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BRENTWOOD — The blockbuster matchup between No. 2 Liberty and No. 5 Monte Vista lived up to the hype Friday night at Heritage High.
When a potential game-tying field goal attempt from 36 yards by Mustangs sophomore Nathan Price banked off the center of the crossbar with 8.3 seconds remaining, the Lions survived and prevailed 24-21 to remain unbeaten.
But it was a harrowing finish for the defending state champs, who erased a 14-10 halftime deficit behind touchdown runs by Sebastian Lee and Darrion Bartley, the latter delivering a remarkable game with 199 yards on 38 carries.
Monte Vista’s two-way threat Nate Rutchena caught his third touchdown of the game with 1:34 remaining — an 8-yard pass from gritty quarterback Jack Stewardson — to get within 24-21.
Liberty (4-0) attempted to run out the clock when Bartley fumbled on a third-and-2 carry battling for extra yards after getting the first-down yardage.
“It’s devastating. I need to perform way better,” said Bartley, dismayed by his lost fumble despite his yeoman-like effort. “I need to hold the ball, and I’m just glad I’ve got a team that uplifts me every game, every time. I just got more work to do.”
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Defensive end Chip Menard recovered for Monte Vista at the Mustangs’ 41-yard line with 1:13 remaining, and the visitors had new life. A pass interference penalty and a 33-yard completion from Stewardson to speedy Jacob Oliphant set the stage for the late field-goal attempt.
On defense, Rutchena and the Mustangs tried to combat an impressive force in the combination of Liberty’s formidable offensive line and Bartley who kept going and going, play after play.
“He’s like a bowling ball. He’s like a pinball machine. He’s got big legs and he’s shifty like a little Le’Veon Bell,” Rutchena said of Bartley. “He’s got big linemen, so when you got them holes and he hits it they make big plays and it’s tough to tackle him.”
Liberty coach Ryan Partridge was disappointed on many levels after the dramatic ending.
“We looked like a very, very, very poorly coached football team. We were undisciplined,” said Partridge, whose team has been injury-plagued early in the season. “We could not line up correctly, and the one guy that could do it was Darrion.”
Monte Vista, meanwhile, reflected a sense of accomplishment after refusing to fold late.
“I’m obviously very proud of the way our guys responded,” Monte Vista coach Matt Russi said. “They’ve been doing this all year long. We’ve only played three games, but we’ve got a tough group of kids mentally and they showed it tonight. We’re right there and we’ll get over the hump because they are tough kids.”
Rutchena called it a “game of inches. That last kick, that’s not on our kicker. He’s still a sophomore, he’s still getting better. We win as team, we lose as a team … That miss is not on him; it’s on the things that we did earlier in the game.”
The Lions started the game kind of flat on offense as only a bullish offensive line and Bartley kept things moving forward. Senior quarterback Jay Butterfield, an Oregon commit, completed a 14-yard TD pass to Auki-Kapuha Flores to give Liberty an early lead.
Rutchena brought the Mustangs back with a 71-yard TD reception when he broke a tackle near the 30 before running into the end zone.
Logan Croteau’s 39-yard field goal put the Lions ahead 10-7 with 9:38 left in the second quarter, but Monte Vista retook the lead 14-10 before the half on a 14-yard TD catch by Rutchena on a slant. Noah Rivas’ long interception return off a Butterfield tipped pass set up the score.
Liberty appeared to be in a complete command early in the second half, marching 63 yards for a score on its opening series capped by a 2-yard Bartley TD run. The lead was 24-14 on Lee’s 9-yard scamper early in the fourth quarter after an interception by Liberty lineman Damian Taylor.
Partridge tipped his cap to Monte Vista.
“That is a really good football team and I suspect that we’re gonna see them again,” he said. “All the penalties we committed, it’s unfortunate. When you do that, you disrespect the game like that, bad things are going to happen to you in the end. It’s hard to rely on a high school kicker. We’ve relied on the other team’s kicker two weeks in a row.”