Moments after Liberty’s potentially game-winning drive came up short against Bellevue Oct. 23, the Patriot players and coaches gathered on the field as they do after every game.
As a group, they thought of only one thing: “We will see them again.”
They were right. Liberty will face Bellevue Friday night at 7:30 at the Tacoma Dome, this time with the 3A state title on the line.
“It’s been a long road since then,” said Liberty coach Steve Valach. “I think we knew they were going to be there. The question was, ‘Are we going to be there?'”
How did they get here?
Bellevue has played its best football at the right time. The Wolverines ran up 42-3 against league foe Mount Si in a first round game that was never close.
Next up was Glacier Peak. Bellevue moved on easily, 34-7.
The Wolverines’ biggest test came last week against Union. In a rematch of last season’s 3A state title game, Bellevue relied on four field goals from Race Sciabica to edge the Titans 19-13.
Liberty’s path has been much more thrilling. The Patriots trailed O’Dea 35-17 in the fourth quarter before scoring 21 straight points to win. Liberty then went the distance with a three-overtime win against Lindbergh.
Last week, the Patriots’ Dean Byron kicked a 43-yard field goal with one second left to beat Lakes 17-14.
The Oct. 23 game
Bellevue and Liberty played Oct. 23 at Liberty.
Liberty took an early 7-0 lead when Trey Wheeler found Jake Bainton for an 11-yard touchdown. Bellevue stormed back with 24 unanswered points to take a 24-7 lead.
Wheeler connected with Chandler Jenkins and Bainton again in the second half to pull the Patriots within three. Bellevue’s Sciabica kicked a field goal and Liberty’s final drive ended in a tipped-pass interception.
Even after the head-to-head win, Liberty isn’t shying away.
“We respect them, but we’re not intimidated by them,” Valach said.
Comeback kids
With so many comeback wins against good teams this season, and two late-season comebacks against Mount Si and Kennedy last year, it will be hard to count the Patriots out of any game.
“A little adversity isn’t going to rock their worlds.” Valach said. “They’ve always expected to win. But I think their belief level is very high right now.”
Long playoff run a new challenge
Liberty hasn’t been this deep into the state playoffs since 1988, when the team won its last state title.
After 13 games, injuries have come and gone.
“Having never been this far before, it’s a grind, it’s tiring,” Valach said. “But you’re here and you’re done in four days.”
Bainton, Jenkins and Dan Eck have all come down with injuries in the recent weeks. Bainton and Jenkins will be fine to play Friday, while Eck practiced early in the week after using crutches on the sidelines against Lakes.
A special team
Right from the start of practice, it was clear this team was talented. Returning sophomores Wheeler, Jenkins and Bainton all showed flashes last year. Pairing those players with senior leadership all over the place, made for a dynamic group. Even so, there are a lot of talented teams around the state and having the right athletes in the right spots doesn’t always add up to a place in the state title game.
And it rarely adds up to a team that can rattle off a string of wins like Liberty has. The catalyst in making this a special team was the Oct. 23 contest.
“A lot of that happened in the Bellevue game,” Valach said. “We played at a new level. That was when it started.”
Even with a loss that night, the Patriots transformed from a very close and very talented team into a special one.
Now Liberty gets a shot to correct the lone blemish on an otherwise spotless season.
“I like this,” Valach said. “I think this is the way it’s supposed to be. We haven’t beat them for a long time, what would be a better setting than the state championship game?”
RentonReporter.com’s sister site, BellevueReporter.com will be live blogging the game on their site. Once you’ve activate the chat, you can catch updates from Bellevue Sports Editor Joel Willits and chat with him throughout the game.
