ARCHBOLD — With four weeks still remaining in the regular season, Liberty Center is in the Northwest Ohio Athletic League driver’s seat after knocking off Archbold 39-36 in a battle of state-ranked unbeatens.
“We seemed to get better as the first half went on,” said Liberty Center coach Casey Mohler, whose team trailed 21-7 early in the second quarter after Archbold quarterback DJ Newman, who had earlier thrown two touchdown passes, scored from eight yards out.
“The big thing is we didn’t panic.”
The biggest play came soon after Newman’s rushing touchdown when Trent Murdock hauled in a pass from Camden Krugh on third-and-three and outraced the Archbold secondary for a 73-yard TD.
“We feel Trent Murdock is the best tight end around,” Mohler said.
“He’s a great athlete. We have a lot of trust in him, and Cam can deliver the ball.
“It’s something we thought was there.”
It was the second score of the game for the 6-1, 205-pound senior, who finished with three receptions for 162 yards.
“That tight end is a great player,” Archbold coach David Dominique said of Murdock.
“He’s a mismatch. He can run and catch the ball.”
The Tigers then added two touchdown runs to take a 25-21 halftime lead, the first on a Zach Bowers’ 26-yard run and the second on a 1-yard rush by Krugh, set up by a 28-yard pass from Krugh to Bowers.
While the Liberty Center ground game took over in the third quarter, Krugh kept the Archbold defense honest with his passing.
A touchdown throw to Alex Righi from eight yards followed 10 consecutive runs to open the half, putting the Tigers up 32-21.
Archbold countered with a 3-yard rushing touchdown by Caleb Hogrefe with 9:42 remaining, but Liberty Center made it 39-29 on a 21-yard TD run by Bowers at the 3:57 mark.
The Blue Streaks hit paydirt on a 28-yard Newman to Elijah Zimmerman pass with one second left for the final points.
“It feels good to win this game, but we know we have a tough road ahead,” said Mohler, whose Tigers are 6-0 overall and the lone unbeaten team in the NWOAL at 3-0.
“The schedule is daunting in this league.”
Krugh ended the night 8-for-13 passing for 236 yards to help the cause for the second-ranked team in the state in Division VI.
“We’ve got talented kids on the outside and a talented quarterback,” Mohler said.
“We feel like we can be diverse. To be successful, we have to throw the ball when we want to and even when we need to.”
Bowers had 124 yards rushing on 18 carries for the Tigers, while Max Phillips finished with 103 yards on 25 attempts.
Newman was 19-for-38 passing for 227 yards to lead the Blue Streaks, but had two interceptions — one by Righi and the other by Connor Keller.
“Hats off to those guys, they played a heck of a game,” said Dominique, whose fourth-ranked team in the state fell to 5-1 overall and 2-1 in the NWOAL, tied with Patrick Henry, Wauseon, and Evergreen one game back of the Tigers.
“They’re a physical football team that’s going to win a lot of games. They’re the real deal.
“The biggest thing with our guys was our lack of discipline really kind of shot us in the foot.
“But that’s something we can clean up, that’s a good thing. I’ll guarantee there are things we can fix. I told these guys this isn’t the end. Just remember that score.
“Who knows what can happen? We might get these guys again. That’s our goal.”
First Published October 5, 2019, 3:03 a.m.
