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Liberty quarterback Kai Nacua takes off on a keeper against Del Sol during their game Saturday, October 2, 2011. Liberty won 34-0.
Friday, Nov. 11, 2011 | midnight
Prep Sports Now
Familiar arguments emerge as playoffs move along
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Las Vegas Sun sports reporters Ray Brewer and Case Keefer disagree on the Liberty vs. Las Vegas matchup for the same reasons as last year. They come to a consensus on the rest of the games, but also break down the matchups.
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Despite how it may appear, the Liberty coaches didn’t accidentally issue a No. 12 jersey to two different players.
It’s just that sometimes Kai Nacua does so many different things on the gridiron that it’s hard to believe it’s the same person. The junior is not an ordinary starting quarterback.
The Patriots also rely on Nacua to play almost every snap on defense. He’s the lead blocker on most of Liberty’s pitch plays. And he could do even more if needed, according to Liberty coach Rich Muraco.
“He’s our best receiver, no question,” Muraco said.
Nacua showcased his full set of skills in a 44-28 victory over Las Vegas High Thursday night. The win sends Liberty to a rematch with Foothill in the Sunrise Region championship game next Friday. It’s the second straight year the Patriots have reached the game after never making it that far in the program’s first eight years.
“I take a lot of pride in that,” Nacua said.
Nacua had plenty to be proud of Thursday. He was one of the sparks who led Liberty to score 38 unanswered points out of halftime to break a 7-7 tie.
The fourth score of that stretch came when Nacua intercepted Las Vegas quarterback Hasaan Henderson and returned it 44 yards for a touchdown. It came moments after he helped set up an offensive touchdown for the Patriots with a 60-yard completion to junior running back Niko Kapeli.
None of Nacua’s passes hit the grass against the Wildcats, as he went 6-for-6 for 130 yards and a touchdown.
“I knew they were going to bite on the runs,” Nacua said. “I knew that when we had a chance to pass, I had to be on point.”
Liberty’s opponents are understandably preoccupied with stopping the run because of Kapeli, one of the best rushers in the city. Kapeli went off for his second game of more than 300 yards and seventh of more than 200 this season against Las Vegas.
Kapeli finished with 40 carries for 310 yards and three touchdowns with 78 receiving yards tacked on top.
“Niko’s phenomenal,” Nacua said. “He tries to put the team on his back. I try to, too. I try to even it out a little bit, so he’s not overwhelmed.”
Liberty needed to lean on Nacua’s and Kapeli’s leadership all it could Thursday after a first half that didn’t go as expected. The Patriots fumbled four times in the opening 24 minutes.
Although they lost only one of them, the fumble problem halted three different drives. The Liberty defensive front — led by Skye Hesia, Kimo Seau and Jordan Kapeli — kept the team in the game by limiting Las Vegas’ offensive effectiveness.
But Henderson — who finished 18-for-25 for 194 yards passing and had 39 rushing yards — did find favorite target Miguel Cerrintino for a 29-yard touchdown to go up 7-0. Cerrintino had six catches for 134 yards.
Liberty answered when Nacua hit Dakota Mayer in stride for a 45-yard touchdown. Muraco sensed his team was nervous with the game tied, though, and cautioned them to calm down in the locker room.
“They’re a great team,” Muraco said of Las Vegas, “but we weren’t executing all the way.”
The offense came along to execute arguably its best all season in the second half. Nacua says the Patriots are “unstoppable” when both he and Kapeli are at the top of their games.
“The whole key to our offense is being able to pass,” Muraco said. “If we have no threat to pass, then teams can put 11 people in the box. We’ve developed some nice passing plays to where they have to keep two or three guys back.”
Case Keefer can be reached at 948-2790 or case.keefer@lasvegassun.com. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.
Congratulations Liberty. You guys are playing so well. Your offense is starting to click like crazy. You are going to be a tough matchup if your passing game continues to roll. Should be a great matchup next week. You and Foothill are both very deserving. Here's hoping for another great shootout and that both teams play hard and their best and no one gets hurt. Can't wait.
To Vegas and Basic, congratulations on a great year by both of you. Mr. Henderson and Mr. Victor thank you both for the last 3 years. You both were awesome and I like I believe everyone else in the valley, wish you both well in your futures.
Proud of the Patriots! We looked kind of disorganized in the first half but, as always, we turned things around and got back on track. Nacua and Kapeli really stepped things up when we needed it! The Wildcats' Victor played much better this year and Henderson was far more poised this time around. I was actually impressed by Henderson's play last night! But I still have to give it up to our Patriots. There has been a lot of talk about what we cant do against our opponents and lukewarm recognition on what we continue to do each week. The offense continues their reputation for playing physical, smashmouth ball. The defense has turned into a bend-but-dont-break type of team. In the end, we continue to WIN! Glad to see the coaches putting in the second team players as well.
Congrats to Foothill on the win over Basic! See you at Freedom Field next week.
On another note, I want to send a shout out to the Liberty Polynesian Club for another great half-time show...WOW! The Polynesian dances were awesome and the fireknife dance was an unexpected treat! Spectacular! This islander community has really grown and rallied around Liberty high and they've greatly and positively impacted this school! Hope we get another show this coming week!
Jtmaddox, you have right to be proud of the Patriots. They are playing so well right now. Have great fan support. Very good coaches. The best thing is that Liberty is doing things the right way. And the community is enjoy what the team is doing. I appreciate your comment about the coaches putting in your backups who work just as hard and are out there every day.
Big difference than that of Sanchez at BG, who thinks nothing of his backups. Instead choosing to put his entire starting o line, QB, wrs,and Starks kid with only 2:33 left in the game runs 7 plays including a play with 20 seconds left on the 11 yd line instead of taking a knee. oh yea, BG was already ahead by 29 pts.
How do you think those kids (the backups) feel about their coach. How about their families.
I guess that is the difference between a good coach who cares about his kids the way Muraco does and a classless coach like Sanchez who cares nothing about his.
Keep rolling Liberty.you have a lot to be proud of
Very 45-7 before Vegas starts moving on backups? I love being right. Liberty too physical for even a speedy Vegas. The northeast is weakest by far...thank you Basic and Liberty for proving that Canyon Springs and Las Vegas were way over ranked all season long. Great win for Liberty good for your program i'm sure we'll see you against Gorman in the semi's.
JTmaddox, did Vegas D have any success outside of the miscues in the first half? A few people rag on Liberty's coaching and predictable play calling but it sounds like we were all right, even if Vegas knew what Liberty was about to do they had no way of stopping it.
Congratulations to the Patriots. I wish the program continued success.
It looked like Vegas knew what to expect as far as Liberty's run game. But they overplayed it at times with secondary coming up too soon for run support. Although Liberty is known for the ground & pound, LV should've realized that the passing game had developed enough to where they should honor it in coverage. I'm pretty sure they got game film and had stats available to them.
When we needed it, Nacua came through with crucial connections to the RB, FB, TE, and WR. It was only 6 passes, but they were key passes that were called at the right time and put in the right spot (6 for 6 last night). They were set up perfectly too. Vegas also crowded and loaded the box but didnt fare too well overall against Niko Kapeli's slippery style and Jordan Kapeli's punishing style. They gave up way too much ground going for the strip rather than tackling our ball carriers.
They also struggled a lot in defending against the option. For most of the night, Nacua gave and pulled the ball at the right times. Wildcats brought a wide 50 front on the line, but their Backers seemed to play without assignment and got washed or caught against inside runs, powers and some of the treys. It was kind of confusing to watch at times.
The fumbles were offensive drive-killers in the 1st half but the crushing O-line blocks and pounding runs started taking their toll on the LV defense in the 2nd quarter. I will say that LV has a lot of athletes and has the potential to be a great team. Looking forward to another great game against the Falcons!
I read on Gorman article from gray ghost, that Nacuas are cousins. Is that true?
lvfootballfun, they are actually brothers.
thanks for the recap should be fun next saturday