LAST WEEK: The Leopards scored with 28 seconds left to regain a brief third-quarter lead and held on for a 30-26 area victory over Dallas Carter.
THIS WEEK: Liberty-Eylau rides a six-game win streak into the Region II-4A, Division I semifinals against Kaufman. That game is set for 7:30 p.m. Friday at Royse City ISD Stadium.
OFFENSIVE STANDOUTS: RB Kelston Joseph had the game-winning TD behind a big hole opened up by guard Connor Green and tackle Trey Parker. QB Decorian Phillips connected on 25 of 42 passes for 386 yards, two TDs and a pair of interceptions. WR El-Amin Greer had five catches for 124 yards, WR Mahleik Darty scored twice and had nine grabs for 109 yards, Isaiah Cross added seven for 50, and Dazawion Cooper had two for 65. Phillips also rushed 11 times for 50 yards, and Ralph Crabtree added 14 carries for 35 yards. PK Steven Goben booted three PATs and a field goal.
DEFENSIVE STANDOUTS: LB Cedric Dickerson collected 10 tackles to lead the defense, and LB Marzavin Riles added nine stops. Dominique Williams, Tremaine Brown and Deshun Dickerson had eight tackles apiece, Donté Coopwood had six and Thomas Rochelle five. Orion Williams and Ken'Trell Chatmon contributed four stops each, and Williams also had a fumble recovery.
COACH STEVE WELLS' COMMENTS: "I was proud of the way our kids kept fighting, even when we fell behind 13 points early. We didn't do a very good job of stopping them on those early drives and had a turnover. We were able to battle back and get within two (points) at halftime and then took the lead on Goben's field goal to start the third quarter.
"Carter went back up, but our kids never stopped fighting. We got the bog stop when we needed it, got the ball back with around four minutes left, we wanted to milk the clock as much as we can and were able to get it in the end zone. The offensive line did a great job of opening up the hole on the touchdown run; they gave him a good hole and Kelston took it in.
"Decorian had to spread it around. El-Amin had a big game; even though he didn't have a touchdown, he had a lot of first downs and lots of yardage after the catch. Mahleik has been playing well for us on both sides of the ball. Cross had seven catches, Cooper had a big catch (to set up a score). Crabtree didn't have a lot of yards, but he got some tough yards inside against a real good defense. I was proud of the way our kids came through when it mattered the most."