By Greg Lee, NW Preps Now
PASCO – John Lesser proved to be more for the Liberty Christian football team Saturday.
And because of that the Patriots continue their quest to capture a second State 1B championship in three years.
No. 1-ranked Liberty Christian pulled away from the game Garfield-Palouse Vikings 62-20 in a quarterfinal matchup at Edgar Brown Stadium.
The Patriots (11-0) take on Republic (11-1) next Saturday, most likely in Pasco.
The Patriots broke open what had been a tight game with a late touchdown in the second quarter, and they piled it on with two TDs in the third period.
At least for a half it appeared the Vikings (8-3) had made significant improvement from the 64-18 hammering they suffered at the hands of the Patriots in early October.
“Our lack of speed and their speed it killed us,” Gar-Pal coach Willy Woltering said. “They could score with one play and it took us five minutes to march down the field. Their big-play capability was too much for us.”
It started with Lesser, the Patriots’ junior quarterback. He scored four touchdowns – three rushing and one throwing.
Lesser finished with 177 yards on the ground and 196 through the air.
The big-play ability Woltering talked about came on a 58-yard rushing TD and a 50-yard passing TD, both by Lesser.
“Our seniors played hard,” Woltering said. “It was a great season, the best season since the late 1980s. We’re pretty proud of that.”
Vikings freshman Travis Knauff had a team-high 118 yards rushing. Gar-Pal finished with 226 yards rushing.
