The 14th-seeded Atascadero Greyhounds scored 21 first half points, and the third-seeded Liberty Hawks couldn’t battle back in 24-14 loss in the first round of the Div. IV Central Section playoffs.
In its first playoff game on its new field, the Hawks couldn’t find enough offense, and had to try to overcome emotions Friday night.
Atascadero scored touchdowns on its first three drives. Liberty scored a touchdown on its first and second-to-last drives of the game.
Liberty was held to its second lowest offensive output of the season with 259 yards, but they still out gained Atascadero.
The biggest factor was the penalties for the Hawks. They had 12 for 130 yards. They also had two players disqualified from the game after receiving two unsportsmanlike conduct penalties. Liberty was only hit for three penalties for 30 yards in the first half. The offense was responsible for 10 penalties for 105 yards.
All-everything running back Henry Bilskey was held to just 38 yards after bruising his back on a first quarter touchdown drive. Bilskey, who finished with more than 1,900 yards rushing tried to come back in the game, but was a shell of his healthy self.
Despite everything that could have gone wrong for the Hawks, they still found themselves in the game in the fourth quarter.
Atascadero scored on a 14-play, 74 yard drive to open the scoring.
Quarterback Brody Von Flue completed a 10-play, 73-yard drive with a scramble drill touchdown. He rolled to his left and couldn’t find anyone open. He reversed his field, and got a block from Tyler McCamey and a screen from Austin Graham for a touchdown run to tie the game.
But, Atascadero scored on an 11-play, 56 yards drive and an eight-play, 57-yard drive to take a 21-7 halftime lead.
Meanwhile, the Hawks had to punt on its next four drives that resulted in negative 14 yards because of penalties.
Liberty showed sparks of life when McCamey blocked an Atascadero punt, and Blayz Ketchum returned it to the Atascadero 40, but a penalty moved the Hawks back.
The Hawks went on a 14-play, 40-yard drive that ended with a McCamey touchdown run to cut the lead to 10.
Liberty’s defense, led by Brody Sisco, forced a turnover on downs.
However, the Hawks couldn’t overcome a holding penalty, and turned the ball over on downs to end their season.