Tigers fall to Liberty, 34-33, in season opener

CLARKSBURG -- Quinten Hillard scored three touchdown as Liberty held off Elkins for a 34-33 win Friday night in both teams' season-opener at the John Mazzei-James L. Reaser Athletic Complex.

After the Tigers stumbled on the opening drive of the game, the Mountaineers jumped out to a 6-0 lead when Hillard ran in for a 5-yard touchdown on the hosts first possession of the game.

Elkins raced down the field on the ensuing possession and knotted things up when Kaden Phillips scored on a 19-yard run with 11:11 to play in the second quarter.

The Tigers then took a 13-6 lead with 7:45 remaining in the first half when Phillips hit pay-dirt again, this time on an 8-yard scamper.

A 19-yard touchdown run from Hillard paired with a two-point conversion from Landon Clevenger put Liberty back in front 14-13 with 2:11 left to play in the first half.

But Elkins answered just before the break and took a 19-14 lead when Nick Bowers raced in for a 59-yard touchdown with 1:52 to play.

The Mountaineers put a long scoring drive together to open the second half and took a 20-19 lead with 6:43 remaining in the third quarter when quarterback Isaiah Heflin scored on a 1-yard touchdown run.

The Tigers fired back when Bowers scored from 14-yards out and added the two-point conversion to make it 27-20 with under three minutes to play in the third quarter.

Hillard scored a 4-yard touchdown late in the third quarter to cut the Elkins lead to 27-26 and after recovering an on-side kick on the ensuing kickoff, the Mountaineers went in front 34-27 early in the fourth quarter when Heflin scored on a 13-yard touchdown run and added the two-point conversion.

The Tigers' Dylan Fortney scored on a 4-yard run with 6:05 left to play, but the point-after-kick was blocked and Liberty clung to a 34-33 advantage.

The Mountaineers followed the Elkins score with a long drive that went deep into Tigers territory and killed the remainder of the game clock.

Elkins will play its first home game of the season next Friday against Lincoln. Liberty will visit South Harrison the same evening.