FRESNO — Liberty Hawks junior running back Henry Bilskey had a career day in an offensive explosion against the Hoover Patriots last week in a 67-42 victory at McLane Stadium.
Bilskey rushed for a Liberty Hawk record, 324 yards, to go with five touchdowns in the victory September 4. He had 103 yards by the time he had his third touch. His third touch went for a loss of four, and then broke off a 67-yard touchdown run.
He reached 200 yards on his ninth carry. His last two carries went for a combined 88 yards and two touchdowns. Bilskey’s five touchdown runs totaled 258 yards.
Bilskey broke the school record set by Kaleb Roth in 2017 of 266 yards and broke his career best of 240 yards set last year.
This season, Bilskey already has 649 yards rushing and is already 11th on the All-Time career rushing list with 1,901 yards.
The Hawks rushed for 540 yards against the Patriots, the second-best total all-time, and threw the ball just twice (completing one for 30 yards). The 67 points scored was also the third-highest in school history.
However, by contrast, the Patriots threw for 309 yards and five touchdowns to keep the game relatively close.
The Hoover coach called for a running clock midway through the third quarter with the Hawks leading 61-34 and driving for another touchdown.
Overall, the Hawks averaged for 15.9 yards per rush. Tyler McCamey had seven carries for 79 yards and two touchdowns. Fullbacks Tristan Ruiz and Benni Loubandith scored touchdowns for the third straight game.
Even though the game had 109 combined points and 931 combined yards, the teams also combined for 23 penalties for 212 yards. Liberty was hit with 12 yellow flags for 150 yards that also led to seven Hoover first downs. None of Hoover’s 11 penalties led to a Liberty first down.
Bilskey returned the opening kickoff 22 yards to the Liberty 40. On the next play, Bilskey got the hand-off, side stepped a defender at midfield, cut across from the left to the right and outran the Hoover defense for a 60-yard touchdown run.
Hoover came right back with a 30-yard pass play to get into Liberty territory, and completed a 43-yard touchdown pass to tie the game less than two minutes later.
McCamey opened the next Liberty drive with a 14-yard run. Brody Von Flue completed his only pass, a 30-yarder to Austin Graham to get the ball to the Hoover 43.
Bilskey got the hand-off on the left, found a crease to cut across the field and, with the help of a Von Flue downfield block, outran the Hoover defense to the right corner of the end zone for a touchdown, and a 14-7 lead three minutes into the game.
Hoover was hindered by a holding penalty, and threw incomplete on fourth down.
The Hawks took advantage of good field position. McCamey gained 26 yards to the Hoover four. Two plays later, he found the end zone from 10 yards out for a 21-7 lead after the Carter Imperatrice extra point with five minutes left in the first.
Hoover was helped by a Liberty personal foul penalty, but had to punt.
It took two plays for the Hawks to strike, again. Bilskey got the hand-off, cut across the Hoover defense, broke a couple of tackles for a 67-yard touchdown run for a 28-7 lead with 2:34 left in the first.
Hoover got the help of two Liberty 15-yard penalties to get into Liberty territory. A pass play of 17 and 21 yards took the ball to the five, and the Patriots scored two plays later to cut the lead to 28-14 with 10:29 left in the half.
The Hawks were hit with a personal foul penalty, and had to punt on hits next possession.
The Patriots drove into Liberty territory, helped by a pass interference penalty. On third-and-six,
Felipe Chavarria and Deegan Shandor converged on the Hoover quarterback for a sack, and forced a fumble. Graham jumped on it for a Liberty first down.
Three straight runs by Bilskey gained 18 yards to the Hoover 26. After a holding penalty, Ruiz gained seven, and Bilskey gained 10 to the nine. Ruiz went through a huge hole off the right side for a nine-yard touchdown, and a 35-14 lead with four minutes left in the half.
Two minutes later, on a scramble drill, Hoover got behind the Liberty defense for a 55-yard pass completion to cut the lead to 14 with 2:26 left in the half.
Bilskey opened the drive for 18 yards. Ruiz gained 11, and Bilskey gained 15. Ruiz gained three to the eight. Then, McCamey went around the right side, and went behind the pulling block of Zander Hicks for an eight-yard touchdown. The point after failed for a 41-21 lead with 49 seconds left in the half.
Hoover quickly drove down the field with a 27-yard kick return to midfield, and a 27-yard gain to the 23. After an incomplete pass, Hoover made a connection at the four, and drove into the end zone for a touchdown with four seconds left in the half for a 41-27 Liberty lead.
Hoover tried an onsides kick to close out the first half. There was confusion on the play, and what looked like a Hoover possession, turned into a Liberty possession.
What do the Hawks do on the final play of the half? They gave the ball to Bilskey. He went around the left side, found some open running room and headed to the right corner of the end zone for a 52-yard touchdown run to end the half with a 47-28 lead.
The Liberty defense forced a Hoover punt to open the second half.
Loubandith gained 13 for a first down to the Hoover 36. Bilskey got his first, and final, carry of the second half, and took it into the end zone for his fifth touchdown of the game. The point after was missed, but Liberty lead 54-28 two minutes into the second half.
Hoover drove down the field, helped by a face mask penalty. Hoover faced a fourth-and-one from the 13, and completed a tunnel screen to the left. The receiver went behind his blockers for the touchdown to cut the lead to 54-34 after the two-point conversion pass fell incomplete.
Hoover sent a kick-off that bounced to the nine-yard line. Tye Davis picked it up on the left sideline. He cut across to the right, turned the corner, and went up the field. He split the Hoover defense at midfield and outran the rest for a 91-yard kick return for his touchdown. It was his second straight game with a kick return of more than 90 yards. The point after was good for a 61-34 lead.
The Liberty defense of Shandor and Chavarria forced an intentional grounding penalty, and Hoover punted on fourth-and-29.
McCamey returned the kick from midfield to the Hoover 21.
The referees informed head coach Mike Nolte of a running clock, so he called on his other backs. Loubandith carried four straight times for 26 yards for a touchdown. The final carry came from two yards out with 40 seconds left in the third quarter for a 67-34 lead.
Hoover drove down the field against Liberty reserves for a 15-yard touchdown pass. The two-point conversion cut the lead to 67-42 with six minutes left in the game.
Hoover didn’t get the ball back. The Liberty reserve backs got enough first downs to run out the clock. Nick Yrlas gained nine yards for a third-and-one. Boston Wood gained two yards for a first down. Yrlas gained 18 yards to get into Hoover territory. Wood broke through the Hoover defense and almost split the defense for a 39-yard gain to the Hoover eight before time ran out.