Liberty High Football

Liberty anxious for crack at dethroning defending state champion Gorman: Thursday, November 24, 2011; high school football:; By Ray Brewer; When the Liberty High School football team finishes practice each day, the players come together and break with a chant of: “Win state.” It’s been that way since spring practice in March and it’s a constant reminder that winning the championship is becoming more of a reality each week.

Liberty rallies after early deficit to defeat Foothill, 37-35: Friday, November 18, 2011; high school football: Liberty to face Gorman next weekend in state semifinals; By Ed Hauth; The Liberty High football team rallied back from a 13-point first-quarter deficit to defeat Foothill, 37-35, Friday in the Sunrise Regional final to advance to the state semifinals for a second consecutive year.

Liberty rallies past Las Vegas to reach Sunrise championship game: Friday, November 11, 2011; Las Vegas High keeps it close until second half; By Case Keefer; 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.

Redemption Thursday: Region semifinals feature four teams out to avenge earlier defeats: Wednesday, November 9, 2011; high school football: A victory by Bishop Gorman and Palo Verde will set-up the highly-anticipated annual showdown between the perennial powers; By Ray Brewer; Las Vegas High football coach James Thurman has stressed each week for his players to play a faceless opponent on Friday nights. Instead of worrying about the opposition — whether weak or strong — on the other side of the field, Thurman tells his players the first step to victory is executing their game plan successfully. On most Fridays in Las Vegas’ weak Northeast Division, the faceless opponent strategy is not overlooking a struggling opponent. But Thursday in the Sunset Regional semifinals, the Wildcats will face a tall order in beating host Liberty (9-1). Not only did the defending Sunrise ...

Liberty marches on in playoffs by beating Valley: Friday, November 4, 2011; high school football:; By Case Keefer; Liberty junior running back Niko Kapeli ran for more than 200 yards in five of his team’s nine games this regular season. He’s also one-for-one in eclipsing the 200-yard milestone in the postseason after Friday night. Kapeli rushed for 257 yards on 20 carries as Southeast Division champion Liberty pounded Northeast No. 4 seed Valley 42-6.

Liberty takes out Foothill for second straight Southeast division title: Friday, October 28, 2011; high school football: Niko Kapeli ran for 304 yards, while brother Jordan Kapeli had 96 yards for Liberty; By Case Keefer; With realignment on the way next year, Thursday marked the final night of the Henderson-exclusive Southeast Division. At least the league went out in style. In a game between the division’s two best teams to determine the 2011 champion, Liberty scored one more time than Foothill in a 49-41 thriller

Liberty survives scare at Coronado, still in first place of Southeast: Saturday, October 22, 2011; high school football:; By Ray Brewer; Dustin Kaanaana’s 80-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in the fourth quarter Friday night helped the Liberty High football team overcame a late deficit and escape with a 16-10 victory at host Coronado.

Liberty capitalizes on turnovers to beat Green Valley: Friday, October 14, 2011; high school football:; Edward Hauth; Liberty High scored 23 points off seven Green Valley turnovers to take sole possession of first place in the Southeast Division with a 37-17 victory over the Gators on Friday.

Liberty remains undefeated in league play with 56-21 win over Basic: Thursday, October 6, 2011; high school football:; Edward Hauth; Liberty High junior quarterback Kai Nacua passed for three touchdowns and ran for another as the Patriots remained undefeated in Southeast League play with a 56-21 victory over Basic on Thursday.

Liberty runs over, shuts out Del Sol: Sunday, October 2, 2011; high school football: Patriots beat Dragons by controlling time of possesion with run game; By Case Keefer; In an age of football where a printed game plan can sometimes exceed the length of a novel, Liberty’s attack strategy Friday night against Del Sol could have fit on a Post-it Note. It was this simple: Line up and run straight ahead. The Patriots ran the ball 29 times in a row to start the game and dominated the Dragons on the ground en route to a 34-0 victory.

Record rushing day from Niko Kapeli carries Liberty past Silverado: Friday, September 23, 2011; high school football:; By Ray Brewer; The Liberty High football team gained 11 yards on nine first-quarter plays Friday against visiting Silverado. The Patriots had two punts blocked, their quarterback was intercepted twice and they twice lost fumbles. Yes, it wasn’t pretty. But Liberty closed the game with 19 unanswered points, using a school-record 235 rushing yards and three touchdowns from junior Niko Kapeli in a 26-20 victory.

Liberty shuts out Spring Valley: Saturday, September 17, 2011; high school football:; By Case Keefer; The lasting image of Liberty’s 57-0 victory over Spring Valley Friday night may have come on the first play from scrimmage. That’s when Patriots senior cornerback Dustin Kaanaana raced into the end zone after a 30-yard interception return.

Liberty rallies to beat Desert Pines, 35-21: Friday, September 2, 2011; high school football:; Edward Hauth; Liberty senior Jeremy Lagasca returned a Desert Pines failed field goal 92 yards for a touchdown on the final play of the first half to help spark a 35-21 comeback victory for the Patriots.

Arbor View runs away from Liberty early after showing up late: Saturday, August 27, 2011; high school football: Arbor View looks ahead to next week's colossal game against Palo Verde; By Case Keefer; Arbor View missed the bus literally. Liberty missed it figuratively. Despite an hour delay to kickoff time after transportation didn’t come to pick up the team for its away game, Arbor View routed Liberty to open the season Friday night. The Aggies rushing attack perplexed the Patriots on the way to a 47-26 victory.

Liberty hoping to continue its recent gridiron success: Thursday, August 25, 2011; southeast division preview:; By Ray Brewer; One point. That is all that separated the Liberty High football program from advancing to the state championship game last year in a 7-6 loss to Reno’s McQueen in the semifinals. That one point provided all the motivation Liberty’s players needed in their offseason training program. The turnout each afternoon in the weight room often included more than 50 players — significantly higher than most schools in Southern Nevada.