Liberty Eagles vs. Strafford Indians

At times, the Liberty Eagles football team looked explosive against the Strafford Indians. Other times, they looked a tad inexperienced compared to the senior laden Indians. There is always a certain level of turnover from year to year with each team, but the positional experience of Strafford was obvious.

Strafford returned their four-year player at QB in Jourdyn Edelstein, their RB Ryder Ross and wideouts Bradlee Mullins and Cody Voysey - all earning 2023 postseason honors.

To open the game, Strafford marched down the field thanks to a 51-yard pass from Edelstein to Mullins. A big tackle in the backfield by Liberty linebacker Jaren Rutledge forced a Strafford 26-yard field goal from Voysey.

The Eagles’ opening possession went nowhere and they were forced to punt after just three plays.

On third and 14, the Indian QB felt pressure from the Eagles and forced a pass down field.  Defender Kyle Roberts was there to cash in the interception and return it 36 yards for the score.

With co-QB Gavin Reese’ two-point conversion run, the Eagles held an 8-3 lead.

Just seconds later, the Indians re-took the lead with a Ross 57-yard scamper and Voysey kick.

Another unsuccessful Eagle drive gave the ball back to the Indians and Ross converted his second score of the game, this time from six yards away. A failed kick made it 16-8 Indians.

The offense still wasn't clicking for the Eagles on their next drive and were forced to punt once again. Mr. Ross punched in another touchdown run and it felt like Strafford had a stranglehold on the Eagles.

But Liberty wasn't going down without a fight. They got the ball back with just 2:32 left in the half. A minute later, Reese scored on a 9-yard run of his own. The conversion was no good, but Liberty pulled to within 9, 14-23 at half.

Liberty opened the second half still riding momentum from the end of the first. This time, Chris Sharr took a pass from Liberty's other co-QB Parker Tune and outraced the Indian defense for a 55 yard scoring strike. Tune punched in the conversion and all of a sudden, the Eagles were in the game, down just one point 22-23. However, that would be the closest the Eagles would get.

One more Indian touchdown came on a pass that was tipped in the end zone by the Eagles and fell into the arms of Voysey. He would also add a 25-yard field goal to ice the game. Final score Indians 34 Eagles 22.

We'll see if the Eagles can shake off the loss and pick up a win this Saturday when they travel north of KC to face West Platte.