Panthers learn lessons in heavy defeat

Often it's been said a lot more is learned in defeat than victory, so if indeed that's the case, Liberty Hill learned some very difficult lessons on Friday night at Panther Stadium during a 45-14 loss at the hands of Class 6A Vandegrift.

However, in a contest that saw the Purple-and-Gold held off the scoreboard for the entire first half in falling behind 24-0 without reply on a night that saw the vaunted Slot-T offense gain only 186 yards, what didn't kill the home side will only make it stronger down the road, said Liberty Hill head coach David Seaborn in the aftermath.

“Absolutely,” he said. “I knew scheduling Vandegrift – a super-disciplined team with a long tradition of success – would allow us to see the strengths and weaknesses of our team and that's exactly what it did tonight. You have some good losses and bad losses – I thought this was a good loss because we're going to clean some things up and be a better football team moving forward.”

Particularly troubling on the evening was the Panthers' inability to get their offense rolling in the usual fashion, gaining only 41 yards in the first half and failing to score until senior Dylan Belinga sprinted in from 52 yards out with only 2:30 left in the third quarter to make the score 24-6.

But, on this night, even on the rare occasion something went right for the home team, it was bad as after the two-point conversion failed, the Vipers answered right back with a 70-yard scoring run from junior running back Preston James to get those points back.

Cayden Timmons then scored on a 60-yard run for the Panthers to close the gap to 31-14 with 1:27 left in the third, but that was as close as they would get the rest of the way, as the visitors added a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns to provide the final margin.

Also alarming were a slew of false start penalties on the Panthers to go with several fumbled snaps that plagued them all night in addition to Vandegrift always seeming to be in the right place at the right time and with the right personnel.

“They did a good job of putting their biggest guys in all the gaps of our offense,” said Seaborn. “So, that was a little challenging for us.”

Timmons led the Panthers with 79 yards on nine carries and a touchdown, while Belinga had 65 yards on six attempts and a score.

Liberty Hill (2-1) will travel to Midland to face Lee next Friday before opening district play at New Braunfels on Sept. 25.

Despite the disappointing defeat, though, Seaborn chose to glean the positives that will benefit his squad in the near future and is eagerly anticipating seeing how it will perform during a rugged district schedule.

“I really can't wait and I'm excited for the challenge,” he said. “I told our kids after the game they don't know how good they are – if you take away the false starts, the fumbles and bad snaps, all of a sudden we're beating a perennial powerhouse. So, I can't wait for district.”