Liberty Christian on to State Semifinals with 42-6 win over Brookville
Williams Stadium, Lynchburg, Va – Last week the Brookville Bee’s settled the score with Heritage, beating a talented Pioneer squad that had bested them earlier in the season.
This week the Bees had another chance to avenge a past
loss, this time against the Liberty Christian Academy Bulldogs. While Brookville’s recent win over Heritage was by a good margin, in last night’s game against LCA, the Bees didn’t
fare so well. 
But lopsided scores are par for the course for the undefeated Bulldogs, and they kept up the pace tonight. After the first quarter was said and done, LCA had a 14-0 lead
by way of two short rushing TD’s. One by WR/CB 3 Deandre Jones and the other courtesy of 10 RB/OLB Caleb Davidson. Brookville chipped away at the Bulldog “D” but only looked
like their usual selves for one drive. Not many teams
can say that against LCA, but the Bee’s rallied and scored in four plays, with a clutch pass from QB/LB 7 Drake McDaniel
to WR/LB 3 Steven Pauley and a highlight reel sweep to the right pylon by WR/DB 9 Stephen Preston for the score. The
Bulldogs had control for the game though and Brookville RB/DB 28 Tayshaun Butler tackles LCA RB/DB 1 Jaylin Belford
kept up their offensive prowess, coming away victorious with a 42-6 win. LCA will take on Abingdon next week to try and erase last year’s bad taste from a semifinal loss. A win against the Falcons will punch their ticket to the state championship.
First Quarter – Brookville had possession first and prolonged their drive with a big play. With the ball on the twenty-seven, McDaniel dialed RB/LB 28 Tayshaun Butler up the middle for a clutch twenty-yard gain. Where the Bees and Butler had success in the air, their ground game was another story.
Brookville RB 28 Tayshaun Butler looks for room to run
Three Butler and McDaniel rushes later and Brookville found themselves facing fourth down. McDaniel sunk into the pocket, but LCA’s defense overwhelmed the Bee’s line. FB/LB 20 Thomas Murphy and TE/LB 4 Camden Clinton pressured the QB into into throwing it away. LCA took control on their own forty and quickly found themselves in a fourth and one situation. QB/FS 7 Davis Lane flipped it back to Caleb Davidson who connected with WR/DB 3 Deandre Jones for a drive saving twenty-nine-yard reception. Now in Brookville territory, it was Jones again, only this time on the ground. After a fake hand-off to Caleb Davidson, the senior sprinted to the right pylon for the first score of the night.
Liberty Christian WR/DB 3 Deandre Jones dials it up for the Bulldogs first score
Following the score, Brookville RB/LB 2 Silas Rucker pulled in the kick and picked up thirteen-yards for the Bees before being tracked down by RB/LB 10 Caleb Davidson. The Brookville senior clocked six kickoff returns on the night for 80 return yards, keeping his team in fight. Despite the decent return, disaster struck the Bees. First, McDaniel targeted Preston tried a bomb, but it fell incomplete. Then a five-yard delay of game penalty pushed Brookville back. Facing third and twelve, LCA’s TE/LB 18 Dillon Stowers ripped McDaniel’s pass out of the air and picked up ten yards before the first in a series of fumbles. Stowers lost it, then, WR/CB 1 Jaylin Belford fell on the ball only to also lose control.
LCA Coach Rocco congratulates WR/DB 1 Jaylin Belford after a play
As the bodies piled up on the loose ball, the Bulldog’s Clinton wound up with possession, positioning the Bulldogs on Brookville’s sixteen. Shortly after the loose ball frenzy, Caleb Davidson was in the end zone and K/P 16 Chase Dupin’s extra point put LCA up 14-0. After another Rucker kick return, RB 28 Butler screamed through LCA’s line for a huge thirty-eight-yard gain plus an extra fifteen due to a horse collar tackle. Just like that, Brookville moved from their twenty to LCA’s twenty. McDaniel took two shots at the Bulldog end zone but LCA’s tight coverage stopped WR/DB 21 Alfonzo Jennings from a potention TD catch on fourth down and the quarter ended.
Second Quarter – The Bulldogs took over on their own twenty-six and made quick work of Brookville’s defense with two Lane passes. Both were to TE/LB 18 Stowers who’s size and athleticism virtually guarantees extra yards after the catch. The first pass was a forty-nine-yard gain and the second was for nineteen-yards, putting LCA into the Bee’s red zone. Freshman RB/FS 8 Gideon Davidson finished the job with a clean eight-yard TD rush. LCA led 21-0. After the kickoff and another Rucker return, the Bee’s couldn’t get their offense flowing. LB/RB 10 Caleb Davidson took down Butler for a loss, McDaniel targeted Pauley with another deep pass, but it fell incomplete forcing a punt. WR/DB/KR 1 Belford picked up twelve yards on the return and Lane connected with a Jones for a first down pass, but that’s as far as LCA would make it this time. Lane hit Gideon Davidson with a toss in the flat, but Brookville’s RB/LB 6 Caleb Marshall was all over the freshmen before he could make a move resulting in a seven-yard loss on third down. Lane looked for Stowers on the next play, but pressure from OL/DL 10 Addison Ellis effected the QB’s pass and Pauley tipped it away from the Bulldog tight end forcing a turnover on downs. The Bee’s next drive started off strong with an LCA pass interference penalty, but came to a screeching halt after a brutal Stowers sack on McDaniel.
LB/TE 18 Dillon Stowers is a force on defense and offense for the Bulldogs
K/P 30 Joshua Ayers got off a nice forty-yard punt, but when it rains against LCA, it pours. On the first play of the drive, Lane hit Belford for a sixty-four-yard touchdown pass. After the Dupin extra point, the Bee’s found themselves down 28-0. The Bees still had some Sting left and in four plays, Brookville got themselves on the board. Rucker picked up twenty-one on the kickoff return and Butler added four more yards over two carries. After the hard hit in the previous drive, McDaniel appeared unfazed and hit Pauley for a huge thirty-three-yard gain despite LCA’s tight coverage and pressure from OG/DE 55 Carson Meadows. The next play, McDaniel handed the ball off to Butler who promptly handed it off to Preston with a reverse. Just like that, Brookville was back, but LCA never left. OT/DE Zach Rice 50 got his hand on Ayers’s extra point attempt, and the Bees had to settle for six – 28-6. LCA’s next dive was uncharacteristically laden with penalties and Brookville managed to coral the Bulldogs to their own side of the field to end the first half.
LCA OL/DL 50 Zach Rice, a UNC commit, locks up his man blocking
Second Half – LCA got first crack with the ball on offense in the second half and used their arsenal of offensive weapons to pound the Bees with their ground game. RB/LB 10 Caleb and RB/DB 8 Gideon Davidson combined for fifty-two-yards and Lane finished the job himself after a fake to Gideon Davidson. “Number seven” took it the other way, squeaking into the end zone just inside the left pylon. The extra point was good. After another decent return by Rucker, Brookville attacked every way they could. The only option bearing any fruit was Butler on the ground, carrying the football. A defense as talented as LCA’s won’t let you keep doing anything sucessful for long. Eventually the Bees turned the ball over on fourth down. The Bulldogs got back to their bread and butter on the their next series. Coach Rocco’s troops advanced the ball inside Brookville’s twenty to end the third. On the first play of the fourth, Lane took a shot at end zone, targeting Belford, but the Bees would be doing all the buzzing this go ’round. Brookville’s WR/DB 17 Nic Adcock got to it first, pulling in an interception in the end zone and giving his squad the ball on their twenty.
Bees DB 17 Nic Adcock picks off the Bulldogs
Butler picked up another four yards, but McDaniel’s passes weren’t connecting. The QB’s fourth down try was a perfect pass to Jennings, but LCA WR/CB 24 Caleb Sears, who had been a thorn in Brookville’s side all night, deflected the pass and gave his team the ball on the Bee’s twenty-five. It took RB/DB 8 Gideon Davidson three carries to gain nineteen-yards. Lane finished the job again with a six-yard TD rush. The extra point was good. That made it the 42-6 final.
McDaniel hit Jones with a clean pass as the clock hit zero and Jones lateralled it back to Butler who refused to go down. The senior only relented after several Bulldogs pulled him to the ground. The trophy ceremony followed the games final play, and the two teams gathered together for a joint prayer, ending the game for one team, and the season for the other. – Graham Whitaker
LCA WR/DB 1 Jaylin Belford gets into the end zone
Offense:
Rushing – LCA – Gideon Davidson 10-97, 1 TD, Caleb Davidson 12-53, 1TD, Davis Lane 7-41, 2TD, Deondre Jones 1-19, 1TD, Jaylin Belford 3-10, Thomas Murphy 1-3 Brookville – Tayshaun Butler 22-85, Stephen Preston 1-30, Silas Rucker 2-(-5), Drake McDaniel 3-(-12)
Passing: LCA – Davis Lane 9/15-179, 1TD 1INT, Caleb Davidson 1/1-29 Brookville – Drake McDaniel 3/11-65, 1INT
Receiving: LCA – Dillon Stowers 3-83, Jaylin Belford 3-76, 1TD, Deandre Jones 3-46, Gideon Davidson 1-(-7) Brookville – Steven Pauley 2-45, Tayshaun Butler 1-20
Punting: LCA– N/A Brookville – Ayers 2/35 yd avg
Scoring:
1st Quarter
• LCA: Jones 19-yard rush: Dupin PAT (5:28)
• LCA: C. Davidson 3-yard rush: Dupin PAT (3:18)
2nd Quarter
• LCA: G. Davidson 9-yard rush: Dupin PAT (11:21)
• LCA: Belfrod 64-yard reception from Lane: Dupin PAT (3:58)
• Brookville: Preston 30-yard rush: PAT failed (2:02)
3rd Quarter
• LCA: Lane 7-yard rush: Dupin PAT (8:36)
4th Quarter
• LCA: Lane 6-yard rush: Dupin PAT (8:02)