Liberty ran over the North Kitsap defense on the way to a 52-17 win Friday night in a preliminary state tournament game.

The Patriots rushed for 516 yards on 48 carries, an average of nearly 11 yards per carry. Liberty opened the game with 24 unanswered points by way of a Greg Ericksen 30-yard touchdown run, a Trey Wheeler to Richard Crespo eight-yard touchdown reception, a Chandler Jenkins nine-yard touchdown run and a Keegan Bennett 27-yard field goal.

North Kitsap managed to respond with 10 points in the second and third quarters, pulling to 24-10, before Liberty rattled off another spurt. This time it was 28 straight points for the Patriots.

A number of Liberty players had productive games. Joseph Yea rushed 11 times for 79 yards. John Kirksey rushed twice for 100 yards. Ericksen rushed seven times for 123 yards and two touchdowns. Jenkins rushed 21 times for 159 yards and a touchdown. Turner Chatterton rushed four times for 52 yards and a touchdown.

Wheeler completed nine of 18 passes for 126 yards and a touchdown. Liberty’s Taylor Hamann intercepted two passes and broke up another.

Liberty (8-2, 5-1 KingCo 3A) will play Kennedy (9-1, 8-0 Seamount) in the round of 16 in the state playoffs. Kennedy defeated Camas 35-23 in the preliminary round on Saturday and won the Seamount this season. The two meet at Kennedy on Friday at 7:30 p.m.