The Salina Liberty fell just short of snapping their losing streak on Saturday night when they were defeated by the Chicago Eagles, 51-50.
Salina got on the board first when Zach McClain caught a 13 yard pass from Keahn Wallace, giving the Liberty the early 7-0 lead.
Chicago would answer back with not one, but two touchdown passes from Rashaun Simonise to Anthony Iannotti and Chicago took a 14-7 lead into the 2nd Quarter.
Salina would answer back with two scores of their own, a 6 yard run by Terrance Lowe and a 5 yard touchdown pass from Keahn Wallace to Kamaron Young. A mishandled snap on the first score cost the Liberty an extra point and Salina led 20-14 with 8:36 to go before the half.
The Eagles came right back and scored on a 1 yard run by Iannotti and Chicago took the lead back, 21-20.
On the ensuing kickoff, Isiah Barfield took the kickoff back the length of the field for a touchdown and Salina added a two point conversion to reclaim the lead, 28-21.
Chicago’s David Tomis connected on a 44 yard field goal on the ensuing possession, cutting the Liberty lead to 28-24 with just under two minutes to go in the half.
Less than 30 seconds later, Wallace connected with McClain for a second time on the night on a 25 yard touchdown strike. The Mike Georgetti extra point was no good, but Salina had a 34-24 lead with 1:30 to go in the half.
The Eagles came right back just before the break when Iannotti scored on a 9 yard run and the Liberty lead was cut to 34-31 with just 13 seconds to go, but Salina would close out the half with a 28 yard Georgetti field goal and the Liberty lead was 37-31 at halftime.
Chicago would reclaim the lead in the 3rd Quarter when Iannotti connected with Jordan Boykin for a 4 yard touchdown pass and the Eagles led 38-37.
The Liberty answered back when Wallace connected with Edward Smith on an 8 yard touchdown pass and Salina was back in front, 44-38, with 3:01 left in the 3rd Quarter.
The Eagles would strike back quickly when Iannotti once again connected with Boykin, this time from 8 yards out and Chicago led 45-44 going into the final quarter.
Despite the Liberty forcing three Chicago turnovers on three consecutive possessions, there would not be any scoring again until the final minute of the game.
Salina struck first in that final minute when Wallace connected with Joe Kassanavoid on a 12 yard touchdown pass. The two point conversion attempt was no good and Salina led 50-45 with just 38 seconds left to play.
Chicago’s Chris Perry, though, would take the ensuing kickoff back 53 yards for what would turn out to be a game winning touchdown. The two point conversion was no good, but the Eagles led 51-50 with 32 seconds to go.
Salina would get the ball back and get one attempt at a game winning field goal. Georgetti’s attempt was blocked on what appeared to be an illegal move by an Eagle defender, but the infraction was not called by the officials and the Eagles escaped with a 51-50 victory.
Keahn Wallace led the way for Salina on Saturday night. He was 18 for 31 passing for 193 yards with 5 touchdown passes and 2 interceptions. He also ran the ball 4 times for 20 yards. Terrance Lowe led all Liberty rushers with 22 yards on 6 carries and 1 touchdown. Zach McClain’s 55 yards on 3 catches led all Liberty receivers. He also caught 2 touchdowns on the night.
Isiah Barfield had an outstanding night returning kicks. He ran back 4 kicks for a total of 138 yards, including a 50 yard touchdown.
Brock Long was the defensive leader for Salina. He had 11 total tackles, including 9 solo tackles, including 3 tackles for loss and a half sack. Long also had a forced fumble and had a fumble recovery. Justiss Scales and Tre Walker each had an interception for Salina. Brandon Harold also had a forced fumble for the Liberty defense.
With their fourth straight loss, Salina is now 2-7 on the season and is also now on the brink of being eliminated from post-season contention. An Omaha win this Friday night over Chicago would all but seal the Liberty’s fate.
Salina travels to Bloomington, Illinois this Saturday for their first meeting with the Edge. Kickoff for that game has been set for 7:05 p.m.