ELDERSBURG - After a 30-minute delay due to weather, the Liberty and Francis Scott Key football squads only got to play a quarter and a half before another lightning delay that lasted over an hour.
However the break in the action didn't seem to affect Liberty as the host Lions stayed in rhythm on offense and defeated the Eagles 27-10 on Friday night.
"That's what is expected of them. You could tell that during the long break that they seemed ready to get back into it," Liberty coach Jeff Kent said. "They wanted to come out and play and they were glad that they did play."
Despite a field that was left with little grass by the end of the game, senior Tim Anderson threw three touchdown passes, accounting for all but one of the Lions' scores. Bobby Summersgill caught two of those touchdowns, en route to a game-high six receptions.
"I thought Bobby and Timmy did a nice job and the line protected well," Kent said. "That part of the game seemed to work out OK for us tonight."
After extending their lead to 20-2 with just under a minute and a half remaining in the in the first half, the Lions' (3-5, 2-3 county) defense took control of the game for the most part, with the exception of letting up a few big runs by FSK.
One of those runs came with just four seconds left before the half as Rye Thomas hit a hole in the middle running for 51 of his game-high 135 yards all the way to the end zone. Thomas also had a rush of 41 yards in the third quarter.
But the Eagles (1-7, 1-4) weren't able to move the chains consistently on the ground and never found an effective rhythm on the offensive side of the ball. The Eagles had some stretches of good defensive play, but whenever Liberty needed a play to keep a drive alive, the Lions found a way to convert in the majority of those situations.
Summersgill was involved in a lot of those plays whether he was running after the catch on bubble screens or leaping in the air to make contested catches downfield. Sophomore Ryan Scheufele also caught a touchdown pass for the Lions and Cameron Forshee added a six-yard touchdown run.
Liberty will be at home again next week, as they host the Winters Mill Falcons for its homecoming game.
Francis Scott Key 2 8 0 0 - 10
Liberty 7 13 0 7 - 27
SCORING SUMMARY
L-Bobby Summersgill 8 pass from Tim Anderson (A.J. Robbins kick)
FSK-Liberty down in end zone, safety
L-Cameron Forshee 6 run (Robbins kick)
L-Summersgill 6 pass from Anderson (kick blocked)
FSK-Rye Thomas 51 run (Matt Clingan run)
L-Ryan Scheufele 12 pass from Anderson (Robbins kick)
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing
FSK-Thomas 15-135, Clayton Vleck 15-56, Clingan 18-39, Eric Smith 1-7, Justin Diagle 1-(-2); L-Forshee 8-21, Michael Reigner 2-15, Scheufele 5-8, Henry Ball 3-3, Anderson 2-(-2).
Passing
FSK-Vleck 1-4-1 7; L-Anderson 9-12-0 149.
Receiving
FSK-Thomas 1-7; L-Summersgill 6-98, Kyle Leonard 1-24, Reigner 1-15, Scheufele 1-12.
