The Garfield G-Men football team had yet to face any true adversity this season. That changed when they traveled to face Mahoning Valley Athletic Conference Grey Division foe, Liberty, last Friday evening but still prevailed 42-21 at Leopard Stadium in Youngstown.
“That’s what you want to see,” said Coach Mike Moser. “You want to see your guys get tested and see how they respond and they responded as we hoped they would and thought they would.”
Although the G-Men (7-0, 3-0) had been undefeated against the Liberty since the teams joined the MVAC Grey Division, the Leopards had always been a thorn in Garfield’s side, averaging 21.5 points per game in the last two years.
According to the 10th-year coach, Liberty remained as pesky as ever this season.
“They have good schemes and good coaches and they know what they are doing and they have some really special athletes,” he added. “When they get in space they are going to be a problem for a lot of teams. They scored 30 points on everybody the last four weeks coming in.”
In the first quarter, Garfield experienced some difficulty on its opening drive, having several of their tailbacks suffering injuries.
Senior tailback/linebacker Keegan Sell avoided the injury bug and scored on a 54-yard touchdown run, pushing the G-Men ahead 7-0.
The Leopards responded with a methodical drive, capped off by a 36-yard touchdown reception by freshman tailback/linebacker Dawaun Moody from senior quarterback Tawann Tutwiler, evening the score at 7-7.
It snapped a streak of eight quarters of football where the G-Men’s defense had not allowed a point by their opponents.
Despite being in a tie game for the first time in a while, Moser said this was not his team’s first rodeo.
“These kids have played in a lot of football games in the last four years,” he added. “It is not the first time they have been in a tie game or have been trailing. You want to see it first-hand to know what they are going to do but that is always a thing when you are playing a team like that, you think okay let’s play a team like that and get on top of them and see what happens but our kids are pretty resilient.”
The G-Men seized control on the very next play when senior running back/defensive back Deacon Sommer returned Liberty’s kick-off to the end zone on an 81-yard kick return, propelling Garfield ahead 14-7.
The Leopards continued applying pressure with some long drives in the first half but Garfield’s defense bent but did not break and its rushing game continued wreaking havoc.
Sophomore wide receiver/tailback/defensive back Brandyn Bogucki found the end zone on a 56-yard touchdown run, followed by another touchdown by the 6-foot Sell, who hit pay dirt on a 49-yard run and Sommer scored his second touchdown, catching a 17-yard pass from senior quarterback/running back/defensive back Eric Geddes, stretching the lead to 35-7.
The Leopards had no answer for Garfield’s run game and the G-Men ran wild, posting 370 rushing yards and four touchdowns in the game.
“Our kids do a good job of it.,” said Moser. “There is really no secret there. Our kids do a good job and take a lot of pride in running the ball and we were physical, we were assignment-sound and got our jobs done.”
The Leopards showed some fight in the third quarter, scoring on a 47-yard run by Tutweiler, trimming the Garfield’s lead to 35-13.
Moser acknowledged his team had done a good job of staying resilient in the wake of some explosive plays but the Leopards were not going to be discouraged from continuing to attempt some big plays just because of the score.
“We knew they were going to make some plays and tried to limit the big plays and made them put together some long drive. To their credit they kept the ball and made some plays and converted some long third and fourth downs,” he added. “Until a few of those big plays popped at the end of the game, we did a good job defending the red zone and keeping them out.”
Although Liberty outscored Garfield 14-7 in the second half, the G-Men remained undefeated in MVAC Grey Division play.
Sell paced the G-Men, running for 207 yards and two touchdowns.
“He was the calming force and steadying factor,” Moser said. “He is a great leader and we have a lot of kids that are good leaders but I think Keegan stands above them all on that. He was able to rally them up and make some plays and we always feel good when we have him.”
The G-Men will stay on the road and face MVAC Grey Division rival Newton Falls at Newton Falls Stadium on Friday at 7 p.m.
