Liberty earns its first football playoff win after keeping Webster City in check

The Liberty Lightning's magical season remained intact after they took down the Webster City Lynx 24-14 Friday to earn the program's first postseason victory.

Liberty head coach James Harris said the team earned this opportunity.

"I am thrilled and so excited for our guys," Harris said. "They have all worked so hard to get here. They have invested the sweat and effort necessary to be here. I am blessed to have great coaches that put together great game plans."

Overcoming the Lynx's quick start to the game, the Lightning relied heavily on their defense and run game to get it done.

Liberty's defense comes up big when it matters the most

After the stellar offensive season that the Lightning has had, it is easy to forget that there is another unit on the team who has been playing lights out.

The Lightning's defense has made big plays all season and Friday night was no exception.

After allowing a touchdown on Webster City's first drive, they cleaned things up to shut out Webster City for the rest of the first half.

To do so, they forced and recovered a fumble, broke up a pass on 4th down, and got a key sack from Dantrell Skinner that took away the Lynx's momentum ahead of halftime.

Knowing the tough challenge that the Lynx's run game would present, Harris said the team did everything it could to try to be prepared.

"It is hard to mimic those guys in practice," Harris said. "We were giving ourselves a look so that we would know what they were going to run, but you cannot mimic what they do. But we had guys make really good plays for us like Dantrell Skinner, our linebackers played really well, and we had a lot of guys step up. It was a total team effort."

The second half was just as good as the first, as the Lynx had just one scoring drive after numerous big stops from Liberty.

In the third quarter, senior linebacker Trey Gregoire picked off a pass, which eventually led to a field goal. The group also forced four turnovers on downs, including two pass breakups from junior defensive back Cody Nichols.

Understanding how much was on the line, Nichols said that he and his teammates were ready to respond.

"They came out and drove the field on us on the first drive," Nichols said. "We knew that we had to step it up and they were not able to do much else to us for the rest of the game."

With the ease they managed to make plays, it took a lot of pressure off of their offense, which was having an uncommonly slow night.

While moving forward the team would prefer to be more balanced, it is a welcome sign to see the defense step up when needed.

Graham Beckman proves that he brings a lot more to the table than just a big arm

When someone throws for two touchdowns, with each of them from over 20 yards away, that deserves its fair share of praise.

But that is just the tip of the iceberg of the impact that Graham Beckman had against Webster City. In addition to making plays in the air, he managed to stretch the field with his legs too.

He rushed for four first downs and was one of his team's leaders in rushing yards and carries.

Beckman said that his athletic ability allows his team to present difficult matchups for opposing defenses.

"It makes it hard for teams to scout us," Beckman said. "When we can run and pass the ball, it is not easy to stop us because they will never know what's coming."

As Beckman becomes a bigger part of the team's run game, the sky is the limit for how dangerous he can be this postseason and beyond.

So what comes next?

As exciting as this moment was for the Lightning, it is just the start. Liberty will be hosting the Carlisle Wildcats on Friday night.

"It means a lot to play at home again," Beckman said. "A great community surrounds us here at Liberty. So, whenever they can come and cheer us on, it is big for us."

This article originally appeared on Iowa City Press-Citizen: Liberty Lightning gets their first playoff win against Webster City