The Liberty University Football team defeated the University of Maine Black Bears 28-7 on Saturday in the season home opener.
Making his debut for the Flames, redshirt junior quarterback Ethan Vasko led Liberty down the field from the 34-yard line before being stopped at the 20-yard line. From there, Head Coach Jamey Chadwell opted for a field goal on an unsuccessful fourth-and-19, giving Maine the ball with six minutes remaining in the first quarter.
The Black Bears’ momentum was extinguished once they made it to the 40-yard line as the Flames forced a turnover on a fourth-and-2 where senior defensive lineman CJ Bazile Jr. sacked Maine’s quarterback, Carter Peevy.
At the start of the second quarter, the Black Bears regained possession of the ball after the Flames were forced to punt on a fourth down. From there, Maine running back Sincere Baines scored on a 77-yard run, giving the Black Bears the lead 7-0 in the first two minutes of the quarter.
As the quarter progressed, Peevy was sacked again, this time by redshirt sophomore defensive lineman Brenton Williams, which gave the Flames momentum to swing the game in their favor.
Following a cycle of punts from both teams, Liberty gained possession of the ball after Bazile recovered a fumble with 24 seconds left in the first half. Vasko and junior wide receiver Jamari Person connected on a 20-yard pass, landing the ball on the 19-yard line before a timeout was called to freeze the clock.
Returning from the timeout, Vasko set up a touchdown pass as redshirt senior wide receiver Reese Smith caught the ball in the end zone unguarded with seven seconds remaining. Redshirt senior kicker Jay Billingsley tied the score on the extra point attempt as both teams headed for the locker room in preparation for the second half.
Maine started the second half with the ball but had to punt it away after being locked down by the Flames defense.
Both teams held each other at a stalemate until Liberty recovered the ball, allowing redshirt freshman Caden Williams to gain 23 yards on a run. Vasko followed up with a 17-yard cannon to senior wide receiver Casey Cain, bringing the Flames 30 yards away from the end zone as the quarter came to a close.
Entering fourth quarter, it was do-or-die for both teams. Maine delivered the first blow after a forced turnover on fourth down and then proceeded to carry the ball down to the 40-yard line. Another successful turnover thanks to the Flames defense meant the home team had another shot at breaking the tie.
Vasko and Smith connected on an 11-yard pass which was extended to 26 yards due to a personal foul on the defensive side. The Flames continued to inch their way toward the red, but a false start set them back five yards. Overcoming the lost yardage, Vasko and Smith worked their magic once again to regain 11 yards. This set up for Vasko to target redshirt sophomore Evan Dickens, who brought the ball in for his first touchdown as a Flame as well as the first of his career. Billingsley secured the extra point to give Liberty the 14-7 lead.
“They went man coverage, and then we just had that little screen going out to (Dickens), and he just made a great play,” Vasko said. “I mean get the ball in his hands — he’s a super-fast player — so he outran the secondary and outran the good angle and just made a huge play.”
The Flames kept the heat on full blast as senior cornerback Amarian Williams intercepted the ball on the Maine 48-yard line, allowing Vasko and redshirt senior Elijah Canion to connect on a 15-yard pass.
With five minutes to go, junior wide receiver Donte Lee Jr. brought in a 16-yard pass for another touchdown, bringing the score to 20-7, which was increased to 21-7 with another successful extra point attempt by Billingsley.
With Maine down, Liberty capitalized again by scoring another touchdown when Vasko ran the ball into the end zone with one minute remaining on the clock, ending the game 28-7 and giving the Flames their first victory to begin the season 1-0.
“It was awesome,” Vasko said about his first touchdown as a Flame. “Great blocking there, I mean it was wide open.”
Despite a few rough patches at the start, Chadwell praised his team for persevering to the end and coming away with the victory.
“I was really pleased with how our guys played hard in all four quarters, and we did a good job of not beating ourselves,” Chadwell said. “We kept executing.”
The Flames hit the road for game two as they take on Jacksonville State University Sept. 6 at noon EST. The game will be televised on CBS Sports Network.
Warden is the opinion editor for the Liberty Champion.