UNION CITY – In a lot of respects what was an entertaining and exciting marquee game of the Seventh Annual Honor Bowl at James Logan, ended in a bit of a downer, particularly if you are a Clayton Valley-Concord fan.
After fighting back from a two touchdown deficit at halftime to tie the score at 21-21 in regulation, Clayton Valley couldn’t match Liberty in overtime. The Lions won the flip, and then scored first from the new distance of 25-yards out this season, but when the Ugly Eagles answered, the snap on the PAT went awry and Liberty escaped with a 28-27 victory.
“This was the first overtime game we’ve been part of and I think the 25-yards as opposed to 10-yards helped us,” Liberty Coach Ryan Partridge remarked.
“We knew after what we saw on film that was a very good football team and we were fortunate to come out winners,” continued Partridge.
One of the things that made the game interesting was Liberty won on a night that quarterback Jay Butterfield did not have a sparkling performance. The 6-6-6, 210-pound Oregon-committed senior signal-caller was only 15-of-30 for 113 yards and one TD, and he was intercepted twice, both by Clayton Valley senior defensive back Seth Gwynn.
“Jay’s not the whole team and he knows it,” was Partridge’s response to his star not having his best outing. “We have some young receivers and he’s learning to work with them, but we’re a football team and we need to play as a team to win.”
One of the team’s players that stepped up big-time for the Prep2Prep CIF North Coast Section No. 2 ranked Lions was Darrion Bartley. Partridge went to Bartley for all five plays in overtime and he responded with four runs of 6-yards before leaping over the pile from 1-yard out to give Liberty a 28-21 lead. The 5-11, 205-pound senior ground out 113 yards on 25 carries with the one TD in OT, plus the MVP for the winning team scored the game’s first touchdown on a 35-yard punt return. He also had a pass reception for a touchdown
“We pounded the ball and this was definitely an O-line game for sure,” Partridge said. “The kids fought hard and in the end I challenged them to finish and they did.”
The Lions finished but not before being tested by the ground game of P2P NCS No. 4 Clayton Valley.
Senior running back Makhi Gervais was the workhorse as usual. The 5-11, 170-pound senior that rushed for 1,499 yards and 18 TDs last season had a whopping 44 carries for 198 yards and one touchdown. He also had a TD receiving. Gervais was an easy choice as the MVP for Clayton Valley.
Ugly Eagles junior quarterback Jake Kern actually had more yardage than Butterfield after going 9-for-14 for 128 yards and one TD, but a very important one when he found Gervais on a screen pass that went 81-yards and tied the game at 21-21 with 1:41 left. Kern also had two rushing TDs on 2-yard keepers, including the one in overtime, however he was sacked four times and had one yard rushing on 12 carries.
After Bartley opened the scoring with his punt return, Gervais answered back in a battle of MVPs both wearing jersey No. 21, with a 28-yard run that knotted things at 7-apiece.
Senior running back Brendan Bell, who came into the game as Liberty’s leading rusher, gave the Lions a 14-7 lead on a 2-yard run. Liberty took a 21-7 halftime lead when Butterfield, who had 7-8 seconds of pocket protection on the play, found Bartley on a 5-yard pass as the half expired.
Kern got Clayton Valley to 21-14 on his second 2-yard run, but it was the play of the game that sent things to an extra period. On fourth-and-13 and the game seemingly in the bag for Liberty, Ugly Eagles Coach Tim Murphy pulled a rabbit out of his hat with the 81-yard screen pass Gervais took to the house.
As is the case with Clayton Valley under Coach Tim Murphy, he likes to gamble by eschewing the punt, and that fourth down situation was one of eight where he had to make a choice. Murphy only elected to punt twice, the first one that was shanked and returned for a TD, and another time when it was fourth-and-31. On the other six times they Uglies gave it up on downs four times, had the TD that sent the game to overtime, and in OT Kern completed an 8-yard pass to Connor Barnes on fourth-and-three two plays before Kern scored the final TD.
Because of the gambling nature of Murphy, some members of the media and Partridge as well contemplated the possibility he might go for a 2-point conversion after Kern scored in overtime.
“Every touchdown I thought they might go for two because Murph is so aggressive and they pound the ball so well,” Partridge told Prep2Prep contributor Jesus Cano.
When asked if he considered going for a deuce Murphy had this to say. “”We had the second half momentum and I saw on film how tired their defense was. Plus, our PAT was at one hundred percent until that point.”
For Murphy and his boys this is one they have to put behind them and make a push in their first year in the East Bay Athletic League – Mountain Division and an eventual run at an NCS Division II championship.
“It was a tough way to lose but these guys are growing up quick, and we are definitely getting better,” Murphy said.
The Ugly Eagles now move on to face Overfelt-San Jose this Friday night at home. Overfelt is coming off a 47-8 road loss to Palo Alto.
For Partridge and his boys this is their second-straight Honor Bowl win but more importantly going forward for the CIF state Division 1-A Bowl Game champions, a second-straight game of holding on after escaping against Oakdale on the road in The Corral two weeks ago, 19-14, and now Clayton Valley.
“Two back-to-back tough games and we’re happy to come out with wins in both of them,” Partridge told Cano.
Next week it doesn’t get any easier as P2P NCS No. 3 Monte Vista-Danville visits Brentwood in what will be another stern test for Liberty. The Mustangs have opened with a solid win over Granite Bay and this past week they posted a 20-0 shutout of a solid San Leandro that was 2-0 coming into the game.
