MOUNTAIN VIEW –– The Houston football team got an up-close look at how a struggling program can quickly turn things around.
Just a few years ago, Mountain View-Liberty had similar struggles to the Tigers. They are now one of the best in the state. The Eagles showed how far they have come with a 69-0 blanking Friday of Houston in the opening round of the Class 2 District 3 tournament.
The Eagles (9-2) beat Strafford 50-36 Wednesday to advance to Monday’s district championship. They will travel to Mountain Grove, which topped Willow Springs 21-0 in the other semifinal.
First-year HHS coach Billy O’Neil said he has spoken several times with Liberty coach Darin Acklin about the process of rebuilding.
“He stuck with it,” O’Neil said. “I remember him telling me when he was approached by the athletic director about changing his type of offense. He said, ‘No, we’ve just got to get better at doing what we’re doing.’”
O’Neil will take that approach into the offseason following his team’s 2-8 mark in 2012. There were plenty of positives, O’Neil said, highlighted by snapping the program’s 22-game losing skid and the junior varsity’s 4-3 record.
But there were also many struggles. Houston lost its final six games by a combined score of 301-40 and was shut out three times.
Along with sessions in the weight room, O’Neil said he would spend time with players studying the double wing offense. He wants each player to understand how the play develops and their individual responsibilities.
“I’m not pleased with how the season ended. We weren’t as competitive as the beginning of the year,” O’Neil said.
“I made my own mistakes, and so did the other coaches, but we did some good things this season, too.”
Liberty wasted no time putting away HHS. The Eagles scored four touchdowns in both the first and second quarters en route to a 55-0 halftime advantage.
Without its top two rushers –– Drake Bell tore his ACL the previous week and Kaden Miller sprained his ankle in Wednesday’s scrimmage –– the Tigers had difficulty moving the ball. They were held to 58 rushing yards on 38 carries and out-gained 395-91.
O’Neil said part of his team’s struggles were due to Liberty players illegally chopping blockers in the backfield. He said he spoke to the officials about the issue before the game, and the Eagles were penalized twice for the illegal move. But O’Neil said it happened frequently.
“If it’s allowed to happen, it really shuts down an offense like ours,” O’Neil said. “It’s illegal, but it’s only illegal if it’s caught.”
Liberty’s James Denton had a rushing touchdown, receiving touchdown and returned an interception for a score. Eagles quarterback Jaelon Acklin had a pair of touchdown tosses and rushed for another.
Nathaniel Alkire led the HHS offense with 10 carries for 16 yards. Trevor Merckling, who replaced Miller at fullback, had 14 rushing yards.
O’Neil inserted several young players late in the second half. Ethan Kelley and Ty Wilkins had their first varsity carries. Wilkins also completed three passes.
The teams played for the second straight week due to the Missouri State High School Activities Association’s new playoff format. An appeal to MSHSAA by both teams to play a different opponent was denied.
| Houston | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 0 |
| Liberty | 28 | 27 | 7 | 7 | – | 69 |
First Quarter
LIB –– Smotherman 6 run (Postlewait kick), 10:08.
LIB –– JanAcklin 28 pass from JaeAcklin (Postlewait kick), 8:30.
LIB –– JaeAcklin 20 run (Postlewait kick), 5:28.
LIB –– Denton 45 interception return (Postlewait kick), 3:05.
Second Quarter
LIB –– Denton 33 pass from JaeAcklin (Postlewait kick), 10:54.
LIB –– Gastineau 32 run (Postlewait kick), 9:17.
LIB –– Denton 24 run (kick failed), 6:03.
LIB –– Bush 51 run (Postlewait kick), 2:53.
Third Quarter
LIB –– Rodriguez 1 run (Postlewait kick), 6:30.
Fourth Quarter
LIB –– Rodriguez 30 run (Postlewait kick), 9:57.
| HOU | LIB | |
| First downs | 5 | 11 |
| Total yards | 91 | 395 |
| Rushes-yards | 38-58 | 29-332 |
| Passing | 33 | 63 |
| Punt returns | 0 | 84 |
| Kickoff returns | 79 | 0 |
| Comp-att-int | 4-8-2 | 3-3-0 |
| Sacked-yards lost | 2-13 | 0-0 |
| Punts | 6-30.3 | 0-0 |
| Fumbles-lost | 2-1 | 0-0 |
| Penalties-yards | 5-35 | 4-45 |
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING –– Houston, Alkire 10-16, Merckling 9-14, Wilkins 2-12, Kelley 5-11, TaSmith 3-9, TySmith 5-3, WWalker 4-(minus-7). Liberty, Porter 12-82, Bush 2-67, Rodriguez 5-47, Denton 2-43, JaeAcklin 3-31, Smotherman 2-25, Gastineau 1-6, Rader 2-5.
PASSING –– Houston, WWalker 1-4-2 9, Wilkins 3-4-0 24. Liberty, JaeAcklin 3-3-0 63.
RECEIVING –– Houston, Keeney 1-10, Alkire 1-9, Merckling 1-9, TaSmith 1-5. Liberty, Denton 1-33, JanAcklin 1-28, French 1-2.
Week 1 Lost 35-6 at Salem
Week 2 Lost 25-20 at St.James
Week 3 Won 6-0 vs. Cuba
Week 4 Won 27-12 vs. Cabool
Week 5 Lost 50-7 to Thayer
Week 6 Lost 35-0 at Ava
Week 7 Lost 37-0 to Willow
Week 8 Lost 68-26 at Grove
Week 9 Lost 42-7 to Liberty
Week 10 Lost 69-0 at Liberty