After a quarter at Liberty High Friday night, Spanish Springs of Sparks, Nev., held a 7-3 lead, the Cougars were playing confidently and the mood in the away stands was cautiously optimistic.
That mood did not last long.
Two-way Liberty standout Jalen Hankins punched in a pair of rushing touchdowns, Jace Nixon hit Tre Fulton in the corner of the end zone and Mehki Delouth added a score of his own to put the Patriots up 31-17 at the half.
Then they poured on 27 more points for good measure — highlighted by back-to-back punt-return touchdowns from cornerback Kresean Kizzy — and ran away with a 58-17 victory.
"I really loved the intensity of our kids," Liberty coach Bryan Nixon said. "They came out and played really hard, that was the best part for us... we just had a few mental mistakes, which we're going to have in the first week."
Picking up where he left off from last year, when the Patriots won a regional bowl game, Hankins posted 113 total yards and two touchdowns in the first half alone.
Meanwhile, Liberty did not resolve its preseason quarterback competition, with starter Cole O'Brien and Jace Nixon splitting time until the game was out of reach, while Xander Chisolm played wide receiver.
O'Brien had a strong drive at the end of the first quarter entering the second with completions of 19, 9, 11 and 20 yards to set up a Hankins score. Nixon tossed the touchdown to Fulton, but also threw a pick at midfield to Spanish Springs' Aidan O'Neil while attempting to score points before the half. Then O'Brien came back in the third and hit Ermiah Harrison on a middle screen that the senior receiver ran in for a 19-yard score.
"They just need reps," Nixon said. "They both do a lot of good things. That was good for them to get their first varsity experience, and we'll build on that and move forward."
The senior quarterback added a second score in the second quarter on a deflected pass in the end zone, which briefly cut Liberty's lead back to 17-14. However, following Jace Nixon's touchdown, Dain didn't see Beckam Nilsson while trying to throw a slant left, and the linebacker intercepted the pass and took the ball back to the 4-yard line, setting up an easy Delouth score.
The teams traded rapid-fire, ineffective possessions before halftime, with the Cougars reaching Liberty territory with time running out, but failing to spike the ball in time.
Spanish Springs caught a break in the third quarter when Liberty's punter reached for a low snap and put his knee down after corralling it. But the Cougars mustered just two yards before a long field goal from Michael Mendez that made it 31-17.
Those were their final points of the game. O'Brien and Delouth led a methodical touchdown drive, and then came an unlikely sequence in which Spanish Springs ran 12 straight plays for a net of minus-1 yard and allowed 14 points in the process. Kizzy took a pair of Cougar punts back for scores from around midfield, looping around to the right sideline both times, following his blockers and then turning on the jets.
"We got him and Jalen back there, and if they get the ball we always like our chances," Nixon said. "So great for him, great for our punt-return team, they just did a nice job building that wall."
The Cougars' third straight punt attempt went nowhere, due to a bobbled snap. Beginning from the opposing 20-yard line, the Patriots, by this time up 52-17, put in reserves, and Hayden Higbee scored a touchdown six plays later.