Iowa City Liberty spreads the ball around, hands Fort Madison first loss

NORTH LIBERTY — There’s no shortage of weapons at Graham Beckman’s disposal.

And he knows how to use them.

“Starting outside with Wyatt (Williams) and Lucas (Meyer), they’ve got speed, they’ve got hands,” Beckman said. “They can go up and grab it.

“With Garret (Gregiore) inside, he’s got speed, but he’s also quick and moves back and forth really easy. Christian (Barney) has great hands and he’s a big target.”

Beckman completed 10 of 17 passes for 295 yards and four touchdowns (all to different targets), leading Class 4A sixth-ranked Iowa City Liberty (6-1) to a 49-0 victory over Fort Madison (6-1) in a 4A District 3 matchup at home Friday night.

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Photos: Fort Madison vs. Iowa City Liberty football

“He’s (Beckman) a high character, humble, hard-working kid,” said Liberty Coach James Harris. “I like it when work ethic and character pay off.

“I’m certainly not bummed that he’s only a junior.”

Liberty opened with a methodical, 11-play, 74-yard scoring drive. It was capped by Beckman’s first TD, a halfback screen pass Trey Gregiore took 20 yards to the house.

On its next drive, Liberty moved back 14 yards due to two penalties and a 4-yard loss. Then on second-and-24, Beckman found Easton Koller open down the seem for a 57-yard TD, giving Liberty a 14-0 lead.

Fort Madison’s offense had some momentum going midway through the second quarter. The Bloodhounds took it to Liberty’s 17, but the drive ended with a missed 34-yard field goal attempt.

With just over a minute left in the second quarter, Beckman threw out wide to Williams who made the play of the game, spinning out of one tackle and side-stepping another defender along the sideline on his way to a 78-yard score.

“I kind of thought I threw a little high and he wasn’t going to snag it, but he did,” Beckman said. “And then I was like, well, a quick 5-yard gain … then Wyatt did what he does, made a move and busted it outside.”

“My brother was a pretty good athlete in high school,” Williams said. “I was always watching him do that stuff. I just kind of had to step it up and do it better than he did.”

After forcing a quick three-and-out, Liberty got the ball back at Fort Madison’s 48. On the first play of the drive, Beckman found Gregiore streaking down the middle of the field for a score, giving the Lightning a 28-0 lead at intermission.

Beckman completed 7 of 13 passes for 219 yards and four TDs in the first half.

“Knowing that he (Beckman) can make any pass, it’s pretty special,” Williams said. “Having a QB like that is nice. We’ve got a lot of playmakers on our team and we’ve put in a lot of work in the offseason. I’m just glad the payout’s been pretty good.”

The second half belonged to the Lightning as well.

Beckman capped a four-play, 48-yard drive with a 3-yard TD run with nine minutes left in the third.

On the next offensive play, Christian Barney picked off an Aidan Boyer pass and took it 19 yards to the end zone.

“I thought our defensive line played well,” Harris said. “It’s nice to score on defense. I feel like we’re getting better, we just have to keep getting better.”

Trey Gregiore punched in an 8-yard TD with 2:13 to go in the third quarter to round out the scoring.

“If we play our game, we’re capable of beating anybody,” Beckman said.

The Bloodhounds entered Friday’s contest fourth in the RPI rankings. Liberty was sixth.

“It gave us something to shoot at,” Harris said. “I felt our schedules weren’t comparable, but I was happy to have that motivational material and the opportunity to compete against an undefeated team. It was great.”

“We came out knowing that this was going to be a tough opponent,” Beckman said. “Beating them was a big win, hopefully we get moved up.”

Liberty will travel to Burlington next Friday. Fort Madison will host No. 10 North Scott.