#4 Liberty (8-3) at #1 Wyoming Valley West (11-0)
All Time Playoff Series: Liberty Leads 1-0
Last Playoff Meeting: #3 Liberty defeated #2 Wyoming Valley West 29-23 in 2004
Liberty Leaders
Passing: Doug Erney: 127-212, 1,884 yards, 23 TDs, 6 INTs
Rushing: Gunner Anglovech: 167-1,147-17
Receiving: Victor Santiago: 36-646-10
Wyoming Valley West Leaders
Passing: Aaron Austin: 105-165, 1,581 yards, 24 TD, 10 INT
Rushing: Sean Judge: 104-1,233-15
Receiving: Devon Weidman: 35-632-10
Tackles: Zach Davies: 123
Sacks: Chris Reese: 8
Interceptions: Sean Judge: 5
The Last Time They Met
Liberty and Wyoming Valley West met in the 2004 subregional, the first year of the newly formed subregional after reorganizing the playoffs to include the Philly Public League. It was the first inter-district match up by D2 and D11 in postseason play. Wyoming Valley West took a 23-22 lead with three and a half minutes to play after Liberty punt hit an offensive lineman, giving the Spartans the ball on the 22 yard line. But on the ensuing drive, Liberty put the ball in the hands of sophomore quarterback Dan Persa, and Persa delivered for the first of what would be many times in his postseason career, connecting for a 24 yard pass to convert a third and 15, then scoring a 52 yard touchdown on a QB draw that allowed the Hurricanes to escape, 29-23.
Liberty Last Week
The Hurricanes destroyed Stroudsburg, 44-0 in an easy home win in the first round of the subregional. Doug Erney threw for 250 yards and three touchdowns, hitting six different receivers, led by Victor Santiago’s 105 yards and a score on five catches. Nasir Legre made his return to the backfield and ran for 59 yards on eight carries, and Gunner Anglovich racked up another 93 yards to go over 1,100 yards on the year. Defensively, the Hurricanes had their best effort of the season, holding 1,600 yard rusher Jamaal Brome to 18 yards on 8 carries. They also harassed Jake Jakobson into a 2-7 day throwing the football, an unceremonious end to the career of the most prolific passer in Stroudsburg history.
Wyoming Valley West Last Week
Wyoming Valley West posted a wild 51-34 win over Nazareth, getting goaded into a shoot-out, like just about every other team on Nazareth’s schedule. The Blue Eagles took a 14-7 lead at the end of the first quarter, but WVW scored 45 points in the final three quarters to win going away. WVW ran for 348 yards, and gained 495 yards of offense overall, led by 116 rushing yards on 11 carries by Sean Judge, who also returned a kick off for a touchdown. Devon Weidman ran for 106 yards and a TD, and caught 4 passes for 67 yards and another touchdown. However, the most outstanding player on the field was Nazareth sophomore Jahan Dotson, who caught 6 passes for 172 yards and four TDs, intercepted a pass, returned a kickoff 85 yards for a TD, had a second kick return TD called back for a penalty, and had a 65 yard kick return to the 23 that set up one of his TD catches.
When Liberty Has the Ball
The Hurricanes don’t have a receiver quite like Dotson (nobody in the Lehigh Valley does), but they have a corps of receivers who can really put pressure on the WVW pass defense. The Spartans are built to stop the run, and playing in D2 have lived off of stifling opposing ground games. But Nazareth showed last week you can push the ball downfield against their secondary, which the Hurricanes will try to replicate. Santiago has been their go-to guy out of the slot all season, but look for a possible Darian Street breakout now that he’s a few weeks recovered from nagging injuries that kept him out in the back half of the schedule. At 6’4 with track speed, he’s a real match up problem for the WVW secondary. WVW will counter with a vicious pass rush, particularly from defensive ends LJ Wesneski and Chris Reese, who have combined for 15 sacks and 21 tackles for loss on the year. They’ll have to get to Erney and keep Liberty behind schedule.
When Wyoming Valley West Has the Ball
In Liberty’s losses they’ve yielded 304 rushing yards to Nysir Minney-Gratz, 202 rushing yards to Andres Santos, and 150 yards to Julian Liaci (on essentially long handoffs in the passing game). The Hurricanes were giving up over 30 points per game before last week’s shutout, and WVW is licking their chops to attack this defense. Judge will get his touches out of the backfield, and while I don’t think they’ll air it out against a good Liberty secondary, Aaron Austin will pick his spots to test them downfield, particularly if they overcommit to their linebackers to the running game. Tight end LJ Wesneski is a match up problem for Liberty, as they don’t really have anybody built to cover a 235 pound tight end in the middle of the field.
The Pick
Liberty has been a tough team to figure out all year. I don’t know if anybody has a higher ceiling, particularly on offense, of any team in the subregional. But getting those performances out week to week (or even quarter to quarter) has been a struggle. Wyoming Valley West is a good, experienced team, particularly on defense, and will be able to take advantage of Liberty’s lapses in focus and execution if they happen.
Wyoming Valley West: 45-31
All Time Playoff Series: Liberty Leads 1-0
Last Playoff Meeting: #3 Liberty defeated #2 Wyoming Valley West 29-23 in 2004
Liberty Leaders
Passing: Doug Erney: 127-212, 1,884 yards, 23 TDs, 6 INTs
Rushing: Gunner Anglovech: 167-1,147-17
Receiving: Victor Santiago: 36-646-10
Wyoming Valley West Leaders
Passing: Aaron Austin: 105-165, 1,581 yards, 24 TD, 10 INT
Rushing: Sean Judge: 104-1,233-15
Receiving: Devon Weidman: 35-632-10
Tackles: Zach Davies: 123
Sacks: Chris Reese: 8
Interceptions: Sean Judge: 5
The Last Time They Met
Liberty and Wyoming Valley West met in the 2004 subregional, the first year of the newly formed subregional after reorganizing the playoffs to include the Philly Public League. It was the first inter-district match up by D2 and D11 in postseason play. Wyoming Valley West took a 23-22 lead with three and a half minutes to play after Liberty punt hit an offensive lineman, giving the Spartans the ball on the 22 yard line. But on the ensuing drive, Liberty put the ball in the hands of sophomore quarterback Dan Persa, and Persa delivered for the first of what would be many times in his postseason career, connecting for a 24 yard pass to convert a third and 15, then scoring a 52 yard touchdown on a QB draw that allowed the Hurricanes to escape, 29-23.
Liberty Last Week
The Hurricanes destroyed Stroudsburg, 44-0 in an easy home win in the first round of the subregional. Doug Erney threw for 250 yards and three touchdowns, hitting six different receivers, led by Victor Santiago’s 105 yards and a score on five catches. Nasir Legre made his return to the backfield and ran for 59 yards on eight carries, and Gunner Anglovich racked up another 93 yards to go over 1,100 yards on the year. Defensively, the Hurricanes had their best effort of the season, holding 1,600 yard rusher Jamaal Brome to 18 yards on 8 carries. They also harassed Jake Jakobson into a 2-7 day throwing the football, an unceremonious end to the career of the most prolific passer in Stroudsburg history.
Wyoming Valley West Last Week
Wyoming Valley West posted a wild 51-34 win over Nazareth, getting goaded into a shoot-out, like just about every other team on Nazareth’s schedule. The Blue Eagles took a 14-7 lead at the end of the first quarter, but WVW scored 45 points in the final three quarters to win going away. WVW ran for 348 yards, and gained 495 yards of offense overall, led by 116 rushing yards on 11 carries by Sean Judge, who also returned a kick off for a touchdown. Devon Weidman ran for 106 yards and a TD, and caught 4 passes for 67 yards and another touchdown. However, the most outstanding player on the field was Nazareth sophomore Jahan Dotson, who caught 6 passes for 172 yards and four TDs, intercepted a pass, returned a kickoff 85 yards for a TD, had a second kick return TD called back for a penalty, and had a 65 yard kick return to the 23 that set up one of his TD catches.
When Liberty Has the Ball
The Hurricanes don’t have a receiver quite like Dotson (nobody in the Lehigh Valley does), but they have a corps of receivers who can really put pressure on the WVW pass defense. The Spartans are built to stop the run, and playing in D2 have lived off of stifling opposing ground games. But Nazareth showed last week you can push the ball downfield against their secondary, which the Hurricanes will try to replicate. Santiago has been their go-to guy out of the slot all season, but look for a possible Darian Street breakout now that he’s a few weeks recovered from nagging injuries that kept him out in the back half of the schedule. At 6’4 with track speed, he’s a real match up problem for the WVW secondary. WVW will counter with a vicious pass rush, particularly from defensive ends LJ Wesneski and Chris Reese, who have combined for 15 sacks and 21 tackles for loss on the year. They’ll have to get to Erney and keep Liberty behind schedule.
When Wyoming Valley West Has the Ball
In Liberty’s losses they’ve yielded 304 rushing yards to Nysir Minney-Gratz, 202 rushing yards to Andres Santos, and 150 yards to Julian Liaci (on essentially long handoffs in the passing game). The Hurricanes were giving up over 30 points per game before last week’s shutout, and WVW is licking their chops to attack this defense. Judge will get his touches out of the backfield, and while I don’t think they’ll air it out against a good Liberty secondary, Aaron Austin will pick his spots to test them downfield, particularly if they overcommit to their linebackers to the running game. Tight end LJ Wesneski is a match up problem for Liberty, as they don’t really have anybody built to cover a 235 pound tight end in the middle of the field.
The Pick
Liberty has been a tough team to figure out all year. I don’t know if anybody has a higher ceiling, particularly on offense, of any team in the subregional. But getting those performances out week to week (or even quarter to quarter) has been a struggle. Wyoming Valley West is a good, experienced team, particularly on defense, and will be able to take advantage of Liberty’s lapses in focus and execution if they happen.
Wyoming Valley West: 45-31