BRENTWOOD, Calif. - By the time Jay Butterfield hit Justice Jackson for a 30-yard touchdown pass midway through the second quarter, the outcome of the annual Brentwood Bowl between Liberty and Heritage had pretty much been decided. It was already the third time that Butterfield connected with Jackson for a touchdown and gave visitors a 29-point lead, well on their way to a 50-6 victory.
“The games he’s played in, he’s been a very explosive threat. That’s one thing we had been missing the first five games, so ever since league started he has been a big asset,” said Butterfield about Jackson, who had seven catches for 92 yards and three scores.
Butterfield finished his night 26-of-36 for 368 yards and five touchdowns, despite not playing for most of the second half. He spread the ball to seven different guys in his time on the field. The icing on the cake was his six-yard touchdown pass to Cody Muth, who had a rushing and receiving TD on the day, that made it 43-0 in the third quarter. Muth also started the scoring with a dynamic 53-yard run down the left sideline.
Butterfield did throw one interception in the game, that ended the first half, picked off by Heritage’s Richard Price. Price showed up on defense in the game, with the interception, and a blocked PAT. The Patriot offense couldn’t get much done, sacked four times and fumbling once, which was brought back for a touchdown by Liberty’s Joshua Dinkins. The Liberty defense also forced a safety with an intentional grounding in the end zone and forced six plays of negative yardage, not including the sacks. The Patriots were ravaged by injuries and onto third string QB Christian Conley, who was hit by the Liberty defense on virtually every play. The first two offensive plays of the game for Heritage went backwards, as Akili Calhoun and Peyton Borrelli penetrated the Patriot backfield from the beginning of the game.
The silver lining for the Heritage offense was a six-yard touchdown catch to end the game by freshman running back, Devon Rivers, who snagged a back shoulder throw just inside the front right pylon from Conley. It was his first career varsity touchdown and set up by a 33-yard catch of his own down the seam.
“Even though we were already down a lot in the fourth quarter, it felt great to hear the crowd roaring and some of the students chanting, ‘He’s a freshman’ after I crossed the plane,” said Rivers. “This shows me that I can be a great asset to this team and there will be a lot more to come next year.”
As Liberty looks on to playoffs, Heritage’s season is over. Although it wasn’t a great season (2-8), it was a vast improvement from last year’s 1-9 team, especially as the team stayed competitive in nearly every BVAL game. After his final game as a Patriot, leading rusher Alec Brannen spoke up.
“It was a tough loss, but I love my team and they are going to ball next year," Brannen said. "We changed this program, and Heritage is going to be different next year."
Looking forward to playoffs, Liberty coach Ryan Partridge is preparing for a potential matchup with either James Logan or California.
“Maybe we will be traveling to James Logan, go see coach Ricky Rodriguez. He’s a great coach, great staff and it will be a tough game," Partridge said. "That’s the one that’s scary."
As they look forward to playoffs, finishing with a 9-1 regular season, Liberty can soak in their third straight Brentwood Bowl title right now, and fourth straight overall win against Heritage (including 2017 NCS playoff victory) as they hope for bigger and better things in the upcoming playoffs.
