Mountain Grove beats Liberty in state-ranked battle

Last Friday night featured a South Central Association (SCA) Conference heavyweight bout between the No. 7 state-ranked teams in Class 2 and Class 3 as the larger Mountain Grove Panthers’ football team hosted Liberty (Mountain View).
The Panthers responded to the challenge by jumping out to a 28-6 halftime lead before managing the clock in the second half to cruise to a 35-6 victory to remain undefeated in the SCA.
Mountain Grove’s defense set the tone on the first drive as they forced a quick three-and-out after the Eagles only gained one yard.
Starting their first drive on their own 14, the Panthers’ offense had a big 23-yard run from Eli Golden and a 22-yard run from Kaden Murphy during a 12-play drive. The Panthers scored on Braydon Curtiss’ three-yard touchdown run, and with Dameon Martin’s extra-point kick, Mountain Grove led 7-0 midway through the first quarter.
Both offenses exchanged punts before the Eagles started a drive near midfield just before the start of the second quarter.
They had a 15-yard passing play followed by a 28-yard touchdown strike.
A failed two-point conversion kept the Panthers in front, 7-6.
It didn’t take long for Mountain Grove to respond as Aden Estep returned the kickoff 79 yards for the touchdown. Martin’s kick pushed the lead to 14-6.
One play later, Golden made a diving interception at Liberty’s 32 after some pressure forced the Eagles’ quarterback to get rid of the ball.
Seven straight rushing plays on an offensive drive concluded with Curtiss’ two-yard touchdown plunge.
Martin’s kick gave Mountain Grove a 21-6 edge.
Liberty’s offense started moving the ball on their next drive as they had a 22-yard passing play.
That drive would end one play later when Golden read the quarterback’s eyes on a receiver and made an acrobatic one-handed play for an interception deep inside Eagles’ territory.
Golden would soon convert a 4th-and-6 with a run to the outside for eight yards. Curtiss then scored from six yards out and Martin’s kick gave Mountain Grove a 28-6 lead with under two minutes left in the first half.
The Panthers’ offense took around six minutes off the clock to start the third quarter only to turn the ball over on downs at the Eagles’ 15.
Jacob Crosco ended Liberty’s next drive by knocking down a third pass, forcing yet another Eagles’ punt.
Liberty opened the fourth quarter with a punt from deep within their own territory, giving the Panthers the ball on the Eagles’ 42.
Golden would soon score on a 22-yard touchdown run.
Martin’s kick pushed the lead to 35-6 with 8:14 left in the game. Mountain Grove would hold on to win the game by that same score.
As a team, the Panthers’ offense had 310 yards on the ground. Meanwhile, Liberty’s offense had just 108 yards passing and 31 on the ground for 139 total yards of offense.
Curtiss finished with 30 carries for 142 yards and three touchdowns.
Golden added 10 carries for 87 yards and one touchdown. Estep tallied 13 carries for 48 yards and Murphy had five carries for 33 yards.
Up next for Mountain Grove is a road match-up with Salem on Friday, Oct. 10. The Tigers are 2-4 with a 26-8 win over Linn and a 20-12 win over Willow Springs.