Staff photo/Brian Yauger. Garfield running back Keegan Sell fights for extra yards Friday night against Liberty.

GARRETTSVILLE — Garfield remembered last year.

In the 2021 regular season finale, the G-Men were pushed to the brink by Liberty last season. Liberty was off to a hot start early this time around, but Garfield was able to shut down the explosive Leopard weapons and power its way to a 56-27 victory Friday.

Liberty struck first off an 87-yard touchdown pass from Tyson Lawrence-Watson to Dwayne Moody, but Garfield responded in kind. Eric Geddes connected with Deacon Sommer on a 53-yard pass to knot the game at 7-each.

Speaking of 7, Liberty’s No. 7, Chris Cunningham delivered a punch back to Garfield, retaking the lead after returning the ensuing kickoff back for a score.

After that however, Garfield took over the game. The Leopards wouldn’t cross the goal line again until the fourth quarter.

“I think it was really just getting used to their speed,” G-Men coach Mike Moser said. “I think we undercut that first route. Our guy was right there and their guy was about a step faster, or a couple steps faster than what you practice against and we just took a bad angle. Then the kickoff return was the same thing. I think once our kids settled in and got used to the speed of the game, they were fine.”

The game quickly turned into a battle of power and speed. Power won out Friday night. When preparing for a team that quick isn’t really an option, it’s up to the defense to get used to it as it happens.

“You can’t simulate that,” Moser said of Liberty’s speed. “When you don’t have anybody to simulate that, you’ve just got to be assignment-sound and make sure you’re lined up right. You can talk about it all week but they’ve got to see it. They’ve got to see it out there and then adjust it and play.”

Liberty’s strategy going into the game was to get the ball to the difference-makers. It worked early, but the consistency issues that have bothered the team all year popped up once again.

“We wanted to get our guys the ball in space,” Leopards coach Joe Simon said. “We felt like we had good matchups on the outside with our skill players. We got that a couple of times early on, some great plays, and if you’re going to kick the ball to us, we can do some damage.

“I felt like the momentum was on our side early on, and we just couldn’t sustain the consistency. That’s been a problem throughout the year. Just being consistent for four quarters. We’ll play great for two drives, and they’ll just look like we don’t know how to play football. You can’t let that happen and (Garfield) will take advantage of every opportunity.”

While this isn’t the way they wanted things to end, there’s a silver lining for Liberty (4-5). Their season isn’t over. The Leopards got the 16th seed in Division V, Region 17 and will face South Range in the opening round of the postseason next week, according to JoeEitel.com.

Garfield (8-2) is also advancing to the postseason as the eighth seed. They’ll host Conneaut next week.

Moser’s postgame message to the team? Just to get ready.

“First part of the season is over,” Moser said. “Season two starts tomorrow at 9 a.m.”

byauger@tribtoday.com