Armed with new weapons, Iowa City Liberty keeps rivalry trophy with win over City High

NORTH LIBERTY — Graham Beckman lost his top five receivers from last season.

It’s all good.

In an pivotal early-season Class 5A clash, Iowa City Liberty (1-1), led by Beckman, knocked off Iowa City High (0-2), 41-14, winning the Battle for Zeus for the fourth time in the six-year series.

Beckman had one rushing touchdown and completed 26 of 32 passes for 269 yards and three scores — all three going to Dallas Miller.

“Last year, it was an excellent group of guys,” Beckman said. “But this year, they all have their special talents. Obviously, Dallas was my main threat tonight, but I trust all the guys.”

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Photos: Iowa City High at Iowa City Liberty

In the first quarter, it was Liberty’s defense that stole the show.

The Lightning forced and recovered a fumble on City High’s first drive. On its second, Charlie Keenan picked off Drew Larson at the Little Hawks’ 25.

“Our whole defensive coaching staff puts in so much work,” Liberty Coach James Harris said. “And then our guys are just buying in, playing hard-nosed football.

“We’ve got some stars on that defense that I think are really good, but we’re playing 11-as-one. We’re all running to the ball, we’re stacking up the ball, we’re ripping up the ball — we’re doing that team defense-type stuff.”

Liberty’s offense came to life on the first play of the second quarter as Beckman found Miller for the pair’s first TD connection, this one on a back-shoulder fade that Miller caught in the left corner of the end zone from 4 yards out.

Miller’s scored capped a 12-play, 75-yard drive that was aided by two 15-yard pass interference penalties by City High.

City High committed 10 penalties for 110 yards.

The Little Hawks answered as Larson found Carsen Newton for a 5-yard score.

Beckman responded, orchestrating a six-play, 78-drive he capped with a 1-yard TD dive on Liberty’s next possession.

“Our quarterback is a hell of a player,” Harris said. “He’s a high-character young man and that’s what we expect from him.”

City High’s special teams unit then got into the fun as Sam Kueter returned a block punt for a score with 3:49 left in the second. After Holdon Clay punched in the 2-point conversion, the game was tied at 14.

The remaining 27:49 belonged to Liberty, as the Bolts scored the final 27 points.

Liberty faced a fourth-and-3 from the Little Hawk 5 with 20 seconds left in the first half. Instead of putting the ball in Beckman’s hands, perhaps catching the defense off guard, Beckman handed it to Sutton Koller, who found an opening and exploded for a TD.

Koller rushed for 64 yards and caught 11 passes for 113 yards.

“I love it — he’s a dual threat,” Beckman said. “He can catch the ball, he can run the ball.”

Beckman and crew put together another nice drive to begin the second half. And, once again, the Lightning capitalized on a fourth down at City High’s 5 as Beckman threw a beautiful over-the-shoulder pass to Miller for a 5-yard TD. Beckman then connected with Miller for the 2-pointer, giving Liberty a 28-14 lead.

“He’s (Beckman) a great player, but I just have to give credit to all the other guys, like Coach (Keenan) Davis, our receivers coach has really developed that next group that’s come in,” Harris said. “You saw Dallas, Collin (Decker), our tight end Gabe (Clark) — they’re making big plays all over.

“I think it’s a testament to the work ethic and the practice that these guys have put in in the offseason.”

Dantrell Skinner added a 1-yard TD run with 11:14 left to give the Bolts a 34-14 lead.

Beckman capped his magical night, connecting with Miller again for a 9-yard score with 6:09 to go.

Iowa City Liberty 41, Iowa City High 14

AT LIBERTY HIGH SCHOOL

TEAM STATISTICS

First downs: CITY 11, LIB 27

Rushes-yards: CITY 20-76, LIB 46-149

Passing yards: CITY 176, LIB 267

Passing: CITY 16-31-1, LIB 27-33-0

Total yards: CITY 252, LIB 416

Punts-average: CITY 3-35, LIB 1-35

Penalties-yards: CITY 10-110, LIB 6-65

SCORING SUMMARY

City High 0 14 0 0 — 14

Liberty 0 20 8 13 — 41

LIB — Dallas Miller 4 pass from Beckman (Conley Sundblad kick)

CITY — Carsen Netwon pass from Larson (Will Perrill miss)

LIB — Graham Beckman 1 run (Conley Sundblad kick)

CITY — Sam Keuter 5 run (Holdon Clay 2 points)

LIB — Sutton Koller 5 run (Conley Sundblad miss)

LIB — Dallas Miller 5 pass from Beckman (Dallas Miller 2 points from Beckman)

LIB — Dantrell Skinner 1 runs from Beckman (Conley Sundblad miss)

LIB — Dallas Miller 9 pass from Beckman (Conley Sundblad kick)

Individual Statistics

Rushing - City High: Dominic Salibi 11-48, Drew Larson 1-1, Bobby Bacon 2-9, Miles Partlet 5-16, Holdon Clay 1-2. Liberty: Graham Beckman 8-6, Owen Drapeaux 15-59, Sutton Koller 14-64, Anyhlan Peoples 4-13, Chase Eisenback 1-2, Dantrell Skinner 3-6, Reece Rettig 1-5.

Passing - Liberty: Graham Beckman 26-32-0-269, Reece Rettig 1-1-0-(minus 2). City High: Drew Larson 8-10-1-66, Bobby Bacon 8-21-0-110

Receiving – City High: Jeremiah Madlock 3-40, Carsen Newton 8-68, Dominic Salibi 1-(minus 1), Connor Cross 4-52, Parker Sutherland 1-14. Liberty: Dallas Miller 9-95, Owen Drapeaux 1-4, Sutton Koller 11-113, Gabe Clark 2-14, Collin Decker 1-24, Cody Nichols 1-19, Jack McDowell 1-(minus 2).