigh Carswell, Aubry Smith, and Ava Bivens.

In addition, Kelly pointed out that Zoey Taylor had the best overall performance for the Lady Raiders, with Gracie Gladden, Maggie Mace, and Paisley Hart leading the hosts both behind the service line and on defense.

The Lady Eagles didn’t report any stats from Thursday’s match.