By Bill Nestor
As the school year rolls on, the list of lasts continues to mount at Liberty High School. Once this school campaign comes to a close, the remaining students that will not graduate will move to a different high school. A good number of them will head to Robert C. Byrd while others will find a new home. This past Friday, the Mountaineers hosted their last home football game at the John Mazzei-James L. Reaser Athletic Complex.
Emotions ran high in Clarksburg before and after the epic battle with rival Lincoln. Before we get into the action on the gridiron, I feel we should take a walk back in time to understand the feelings of the older Mountaineers involved.
The impending school closure hasn’t been easy on Liberty alums, however, the new blood doesn’t know all that the old-timers had to endure, which in turn made the night so difficult to endure. Liberty High School opened in 1973 and was a consolidation of Bristol High School, Salem High School, and Victory High School.
Back in the 70s, football rivalries wer intense and they carried on into the 80s. I was a 1987 graduate of Washington Irving High School, which consolidated with Roosevelt Wilson High School to form Robert C. Byrd. In those days, football teams would share and share alike with only one field to share as a home field. Hite Field was called home by W. I., R. W., Notre Dame High School, and Liberty High School.
As the alumni grew, the voice for a home field became louder and after a 40 year wait, Liberty was homeless no more. Finally, in 2013 the current sports complex was opened. The Mazzei-reaser Athletic Complex provided a true sense of pride fro not only those at the school at that time, but all that came before that had dreamed of having a place to call home. That is why this hurts so much, because of all of the previous suffering that had to be endured just to get to this point.
Several former players and other distinguished alumni formed a tunnel that the team ran through en route to the field for battle. An emotional halftime involved the alumni as well.
On the field, these teams kept up their end of the bargain with inspired play. Liberty held a 28 to 13 halftime lead. The Cougars utilized some trickeration to claw back into the game early in the third. A reverse led to a Jacob Bart 40 yard touchdown toss to Aiden Rice.
The Mountaineers scored quickly to push their advantage back to a pair of touchdowns, but from there it was all Lincoln. Head Coach Rob Hawkinsmade the move of the night in calling for an onside kick. It led to a 23 yard rushing score for quarterback A. J. Bart. The 22 point third quarter tied it up at 35, erasing the early Mountaineer momentum.
Liberty went to running back Quinten Hilliard early and often and he responded with an epic effort, scoring three touchdowns in the affair. The multi-talented player garnered a game high 227 rushing yards in 27 attempts.
The final frame belonged to the Cougars as Cade Riley hauled in a 26 yard touchdown reception and Conner Rice rambled 47 yards for the game’s final score. Riley finished with eight catches for 136 yards. Aiden Rice caught six passes for 113 yards. Bart was 16 of 24 for 216 yards, Rice picked up 142 yards on 14 carries.
The Mountaineers’ signal caller Isiah Heplin was three of five for 59 yards and a score. Landon Clevenger picked up 73 yards on 19 attempts, including a two yard scoring run.
Even though Liberty didn’t claim a win in their last home game, the hard fought battle epitomizes what the program has stood for since its inception in 1973 and this game has made the alumni a proud group one final time. What more could you ask for from a final Friday night?
That will do it for now! Take care . . . and God Bless!