DRAGGED DOWN: GW’s playoff run, season end with first road loss

BEALETON — Two plays early in the first quarter dictated the complexion of George Washington’s game against Liberty.

With the wind howling and temperatures below freezing, the special teams unit of Liberty recovered two kickoffs — a squib kick on the opening kickoff and a botched GW return on the third — and turned those into touchdowns.

That momentum gave Liberty a 21-point lead it would never relinquish and senior running back Corey Lillard rushed for 209 yards and three touchdowns to easily defeat GW 41-14 Friday night for the Northwest Region championship at Kip Hull Field. Liberty advances to play the winner of today’s Central Region title game between Hanover and Dinwiddie.

“I think we had some good things happen early… we got momentum,” Liberty coach Tommy Buzzo said. “I’m real proud of our young men. They hung in there and fought real hard.”

Liberty got off to a hot start on the frigid evening, scoring in four plays on a Derrick Lee 8-yard touchdown run just two minutes into the game. Less than six minutes later, after recovering a botched kickoff return by GW, Liberty scored in two plays, this time a Lillard 14-yard run.

“This game was huge,” Lillard said. “People were doubting us, but we came out and played Liberty football. (You) couldn’t ask for more out of this team right now. This is great.”

Liberty (9-2) finished the night with 365 yards rushing, controlling the clock and keeping GW and senior running back David Wilson off the field. GW (7-5) had any chance at a comeback dampened by miscues. GW lost four fumbles, some at crucial stages in the game, and Liberty nabbed a last minute interception to seal the deal.

“It certainly changed the whole flavor of the game at the beginning,” GW coach Dan Newell said. “It took a lot of steam out of our kids and enthusiasm that they had going in there. It was tricky conditions out there, there is no question about that.”

Wilson, who is committed to Virginia Tech, was held in check, rushing for a season-low 61 yards on 12 carries. The senior did score two touchdowns, the second one in the fourth quarter after suffering bruised ribs late in the first half while playing defense.

“(I) thought about this being my last game as a senior in high school, so I’m sticking through all the way through, even with this pain,” said Wilson, who finished with just less than 2,300 rushing yards and 33 rushing touchdowns this season. “I just stayed with it all the way through, playing hard, trying to fight my team back into this game.”

Senior fullback Tahron Goods led the GW rushing attack with 106 yards. Liberty held GW to 183 yards rushing, only the second time this season that GW was held to less than 200 yards on the ground.

“Didn’t get the job done. We needed to play a little harder,” Goods said.

Liberty did not need senior quarterback Nick Potts much, as the right-hander threw only five passes, completing two for 37 yards. Some of that could be contributed to the wind, but most of it was the early cushion Liberty had thanks to capitalizing on turnovers.

“There is no question, turnovers were a huge factor in the football game,” Buzzo said. “It had to be hard to hold on to the football and I’m real proud of our kids for focusing, hanging on to the football, and it just so happens that the ball bounced our way and we had some good fortune and our kids played hard.”

For GW, which advanced to the Northwest Region title game after starting the season 0-2, the playoff run gave many of the coaches satisfaction to send this senior class out with a postseason appearance.

“I certainly am proud of the way that those kids fought and they clawed their way back to the regional title game after nobody gave us a chance early in the season,” Newell said. “To going from having a winning season to winning your first road playoff game in 14 years and playing for a regional title, you’ve got to be proud of that.”