DALLAS — Liberty Christian outpaced Dallas Bishop Dunne behind senior running back Jon Aaron Howell’s big night en route to a 42-27 victory Friday night.
After a back-and-forth first half, the Warriors started the third quarter with a 21-13 lead. Bishop Dunne came out swinging as sophomore quarterback Micah Simon connected down the sideline with senior receiver Jordan Epps on the fourth play of the half for a 75-yard score.
On the Falcons’ next possession, Simon found junior Nick Watkins from 26 yards out to give the Falcons their first lead of the game at 27-21 with five minutes left in the third quarter.
The excitement didn’t last long for Falcons fans as Howell ran the ball up the middle on Liberty’s next drive and raced past the defense down to the 25-yard line. Howell punched it in five plays later from 4 yards out and the Warriors regained the lead for good.
Liberty head coach Greg Price emphasized his team’s conditioning after the game.
“It really gave us confidence,” Price said. “We take a lot of pride in being well conditioned in the second half and taking the fight to them. I felt like we did that.
Howell finished with 15 carries for 122 yards and two scores.
The defense played well after Bishop Dunne’s quick start in the third quarter. The Warriors gave up 250 yards through the air but held the run-happy Falcons to under 100-yards rushing.
“I feel like we’ve shown a lot of resiliency,” Price said. “Going down in the third quarter and then coming back to win by two scores is huge.”
Liberty Christian 42, Dallas Bishop Dunne 27
LC | 7 | 14 | 14 | 7 | — | 42 |
BD | 3 | 10 | 14 | 0 | — | 27 |
SCORING SUMMARY
FIRST QUARTER
LC — Hunter Reece 5 catch from Foster Ford (Mikael Sroka kick), 8:44
BD — Collin Horner 35 field goal, 4:47
SECOND QUARTER
BD — Nick Watkins 3 pass from Micah Simon (Horner kick), 11:07
LC — Jon Aaron Howell 3 run (Sroka kick), 4:02
LC — Ben Hawkins 16 run (Sroka kick), 1:57
BD — Collin Horner 18 field goal, :00
THIRD QUARTER
BD — Jordan Epps 75 pass from Simon (Horner kick), 10:05
BD — Watkins 26 pass from Simon (Horner kick), 5:24
LC — Jon Aaron Howell 4 run (Sroka kick), 3:43
LC — Ford 26 run (Mikael Sroka kick),:22
FOURTH QUARTER
LC — Mitchell Roswell 15 pass from Ford (Mikael Sroka kick), 10:03
TEAM STATISTICS
| LC | BD |
First Downs | 14 | 12 |
Rushing | 28-235 | 28-92 |
Passing | 9-12-1 | 21-32-1 |
Passing Yards | 167 | 252 |
Total Yards | 402 | 344 |
Fumbles-Lost | 2-0 | 0-0 |
Punts-Avg. | 3-43.33 | 4-30.75 |
Penalties | 7-80 | 6-55 |
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing — LC:Jon Aaron Howell 15-122, Ben Hawkins 5-58,Foster Ford 5-43, Matt Marrs 1-5, Tanner Moseley 1-1; BD: Joshua Drayden 11-62, Justin Hawthorne 10-5, Micah Simon 6-17, Kwatavious Jones 1-8.
Passing — LC: Foster Ford 9-12-1 167; BD: Micah Simon 20-31-1 250
Receiving — LC: Mitchell Rowsell 2-34, Hunter Reece 2-25, Graham Richardson 1-44, Matt Tatum 1-33, Josiah Hartzler 1-15, Jon Aaron Howell 1-13, Hunter Griffith 1-3; BD: Jordan Epps 4-109, Nick Watkins 9-87, Isaiah Talton 2-29, Travis Cook 2-7, Deyleon Williams 1-15, Kwatavious Jones 1-2, Leshai Maston 1-1.
