Liberty's Dawaun Moody (3) fights off the tackle attempt of a Southeast defender during 1st Qt. action...by R. Michael Semple

LIBERTY — Entering Friday’s regular season finale, Liberty needed a win to secure its spot in the postseason without assistance.

The Leopards were able to do just that, taking down Southeast, 39-19.

Sophomore Dawaun Moody took control of the game early, rushing for a pair of touchdowns in the first quarter.

The Pirates cut into the lead with a rushing score of their own in the first quarter, but Liberty didn’t concede its lead.

Part of that is due to the performance of senior Chamir Franklin.

Franklin had a trio of touchdowns on Friday, and nearly had a fourth, on a 70-yard interception return that was called back due to a flurry of penalties.

The senior scored from 3 and 18 yards to help establish a comfortable lead for Liberty.

Liberty’s rushing attack has been the team’s specialty this season. Don’t expect that to change.

“We have a good identity,” Leopards coach Joe Simon said. “We’re doing some things a little bit differently, but the same at the same time. I don’t want to give away too much, but we’re running the ball really well, and that’s kind of our bread and butter. If we can run the ball, we’re going to be in good shape. Set us up some in the passing game. Our run game has been great for about six weeks now, and hopefully we can keep that going.”

Franklin struck again to put the game out of reach early in the final quarter, racing to a 24-yard score.

Southeast wasn’t done just yet however, calling Bryer Pickana’s number at the goal line to cut Liberty’s lead to 32-19 after the extra point.

The Leopards drove down the field, eating clock along the way, finally culminating with a touchdown rush by senior offensive lineman Brady Morgan rushing in at the goal line to ice the game for Liberty. Morgan got a second try after nearly scoring on his first rushing attempt.

“That was awesome,” Simon said. “I’ve known that kid since he was in fifth grade, I love him. He’s a senior captain, two-year captain, and I promised him, if I had the chance to give him the ball late in the game, I would. He impressed me the first play. He broke a couple tackles, I thought he was in then, and then we did it again, and he made a nice cut back (to get in.) I mean, we might have found something. It was a special moment, for sure.”

When the Division V Region 17 bracket finally plays out, Fantastic50.net projects the Leopards, who finish at 5-5, will face Akron Manchester in the first round of the playoffs.

Liberty is at its best now, winning three straight entering the postseason.

“We started off slow, and we came around the second half of the season,” Simon said. “We won five for our last six, and just kind of figured things out as the year went on. … We were in a lot of games, but we just couldn’t deal with adversity real well. We let a seven point lead turn into 21 real fast. But the kids stuck together. It’s hard when you’re 0-4, everyone just feels like crap. People on the outside are telling you how terrible you are, fire the coach coach, blah, blah, blah, and then we started coming together? We were either going to come apart, or come together, and they came together.”