When official practice began for the Liberty High football team on Aug. 10, the known factors for the Hurricanes were Zyaire Davis and Mekkhi McKenzie, who made their marks last year in an 8-4 season that included a trip to the District 11 6A semifinals.
Both Davis and McKenzie are making their share of contributions, but on Sept. 10, it was two new, unheralded players who carried Liberty to its first win of the season.
Treyce Whitlow and Greg Tillman each scored two touchdowns as the Hurricanes brushed aside an early 7-0 deficit and beat Stroudsburg 28-14 at Bethlehem Area School District in the final nonleague game of the season for both Eastern Pennsylvania Conference members.
Whitlow scored on TD runs of 33 and 35 yards and had 144 yards on the ground overall, while Tillman made a pair of sparkling catches in the end zone off Alsaiah Gross passes covering 35 and 27 yards.
They took turns with their big plays as Liberty scored seven points in all four quarters, while the Mounties, who came in at 2-0, largely sputtered after a quality opening drive resulted in a Keyen Johnson touchdown run.
The win was especially satisfying for Liberty, which was overmatched in its first games against District 1 foes, losing 35-0 to Pennridge and 35-26 to Central Bucks East.
Liberty’s quarterback Alsaiah Gross scrambles to pass Thursday, Sept. 10, 2026, against Stroudsburg during a football game at BASD Stadium in Bethlehem.(April Gamiz/The Morning Call)
White Stroudsburg ran more plays (58-47) and had the ball for nearly six minutes more (26:59 to 21:01), it was Liberty that made the big plays.
“These kids have shown a ton of resilience these last few weeks behind the scenes; stuff that nobody gets to see,” Hurricanes coach Shawn Daignault said. “It would be really easy with an inexperienced group to fracture when we faced adversity in those first few weeks. I give these kids a lot of credit that it didn’t happen. Even when Stroudsburg scored first today, nobody flinched on the sideline. We just got back to work. I am really proud of their effort. I told them after last week’s game that they are going to be in a weekly battle against good opponents, but the bigger challenge is going to be the battle against themselves and the need to continue to grow through the adversity. Winning that battle against ourselves was bigger than winning the game.”
Liberty’s defense tightened it up after Stroudsburg’s initial 56-yard drive, all on the ground. Dropped passes, penalties and a fumble all contributed to the Mounties stretch of seven consecutive possessions without scoring before Jack Mitchell hit Victor Cassese for a 13-yard TD pass with 9:07 left to cut the Hurricanes’ lead to 21-14.
Liberty’s Treyce Whitlow makes a catch for a touchdown Thursday, Sept. 10, 2026, against Stroudsburg during a football game at BASD Stadium in Bethlehem.(April Gamiz/The Morning Call)
But Liberty answered immediately with a seven-play, 80-yard drive that resulted in Tillman’s second TD grab of the night. He leaped up and wrestled the ball away from a defender to restore the two-touchdown lead with 7:30 remaining. Tillman is a transfer from Allentown Central Catholic, and has formed a connection with Gross, who was also at ACCHS last year.
“I just transferred and this is what I came here to do,” Tillman said. “God put me here to compete on the field. As soon as I got here, everyone was so welcoming. I can’t even explain it. [Gross] came here with me. He has really grown a lot and this is where he can show what he has. I believe in him and know he’ll get the ball there.”
Gross finished with 170 yards passing and the two scores. He shook off an interception in the end zone.
“Our quarterback and our offensive line have shown growth and did a lot better job today than they have done the last few weeks,” Daignault said. “You’ve got to remember that Alsaiah’s first meaningful varsity snaps were two weeks ago. To see him grow each week has been great. He has become more of a leader and he’s putting things together himself.”
Stroudsburg’s quarterback Jack Mitchell throws a pass Thursday, Sept. 10, 2026, against Liberty during a football game at BASD Stadium in Bethlehem.(April Gamiz/The Morning Call)
As for the other two offensive standouts, Daignault wasn’t surprise.
“Greg Tillman is a heck of a ballplayer and went up and really stole two balls for touchdowns and Treyce Whitlow is someone we’ve known was coming,” Daignault said. “Treyce is the real thing. He plays a lot for us at safety and with Mekkhi going down, he got the chance to play a lot on offense. I’m not surprised by what I saw. We’ve known for a couple of years he was going to be a real good player.”
On the other side, Stroudsburg left Bethlehem feeling as though it beat itself and missed an opportunity to show that the program is not only a contender in the EPC’s Monroe County Division but also in District 11 6A.
“Mistakes, we made so many of them tonight, on all sides of the ball,” Mounties coach Jim Miller said. “We made a mistake on our punt return, not going up and catching the ball on a fair catch and it rolls and pins us back deep. We put the ball on the ground tonight after having limited fumbles this year. We had receivers dropping the ball, another thing we hadn’t happened this year. Anything that could go wrong tonight, it did.”
Miller said that he wasn’t surprised by Liberty’s ability.
“I don’t care what their record is,” he said. “They’re well-coached and they do a good job and they have a lot of athletes. We missed a lot of tackles and against those guys, you can’t miss tackles.”
Stroudsburg returns to the Lehigh Valley for another Thursday night game at Parkland.
Liberty’s Carmelo Griffin carries the ball down the field Thursday, Sept. 10, 2026, against Stroudsburg during a football game at BASD Stadium in Bethlehem.(April Gamiz/The Morning Call)
“Parkland is Parkland and they are outstanding,” Miller said. “We have to clean up the mistakes we made and see what happens. I like playing these schools, I really do. It’s good competition and it gives us a chance to see what we need to work on as we go forward.”
Liberty opens up league play with a Northampton County Division game against Northampton on Friday night at BASD Stadium.
“Northampton is a damn good team,” Daignault said. “I have already seen film and they are good. They are going to be a real big challenge.”
Liberty 28, Stroudsburg 14
Stroudsburg 7 – 0 – 0 – 7 — 14
Liberty 7 – 7 – 7 – 7 — 28
Scoring summary
FIRST QUARTER
S: Keyen Johnson 13 run (Gabe Ferguson kick), 8:15
L: Treyce Whitlow 33 run (Christian Hackett kick), 3:00
SECOND QUARTER
L: Greg Tillman 35 pass from Alsaiah Gross (Hackett kick), 1:17
THIRD QUARTER
L: Whitlow 35 run (Hackett kick) 9:53
FOURTH QUARTER
S: Victor Cassese 13 pass from Jack Mitchell (Fuller kick), 9:07
L: Tillman 27 pass from Gross (Hackett kick), 7:30
Individual stats
RUSHING
Stroudsburg (27-92): Keyen Johnson 18-79, TD; Jackson Mitchell 8-23; Jeremiah Hernandez 1-0.
Liberty: (30-169): Treyce Whitlow 15-144, 2 TD; Zyaire Davis 2-17; Mekkhi McKenzie 2-8; Elias Lopez 1-1; Alsaiah Gross 10-(-1).
PASSING
Stroudsburg: Mitchell 16-31-0, 220 yards, TD.
Liberty: Gross 9-17-1, 170 yards, 2 TD.
RECEIVING
Stroudsburg: Josh Ivers-Green 5-105; Keyen Johnson 2-39; Victor Cassese 3-33, TD; Andres Batista 3-25; Keegan Munch 2-17; Kygen Damato 1-8.
Liberty: Zyaire Davis 4-92; Greg Tillman 2-62, 2 TD; Jayvion White 2-16; Jeter DeJesus 1-10.