Facebook
Fark
Digg
Reddit
Stumble
Saturday, Sept. 12, 2009 | midnight
Liberty’s Ty Byrd had a pair of first half touchdown runs Friday night and the Patriots opened a 34-point halftime lead in a 54-0 victory against host Chaparral.
Byrd had scoring runs of 20 and 7 yards in the first half outburst and quarterback Samuel Tai added a 3-yard touchdown run and 11-yard scoring strike to Dylan Rogers with 23.3 seconds left in the half for a 34-0 halftime advantage.
Teu Tai added a 14-yard touchdown run in the second quarter and Samson Toalei had two of Liberty’s three first half interceptions.
The first half performance was exactly what Liberty (1-1) was striving for. The Patriots hung with Legacy in their season opener on Aug. 28, but had four interceptions in struggling to put points on the board once they got the ball inside Legacy’s 20-yard line.
Those struggles didn’t continue against Chaparral (0-2). Byrd’s first touchdown came on a fourth down play with 6:43 to play in the initial quarter and the Patriots continued to convert the rest of the evening.
“We knew from watching film that we were bigger than them up front,” Liberty coach Rich Muraco said. “We knew that if we limited our turnovers and used our size to our advantage, we’d wear them out.”
The Patriots didn’t let up in the second half, including a pair of touchdowns from freshman Niko Kapeli. Kapeli finished with 172 total yards — 89 rushing and 83 receiving.
Chaparral High School has seen better days.
Once among the top performing schools in the Clark County School District, Chaparral High is undergoing changes to counter dismal test scores and the lowest graduation rate in the district.
The campus located near East Flamingo Road and U.S. 95 is one of five turnaround schools not meeting the expectations outlined in No Child Left Behind.
Chaparral is now looking to clean up its reputation, touching every aspect of the school from restrooms to test scores.
Changes weren’t received well by students who openly protested the cuts to faculty and the new order that banned the use of cell phones and music players during the school day.
Under stricter rules, tardy students are locked out of classrooms, bathroom breaks during class time aren’t allowed and the lunch hour was pushed back to 1:40 p.m.
Superintendent Dwight Jones told students he’s not settling for half successes.
“Right now, 50 percent of the kids in this school don’t graduate high school. Is that acceptable to you? Think about that. Right now, some of the friends that you’re with aren’t going to graduate. Is that OK? That’s unacceptable to me. I think you guys ought to kick all of us out.”
- Year built:
- 1971
- Mascot:
- Cowboys
- Principal (Year Hired):
- David Wilson (2011)
- Enrollment:
- Approximately 2,250
- School Report Card:
- 2010-2011
Compiled by Gregan Wingert
Post a comment
Commenting requires registration.
Comments are moderated by Las Vegas Sun editors. Our goal is not to limit the discussion, but rather to elevate it. Comments should be relevant and contain no abusive language. Comments that are off-topic, vulgar, profane or include personal attacks will be removed. Full comments policy.
If you would like to submit your comment as a letter to the editor, you may submit it here.