Late score, late pick lift Iowa City West over Iowa City Liberty

IOWA CITY — This was stereotypical opening week in that both teams made an inordinate amount of mistakes. That’d be turnovers, penalties, etc.

But this was stereotypical postseason, too. That’d be big plays galore, drama all over the place and a late touchdown and defensive stand deciding the game.

Ashton Honore’s 5-yard scoring run with 1:52 left provided the winning points, and Adrian DeWaard provided the clinching interception with 20 seconds to go as Iowa City West outlasted Iowa City Liberty, 35-28, Friday night at West.

“I think that was the most evenly played game,” said West Coach Garrett Hartwig. “One team maybe got lucky or just had the ball at the end. I guess they had the ball at the end, (so) maybe we got lucky and had the pick, I don’t know.

“Both teams had a kickoff return for touchdown, both teams turned the ball over multiple times, both teams had big scoring strikes. It was just one of the most back-and-forth games I’ve ever seen.”

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Photos: Iowa City Liberty at Iowa City West football

Honore’s TD came after West quarterback Jack Wallace and receiver Izaiah Loveless connected on a clutch 32-yard pass play that converted a third-and-long and took the football to the Liberty 5. Honore splashed over the middle and into the end zone on the next play.

Liberty drove to the West 28 on its final possession and seemed poised to post another salvo in this back-and-forth affair. But Trojans defensive back Mason Woods drove on a pass over the middle by Liberty quarterback Graham Beckman, tipped the ball into the air and to DeWaard to clinch things.

Despite a whole new batch of receivers this season, Beckman was terrific for the Lightning, rushing for a team-high 71 yards and completing 26 of 49 passes for 285 yards and two touchdowns. He was intercepted four times, however, as many times as he was all last season.

That included a 51-yard pick-6 by Santana Miller that gave West a 14-7 lead in the second quarter.

“It was a wild game,” Miller said. “But we prepared for this the whole offseason. We’ve been planning for this all year, man. Ever since last season, we’ve been trying to hold this down and be ready for this season. We’re coming for all of Iowa City, we’re coming for the whole state. We’re not playing around this year.”

As Hartwig mentioned, both teams returned kickoffs for TDs in this thriller: Cody Nichols from 96 yards in the second quarter for Liberty and Julian Manson from 87 yards to begin the second half for West. Manson’s return came after he somehow broke through a scrum of players at about his own 30-yard line, knotting things at 21.

Loveless had a monster game receiving for West, catching seven passes for 202 yards and two scores. Both came over the top of Liberty’s defense: a 52-yarder in the first quarter and a 56-yarder early in the fourth that put the Trojans ahead, 28-21.

“This game was amazing,” Loveless said. “Amazing to play, the feeling, the vibes. The first half wasn’t so good for us, but the second half, we just changed our whole mindset. We just came out and blew it away. I was just blown by the second half and how we played.”

Beckman and Liberty responded right back after Loveless’ TD to tie it with a long drive capped by a 26-yard TD pass to Dallas Miller and the corresponding extra-point kick. Miller also had a 9-yard touchdown catch in the first quarter that opened the scoring.

The Lightning actually outgained West by a 433-256 margin. The teams combined for eight turnovers in the game and 15 penalties, 10 by Liberty.

West certainly looks like an improved team after going 4-5 last season. This is Liberty’s first go-around in Class 5A, and it seems well equipped to handle that jump.

“I think we showed a sense of maturity out there,” Hartwig said. “A lot of players out there tonight have been playing for two years against top-quality opponents. You know, they’ve had success in other sports, and it’s just a never-quit mentality.

“This was just a unique game. Could have gone either way. The ball just bounced our way at the end.”

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IOWA CITY WEST 35, IOWA CITY LIBERTY 28

(At Iowa City West)

Iowa City Liberty 7 14 0 7-28

Iowa City West 7 7 7 14-35

Team Statistics

First Downs: Liberty 19, West 9. Rushes-Yards: Liberty 39-148, West 27-24. Passing Yards (Completions-Attempts-Interceptions): Liberty 285 (26-49-4), West 232 (14-21-1). Total Yards: Liberty 433, West 232. Punts-Average: Liberty 5-34.4, West 9-33.8. Penalties-Yards: Liberty 10-65, West 5-40. Fumbles-Lost: Liberty 1-1, West 4-2.

Individual Statistics

Rushing - Liberty: Graham Beckman 14-71, Owen Draveaux 13-39, Sutton Koller 9-35, Dallas Miller 1-7, Cael Schramm 1-(minus) 4, Team 1-(minus) 2. West: Butali Butali 6-14, Todd Rent 7-13, Izaiah Loveless 1-8, Ashton Honore 2-4, Marquise Rose 1-3, Jack Wallace 7-(minus) 1, Erik Caperon 1-(minus) 2, Team 2-(minus) 14.

Passing - Liberty: Graham Beckman 26-49-4-285. West: Jack Wallace 14-21-1-232.

Receiving - Liberty: Collin Decker 7-100, Dallas Miller 5-77, Owen Draveaux 4-47, Sutton Koller 5-30, Easton Koller 1-17, Gabe Clark 3-14. West: Izaiah Loveless 7-202, Mason Woods 2-12, Erik Caperon 1-10, Mason Goering 1-9, Jesus Marungo-Murillo 1-2, Butali Butali 1-1, Daniel Robinson 1-(minus) 4.

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