PARIS, Texas-After quarterback Decorian Phillips lit up the North Lamar secondary, Liberty-Eylau held on to win despite the senior signal-caller sidelined.
Phillips left the game midway through the third quarter and never returned, walking off on his own power after being sandwiched on a run. The Leopards went on to throttle the Panthers, 48-35, Friday at R.L. Maddox Stadium to even their District 7-4A, Division I record.
Liberty-Eylau (2-5, 1-1) piled up 398 yards of total offense, Phillips throwing for 203 and four touchdowns-all the scores before halftime.
El-Amin Greer caught six balls for 120 yards and a touchdown just before intermission, Ralph Crabtree scored twice for L-E, including a 20-yard jaunt early in the fourth quarter after the third fumble recovery by the Leopards, this one a strip-recovery by Donté Coopwood.
Isaiah Cross took over for Phillips and was 5-of-6 passing for 37 yards and rushed six times for 50 and a TD with 1:17 left. Cross hit Greer for the 2-point conversion.
Crabtree had a receiving and rushing TD, finishing with 13 carries for 62 yards.
Jeremiah Guenther, starting in place of the injured Tyler Hill, turned in a workhorse effort for North Lamar (2-4, 0-2). Guenther had 38 rushes for 223 yards and two touchdowns.
Jay Walters threw for 140 yards and ran for 48 more, tossing one score and running for a pair of TDs.
The Leopards scored on five of their first six possessions and held a 21-7 lead early in the second quarter. Liberty-Eylau capitalized on a pair of first-half turnovers for 14 of its points.
In the third quarter, the Leopards scored on all three drives, Phillips throwing TDs No. 2, 3 and 4 of the night. He was 10-of-17 passing before halftime for 197 yards and four touchdowns.
Greer caught a score with 2 seconds left on the clock, running full stride for a 45-yard TD, which Phillips put right in his numbers.
That capped a 5-play drive that covered 61 yards in 35 seconds.
The Panthers got a big aerial play from Holt, who snagged a ball on an out-route and turned it up field, diving for the pylon for a 37-yard Panther TD with 46 ticks remaining in the second quarter.
North Lamar's initial possession ended just past midfield when a fumbled snap was scooped up by L-E's Dominique Williams and returned to the NL 44.
Five plays later Phillips connected with Dazawion Cooper for an 8-yard strike to give the Leopards the early lead.
The teams traded possessions, Liberty-Eylau's drive ending on a failed fourth-down attempt near midfield. The Panthers covered 52 yards in six plays, Guenther bulling his way in from the 4 with 3:25 left in the first quarter.
The Panthers' on-sides kick attempt failed, giving the Leopards good field position.
Phillips connected with Greer on back-to-back plays, first for 13 and then 37 yards to give Liberty-Eylau first-and-goal at the 1. Kelston Joseph scored on his third attempt to stake L-E to a 14-7 lead with 1:16 left in the first after Steven Goben's PAT.
On the third Panther snap, the ball was fumbled again and Trey Revels recovered for the Leopards at the Panther 42.
Phillips hooked up with Cross for a 25-yard touchdown reception on the fifth play.
Walters capped the ensuing North Lamar drive with his 19-yard scoring run to finish off an 8-play campaign of 73 yards. Three plays into the L-E possession, Crabtree turned a screen pass from Phillips and knifed his way for a 31-yard score.
Holt reached the end zone on the next drive, followed by Greer's TD to give the Leopards a 34-21 lead going into the locker room.
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Liberty-Eylau 14 20 0 14 - 48
North Lamar 7 14 7 7 - 35
First Quarter
LE-Dazawion Cooper 8 pass from Decorian Phillips (Steven Goben kick), 8:09.
NL-Jeremiah Guenther 4 run (Travis Coston kick), 3:25.
LE-Kelston Joseph 1 run (Goben kick), 1:16.
Second Quarter
LE-Isaiah Cross 25 pass from Phillips (Goben kick), 9:40.
NL-Jay Walters 19 run (Coston kick), 5:49.
LE-Ralph Crabtree 31 pass from Phillips (Goben kick), 4:49.
NL-Seybian Holt 37 pass from Walters (Coston kick), 0:46.
LE-El-Amin Greer 45 pass from Phillips (kick failed), 0:02.
Third Quarter
NL-Guenther 33 run (Coston kick), 5:57.
Fourth Quarter
LE-Crabtree 20 run (run failed), 10:51.
NL-Walters 1 run (Coston kick), 5:43.
LE-Cross 1 run (Cross pass to Greer), 1:17.
=L-E=NL
First Downs=17=26
Yards Rushing=30-158=50-283
Yards Passing=240=140
Passes A-C-I=25-16-0=18-8-0
Fumbles-Lost=1-0=5-3
Penalties=4-55=6-35
Punts-Avg.=1-38.0=1-36.0
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING-Liberty-Eylau, Crabtree 13-62, Cross 6-50, Joseph 7-19, Phillips 4-17. North Lamar, Guenther 38-223, Walters 11-48, Holt 1-12.
PASSING-Liberty-Eylau, Cross 11-19-0-203, Cross 5-6-0-37. North Lamar, Walters 8-18-0-140.
RECEIVING-Liberty-Eylau, Greer 6-120, Cooper 3-36, Crabtree 2-28, Mahleik Darty 2-28, Cross 2-20, Joseph 1-8. North Lamar, Holt 4-102, Josh Dangerfield 4-38.