On November 6, 2013 the Liberty North football team took the field in the second round of the district tournament facing Smithville. With the Eagles having a home field advantage; they were ready to take on the Warriors. Both teams entered the game with a record of 6-4.

“It’s really nice to be able to play at home. We have more support from our fans and it’s the environment we’re used to,” sophomore Sal Silvio said

After a close first half, both defenses had kept the offenses scoreless. With the score of 0-0 in the at the start of the second quarter; at 9:33 Jaylend Simmons ran for a touchdown and a made, giving the Eagles a 7 point lead.

“It was really good for us to get on the board first. It shows that we are here and ready to win,” senior Paul Silvio said.

Although North had the lead, Smithville believed that still at a shot at continuing their season. With 5:03 to go in the second quarter, a 39 yard field goal attempt was made, bringing the score to 7-3, North ahead by 4. Just minutes after the made field goal, the Warriors scored yet again with 1:52 left in the first half. The Eagles then trailed 10-7.

“It was really nerve wrecking to watch the boys get down. Smithville scored twice back to back without any unanswered points from us,” junior Shelby Bachman said.

Shortly into the third quarter, with 9:05 remaining, North answered back, scoring yet another touchdown. The score now escalated with the Eagles ahead at 14-10. With 3:01 remaining in the 3rd, a 28 yard field goal is made by the Eagles, giving them a 7 point lead. The third quarter ended with that same lead.

“Once we had a 7 point lead, I knew there was no stopping us. Smithville could not stop our running game,” senior Bryce Shepherd said,

However, the first portion of the 4th quarter remained scoreless, for both teams. After many run attempts, neither team came up a touchdown or field goal. With 6 minutes left in the game, Harrison Trinidad scored yet another touchdown, giving the Eagles a large lead. After close plays from both teams, another touchdown was scored with 50 seconds remaining, giving the Eagles a final score of 31-10.

“It was a great feeling to beat Smithville. We’ve had some hard losses to them in the past, so it was a good feeling to be on the other side of that,” Silvio said.

The Eagles will face St. Joesph Lafeytte in the district championship on Monday, November 11 at the William Jewell stadium.