Balanced attack leads Liberty Ranch over El Dorado

Hawk duo runs for 412 yards, six touchdowns

Christian Wisniewski found his passing groove early and often for the El Dorado High football team Friday night but it wasn't enough.

In the first half of the Cougars' Sierra Valley Conference homecoming game against Liberty Ranch, Wisniewski completed 8-of-18 passes for 135 yards and a touchdown. Wide receiver Gabe Derilo hauled in one of Wisniewski's passes up the middle with 4:09 left in the second quarter and rocketed past two Hawk inside linebackers en route to the end zone to complete a 57-yard scoring play.

The extra-point closed Liberty Ranch's margin to 21-7. El Dorado had a few other times to score in the first half and the Hawks, behind a balanced offense, went onto a 56-7 victory.

The loss drops El Dorado to 0-3 in the Sierra Valley Conference and 1-6 overall. Liberty Ranch's victory put it in a three-way tie with Cosumnes Oaks and Vista del Lago atop the conference standings.

Wisniewski's scoring strike to Derilo lifted the Cougars who missed a first-quarter opportunity to score after Andrew Countryman recovered running back John Wiernicki's fumble at the Liberty Ranch 40-yard line. Ten plays later at the Hawks' 9 facing fourth-down-and-one, El Dorado turned the ball over on downs.

"We just got to step it up," Wisniewski said. "Football is a team sport. If all 11 guys do their job."

Wisniewski did give credit where credit was due — Liberty Ranch's two-pronged running attack of Wiernicki and John Kendall. Wiernick, the state's rushing leader coming in, had 13 carries for 215 yards while Kendall finished with 197 yards.

"They are just a good football team," Wisniewski said as he was greeted by family and friends afterward. "I thought it was a close game (in the first half). I thought we could try to come back."

Leading 35-7 entering the second half, Liberty Ranch went to the air on its first drive. Hawk quarterback Jacob Tibbetts completed his first three passes — the last to wide receiver Jake Oliver for 21 yards and the touchdown with 10:48 left to make it 42-7.

"We did want to work on some things," Liberty Ranch coach Anthony Linebaugh said. "El Dorado is a very physical team and we tried to match up to their physicality. Our goal was to be as balanced as possible."

Wiernicki jump-started the Hawks to a 14-0 lead in the first quarter on 3 and 8-yard touchdown runs. Kendall then scored on a 1-yard run with 5:42 in the second quarter to make it 21-0 before the Cougars got on the scoreboard.

After El Dorado scored its only touchdown, Liberty Ranch scored two more courtesy of the speed and strength of Wiernicki, who scored on 2 and 87-yard runs. Austin Piatt booted all of the Hawks' extra-points in the first half.

The Hawks increased their lead to 49-7 when Wiernicki scored on an 8-yard run with 3:21 left in the third quarter and they scored their last touchdown when running back Justin Edgmon scored on a 2-yard run with 3:16 left in the game.

Of the four times El Dorado had the ball in the second half, only once did it cross into Liberty Ranch territory.

El Dorado finished with 281 total yards. Derilo had 10 receptions for 169 yards while tight end Zack Brown hauled in three passes for 33 yards. Liberty Ranch had 590 total yards, with 422 on the ground and 168 passing.

In the junior varsity game, Liberty Ranch's squad stayed perfect on the season at 4-0 in league and 7-0 overall after posting a 41-6 victory.

Next Friday, El Dorado will play at Union Mine.

 

Mike Bush

Mike Bush is sports writer and features writer for the Mountain Democrat.

View all my stories Email Me MBushMtDemo