Peoria Liberty coach Colin Thomas had only a week to patch together a team with both of his quarterbacks injured, including starter Jason Haines, who is out for the remainder of the season with a broken collarbone.
He moved his top receiver, Braxton Huynh, to quarterback. But he rolled his ankle in the first half. Another receiver, Evan Adamczyk, played some quarterback.
Liberty running back Jayden Sanchez (0) rushes for a go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter against Centennial on Nov. 6, 2026, at Centennial High School in Peoria, Arizona.
Then, Kenny Raymond, the backup QB all season, wearing a knee brace, was cleared at halftime.
Advertisement
He sparked the offense, but it was the defense that came together in the second half to beat Peoria rival Centennial 21-14 before an overflow crowd at Centennial on Friday night, Nov. 6.
“A lot of heart,” Thomas said.
This might have been one of the greatest coaching jobs in Thomas’ career. He had to piece an injured offense together for the biggest game of their season.
The win likely seals the No. 1 seed in the Open Division state playoffs, giving them a bye next week and Raymond and extra week to heal up. Liberty came into the final regular-season game as the No. 1 in the 6A/Open rankings by MaxPreps/AIA. Centennial was No. 4.
Advertisement
Liberty and Centennial will find out where they’ll be seeded on Saturday, at 10 a.m, when the Arizona Interscholastic Association reveals the 12-team Open bracket, along with the remaining eight teams that will be in the 6A bracket. The top four teams in the Open receive a bye next week. The first-round losing teams will fall back into the 6A bracket and be matched up with the other eight teams that make the 6A bracket.
Huynh threw a touchdown pass in the first half that tied the score at 7-7. It’s not like the dazzling receiver was thrown into quarterback without ever playing the position. He played quarterback through youth football, before Liberty moved him to wide receiver in high school.
“It came back to me, and coach had a great game plan,” Huynh said. “Everybody believed in me.”
Thomas didn’t have a choice.
Advertisement
“Kenny was not cleared all week,” Thomas said. “He got cleared today, but where was he really at? We didn’t want to use him if we didn’t have to. But in the second half, he gave us a spark.”
Raymond, the son of Liberty baseball coach Chris Raymond, threw a 50-yard touchdown pass on his first play, but that was called back due to a penalty.
“When adversity strikes, you pull up your pants and be ready to play,” Raymond said.
That nullified TD pass gave the Lions a jolt. The next time Liberty had the ball, he completed a pass to tight end Jayden Sellers along the sideline for a key first down on third-and-7. Two plays later, tailback Jayden Sanchez popped out of the pack and into the end zone for a 14-yard touchdown that gave Liberty its first lead, 21-14, with 9:38 to play.
The defense did the rest.
Advertisement
The Lions picked off three passes in the second half. One of those was by Kadin Young, who picked off a screen pass and took it back 76 yards for a score that tied the game at 14-14 in the third quarter.
“We knew they were going to make plays, and we knew we were down quarterbacks,” said strong safety Cannon Collins, who had an interception in the final quarter. “We just had to step up.
“We don ‘t play for the scoreboard. We play for each other. We just take it one play at a time.”
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: No. 1 Liberty football overcomes injuries, defeats rival Centennial
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: Sports.yahoo.com
