For the second time this season, the West Plains Wolves had their hearts broken after going toe-to-toe with the best of the best in the area.
In the season opener, Class 3A Division II defending state champion Wall rallied back to defeat West Plains, 42-35.
Three weeks later, Lubbock Cooper Liberty used a strong fourth-quarter to secure a 29-28 victory over West Plains Friday afternoon in non-district play at Happy State Bank Stadium.
With the loss, West Plains fell to 2-2 on the season and closes out non-district at 7 p.m. this Friday against No. 1 Stephenville at Lubbock Cooper High School Stadium.
Lubbock Cooper Liberty moved to 4-0 following the hard-fought win over West Plains.
West Plains and Liberty went back-and-forth on the scoreboard right up until the final buzzer.
Moments after Talon Wilcox’s touchdown cut the deficit to 28-27 late in the fourth quarter, Liberty elected to go for the win on the two-point conversion. Liberty quarterback Cy Leach rolled to his left and connected the two-point conversion pass to tight end Koleman Hendrix for the 29-28 lead.
On the ensuing West Plains’ possession, sophomore quarterback Timber Russell completed multiple passes to set up a 62-yard field goal attempt by Gipson Gnagy. The kick from Gnagy fell inches short with no time remaining as Liberty’s sideline erupted in celebration.
Both offenses managed to light up the scoreboard, relying on strong running games and a balanced passing attack.
Kaiden Joseph led Liberty with 16 carries for 94 yards and a touchdown, while Wilcox had 9 carries for 24 yards and a touchdown.
Leach completed 15-of-29 passes for 241 yards and a pair of touchdown passes with an interception. Both of Leach’s touchdown passes were to Pierce Fioroni for 35 yards and Jamison Gonzalez for 60 yards.
West Plains’ offense flourished behind senior running back Slade Russell, who had 21 carries for 201 yards and a touchdown. Paxton Chandler added a pair of carries for 8 yards and a touchdown, and Nate Alvarez had a 20-yard touchdown run.
Timber Russell completed 11-of-14 passes for 166 yards with a 36-yard touchdown to Gage Blaser and an interception.
Defensively, West Plains linebacker Bentley Chandler finished with a game-high 19 tackles and Paxton Chandler added 9 tackles. Kylan Akins also had five tackles and a pair of quarterback sacks.
Senior defensive end Uriah Cruz recovered a fumble for West Plains and Kline Hooker picked off his fourth pass in the past three games for a 12-yard return. Andrew Ward also blocked a field goal to end the first half for West Plains.