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Liberty stuns Moeller, wins first title

CANTON, Ohio – For a second straight week Liberty came out of the locker room with a purpose and played like the better team from start to finish against a catholic school powerhouse. This Friday night, it landed the Patriots their first state title as they bested Moeller by setting the tone up front on both sides of the ball.

Senior quarterback Andrew Leonard connected with classmate Christian Moulton three times for scores. Jake Strunk ran for  99 yards and a touchdown for the victors. Moulton finished the game with eight receptions for 161 yards and the three trips to the end zone. The Liberty offense churned out 387 yards.


Leonard stole the stage from Moeller signal-caller Matt Ponatoski who was named Ohio Mr. Football on Thursday afternoon. Leonard went 17-23 for 272 yards and three touchdown passes. Ponatoski completed 16-30 passes for just 112 yards and a touchdown. He ends his sensational junior campaign with 4,187 yards and 57 touchdowns passing with only three interceptions.


The play of the Liberty defense was a large reason why the Crusaders offense struggled to stretch the field through the air.  The patriots had six pass breakups, nine quarterback hits and held Big Moe to just 3-14 on third and fourth down conversions.

SCORING BY QUARTERS
Moeller 7-0-7-0-14
Liberty 7-7-14-0-28

SCORING PLAYS
L: Jake Struck 1 run (Sean Hendricks kick)
L: Christian Moulton 20 pass from Andrew Leonard (Hendricks kick)
M: Cooper Gearhart 80 fumble return (Jack Mallabar kick)
L: Moulton 61 pass from Leonard (Hendricks kick)
L: Moulton 14 pass from Leonard (Hendricks kick
M: Landen Adams 3 pass from Matt Ponatoski (Mallabar kick)

FINAL STATS

RECORDS: Moeller (14-2); Liberty (14-2)

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