A Top-10 Catch With a Victory for the Flames
A SportsCenter top-10 catch, a deflected interception turned into a touchdown and a 99-yard drive were just a few things that led to the Liberty Flames football team defeating the Old Dominion Monarchs 38-24 Oct. 1 in Norfolk, Virginia.
The Flames entered the matchup with questions at quarterback after starter Kaidon Salter missed the victory over Akron due to a groin injury. Second-string Johnathan Bennett led the offense against the Zips before being benched in favor of Nate Hampton in the fourth quarter.
For Old Dominion, Salter would be healthy enough to start at signal-caller for the Flames, with Bennett backing him up.
After winning the opening coin toss and deferring to the second half, Liberty put its star-studded defense on the field first.
The defense wasted no time making its presence felt, intercepting Monarchs’ quarterback Hayden Wolff on just the fourth play of the game, giving Salter and the offense great field position at the 34-yard line.
The offense did not squander the opportunity, as Salter rolled to his right and delivered a touchdown pass to wide receiver Jaivian Lofton, who made a phenomenal one-handed catch, reaching up as if he was plucking an apple off a tree, to give the Flames an early 7-0 lead.
The defense for both teams took over for a moment, with three straight possessions ending in three-and-outs.
It appeared as though it would be another defensive struggle until Salter and the offense found a little luck, as a would-be interception slipped from the hands of defensive back Robert Kennedy III and into the arms of wide receiver CJ Yarbrough, to give the Flames a 14-0 lead just over halfway through the first quarter.
Old Dominion answered the call on its next drive, however, marching down the field for an eight play, 75-yard drive to make it a 14-7 game.
Liberty would turn it over on its next possession after a Salter interception, and Old Dominion took advantage, going 40 yards in eight plays for a touchdown to tie the game up at 14.
Salter and the offense responded quickly, methodically moving the ball down the field for an 83-yard drive in seven plays, capped off by a 29-yard touchdown run from running back Dae Dae Hunter.
The Monarchs responded with a 34-yard field goal from Ethan Sanchez on their next drive, making it a 21-17 game in favor of the Flames.
Four straight punts and an interception by Salter in the red zone right before the end of the half would keep it at 21-17 through two quarters.
The Flames opened the second half on offense, but with a different look, as Head Coach Hugh Freeze opted to go with Bennett at quarterback for the second half.
“At some point, I believe that Kaidon Salter is going to become a really, really good quarterback,” Freeze said postgame. “It’s coming. He’s just young. I got too negative on him, but he was just doing some crazy things and he was not feeling well. He’s not well. He can’t move right now, and that’s got his mind messed up.”
With that being the case, Bennett came in calm and collected, leading the Flames to a field goal on their second drive of the half, a 49-yarder off the leg of Nick Brown to make it 24-17 Flames.
Old Dominion refused to go away, though, responding back with an impressive 75-yard touchdown drive to tie the game up at 24.
Bennett and the offense would have to respond, and they did just that, going 70 yards on just six plays to score a touchdown and give them the lead back at 31-24.
Hunter paced the offense on that drive, accounting for 55 of the 70 yards, including the go-ahead 32-yard touchdown run, his second of the game.
Liberty’s defense stepped up on its next possession, forcing Old Dominion to punt, but the ball was downed at the Flames 1-yard line.
The turning point of the game would come on this drive, with Bennett leading the Flames to a near five-minute, 99-yard touchdown drive, capped off by a 41-yard touchdown pass to Hunter, his third total touchdown of the night.
With Liberty now up 38-24, a turnover on downs and a fumble on the Monarchs next two possessions would effectively seal the deal.
After struggling to get anything going offensively against Akron last week, Liberty put up 38 points and 478 yards of total offense, both season-highs.
The running game came up huge again for the Flames, with two players eclipsing 100 rushing yards in Hunter (121) and Shedro Louis (109).
“Dae Dae (Hunter) is a football player,” Freeze said. “He played really well. We had a good plan to highlight him and Shedro (Louis).”
The win moves the Flames to 4-1 on the season, just two wins shy of being bowl eligible for the fourth straight year.
Liberty’s next game comes on the road against UMass (1-4) Oct. 8 at 3:30 p.m. on ESPN+.
McCuskey is the asst. sports editor for the Liberty Champion. Follow him on Twitter
