Friday night lights at Liberty High School started as the other games in the county did, with rain and a lightening delay, but the fans toughed it out and were treated to a beautifully breezy evening of Varsity football play in Kissimmee.
The visiting Harmony Longhorns came into the game needing a win as they continue to fight for a playoff spot. That quest made difficult after a tough 39-31 loss to Viera last week. Liberty was looking to extend its winning streak to 3 at home, and to do so they were going to need to rely on running back Karvelis Scott, who ran for 232 yards and four touchdowns last Friday in a win against Davenport.
The Chargers won the toss and from there it was all Harmony. The first 5 Harmony possessions started inside Liberty’s 40 yard line, but Coach Don Simon’s Longhorns came out of the game delay a bit cold and only came away with a field goal from Harmony kicker Kevin Lavigne. Harmony once again relied on the power running of #34 Tyler Emans in the 2nd quarter who had 22 carries, 162 yards and 5 touchdowns on the day. Harmony scored the first touchdown of the game around the 11 minute mark of the second quarter on a 2 yard run by Tyler Emans. Six minutes later Emans busted through the Charger D-line on a five yard run and it was 17-6 after another successful Kevin Lavigne extra point attempt.
In the final minutes of the first half, after Liberty’s Karvelis Scott scored on a 4 yard TD run in what was Liberty’s strongest drive of the game, Harmony’s QB Ayden Parks popped a quick shovel pass to Wide receiver Isaiah Oquendo for a 55 yard touchdown. Harmony wasn’t done scoring in the first half after Liberty QB Jeremiah Pierre-Louis was sacked by Longhorn #81 Rawdon Batey then coughed up the ball on the 4 yard line, giving Emans another chance to score, which he took advantage of on the next play and ran it in easily for 6. The first half ended 31-6.
“What we’ve gotten pretty good at is extending drives, holding onto the ball a long time, trying to keep the other offenses off the field. Our kids are doing a good jib of adjusting, so when people come with odd fronts, trying to stack the box, we do a good job of adjusting now. It’s nice to see them blossom into it,” Harmony Head Coach Don Simon said after the game.
Tyler Emans ran for 2 more TDs in the second half which brought on a running clock. #80 DB Hunter Carlson picked off Liberty’s Jeremiah Pierre-Louis, Karvelis Scott scored again on a 12 yard run, giving him another game over 100 yards rushing, and the game ended with Harmony taking home the win 44-14 on Gary Preisser Field.
Harmony will travel to Melbourne next Friday, and the Chargers will see Melbourne Central Catholic on Tuesday at 5:30pm.
