Liberty falls to Fair Grove

A battle of state-ranked teams took place Friday night as the Fair Grove Eagles traveled to Mountain View to play the Liberty Eagles in a Class 2 showdown. The hometown Eagles came up short in a 33-16 setback. 

The game's opening score came on a fourth down 18-yard pass from Fair Grove's Kody Stacye to Kade Gallion on their first drive. Liberty then moved the ball to the 2-yard line before coming up short on fourth down. Two plays later, Liberty got a safety as Fair Grove was called for holding in the end zone to make it 7-2. Liberty's first touchdown saw Carter Pruett find Drew Ripko for a 57-yard touchdown strike to give Liberty the lead 8-7.

Fair Grove drove down the field on their next series and Stacye punched in a 1-yard run for a 13-8 Fair Grove lead. After an interception on Liberty's next drive, Stacye found Gallion again, this time for a 66-yard bomb to make it 20-8 at the half. The teams then changed possessions before another Stayce score. This time it was a 49-yard run for the 26-8 Fair Grove lead.

Liberty came up short again, driving inside the Fair Grove 10 before a turnover on downs. After a good defensive stand, Noah Jester found the end zone on a 4-yard touchdown pass from Pruett to make the score 16-27, after the Pruett two-point conversion run. Fair Grove scored on a screen pass to Logan Daniels from Stacye for what would be the last tally of the night. Final score 33-16 Fair Grove. 

For Liberty, they hope to use the loss as motivation for the rest of the season. Ball security will be a key point of interest for Liberty as turnovers often dictate wins and losses.

Liberty will try to right the ship Friday as they open conference play. The Eagles will travel to Oregon County for a battle with last year's conference champion, the Thayer Bobcats.