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Liberty's Jake Bainton (5) is fired up after losing his helmet on a long runback. Bainton had a 69-yard kickoff return and caught the winning touchdown pass.
No. 3 Liberty overcomes Juanita, 28-21
Liberty needed something to turn the tide. After controlling most of the first half, the Patriots saw their 21-point lead slipping away...
By Mason Kelley
Seattle Times staff reporter
ISSAQUAH — Liberty needed something to turn the tide. After controlling most of the first half, the Patriots saw their 21-point lead slipping away.
Juanita started to control the clock, methodically marching down the field in 5-yard chunks. All of a sudden, early in the fourth quarter, the game was tied and Liberty needed a big play.
As he has done all season, Jake Bainton provided one. And then another.
Bainton returned a kickoff 69 yards and caught the go-ahead touchdown pass to give the No. 3-ranked Patriots a 28-21 victory over the No. 7-ranked Rebels Friday night at Liberty.
"Momentum was all their way," Liberty coach Steve Valach said. "Jake made a huge momentum play for us. If you're going to win big games, you need to have momentum plays."
In the first half the Patriots (5-0 overall, 3-0 KingCo 3A/2A) generated momentum through Juanita mistakes. After the Rebels blocked a field-goal attempt, they gave the ball back to Liberty after a low snap on a punt was fumbled and collected by the Patriots. On the next play, running back Chandler Jenkins scored from 14 yards.
At the end of the first quarter Bainton picked off a pass that set up Liberty's second score, on a 2-yard pass from quarterback Trey Wheeler. That play was made possible by a roughing-the-kicker penalty on a field-goal attempt.
The Patriots led by three scores before Juanita (4-1, 1-1) answered. Cole Graves scored on a 1-yard run right before the half. The Rebels then ate up most of the third quarter with a 12-play touchdown drive to open the second half, then tied it before Bainton stepped in to rescue his team.
"We came out and we fought against a great team," said Bainton, who caught four passes for 34 yards and two scores. "I give all my respect to Juanita."
The Rebels had a pair of late fourth-quarter possessions, but Liberty's defense stepped up and shut down Juanita's potent running attack.
"Our kids battled," Rebels coach Shaun Tarantola said. "We knew they would. We've got to shore up some little things that will really take us to the next level."
