The Garden City Telegram
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Ship down
Published 9/29/2007 in Sports : GCHS By Mike Kessinger
LIBERAL -- As both teams trudged off to their respective locker rooms at Redskin Field on Friday night, Garden City High School head coach Mike Smith shook his head slightly in disbelief.
There was only one person to blame, he said, for the Buffaloes' 39-20 road loss to Liberal.
Himself.
"I'm going to take responsibility for this one," Smith said. "I'm the leader of this team and I didn't have them prepared to play."
Unprepared might be a bit of an understatement.
From the game's opening kick, the Redskins marched up and down the field on the Buffaloes behind the legs of 219-pound fullback Joe Bach and speedster Ricky Jacques. Jacques ran for 214 yards and two touchdowns on the night, while Bach pounded the ball between the tackles for 139 yards and another two scores.
"The line was incredible and Joe did a great job blocking," Jacques said. "My job was easy. I just had to run behind a good offensive line, and a good fullback."
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Garden City linebacker Caleb Crocker, right, tries to contain Liberal running back Ricky Jacques during the first quarter of their game Friday night in Liberal. Also pictured, left, is Liberal wide receiver Logan Maier.
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Brodrick Smith tries to elude the grasp of Liberal's Nate Davis during the second quarter of their game Friday night in Liberal.
Garden City looked as if they would make a game of it early despite a nine play 80-yard scoring drive by Liberal to open the game.
After going three and out on their first possession, the Buffaloes managed to strike back with a 48 yard punt return by Brodrick Smith to take a 7-6 lead.
Smith took a reduced offensive workload against the Redskins but was just as potent, taking the ball 125 yards on only 10 rushes. The senior quarterback played almost the full game on defense, filling in for cornerback C.J. Covington who missed Friday's game after being late for practice.
"They had a pretty good defense," Brodrick Smith said. "They were right up there with Ulysses and Great Bend; they're all really strong defensive teams. I got pretty tired; I ended up starting both ways, I didn't really come off the field."
Sophomore running back Jace Banner rejoined Smith in the backfield after sitting out last week's game with Hays with a knee injury. In his return, Banner carried 12 times for 57 yards and a touchdown while recording a sack on defense.
Unfortunately for the Buffaloes, the duo didn't see much action on offense. Liberal controlled the ball for most of the game, mounting two separate drives of over six minutes behind a small but fierce offensive line.
"We challenged the line before the game, and at halftime," Liberal coach Tom Schroeder said. "We challenged them to be physical. People are always saying we're smaller, so we challenged them to play with a chip on their shoulders."
The proverbial dagger in Garden City's heart came in the third quarter, when the Redskins opened the half by mounting a 12-play, 80-yard drive that ate up over half of the quarter, and ended with a touchdown by quarterback Rustin Watt. Less than a minute later, Liberal's Tyler Sutherland intercepted a Jimmy Corbett pass to give the Redskins possession in Garden City territory. Just six plays later, Watt found Marquez Patterson on an 18 yard strike to give Liberal a 32-13 lead.
Friday's loss effectively eliminates the Buffaloes (3-2, 1-2) from the Western Athletic Conference title race while Liberal (2-3, 2-1) remains very much in the mix despite a slow start.
The Buffaloes return home next Friday to take on Wichita Northwest.
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Liberal 39, Garden City 20
Garden City 7 6 0 7 -- 20
Liberal 6 12 14 7 -- 39
First Quarter
L-- Bach 26 run (Kick failed); 8:57
GC--Smith 48 punt return (Ortiz kick); 4:56
Second Quarter
L--Bach 9 run (Conversion failed);8:08
GC--Banner 9 run (Conversion failed); 1:38
L--Jacques 18 run (Conversion failed); :45
Third Quarter
L--Watt 1 run (Conversion successful); 5:53
L--Patterson 18 pass from Watt (Conversion failed); 2:40
Fourth Quarter
L--Jacques 35 run (Weber kick); 6:26
GC--Corbett 1 run (Ortiz kick); :36
Rushing--Garden City, Smith 10-125, Banner 12-57, Corbett 3-9, Schultz 1-7, Flores 3-3, Stapleton 1-0; Liberal, Jacques 13-214, Bach 25-139, Watt 7-12, Davis 2-8, Yingling 1-(minus 1), Hammond 1-(minus 2).
Passing--Garden City, Smith 2-6-1-32, Corbett 2-4-1-30; Liberal, Watt 5-7-0-82
Receiving--Garden City, Vasquez 1-28, Schultz 1-16, Hoggatt 1-16, Flores 1-2; Liberal, Patterson 2-44, Maier 1-18, Sutherland 1-11, Davis 1-9.
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