{"id":427467,"date":"2026-09-05T21:22:32","date_gmt":"2026-09-05T21:22:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/427467\/"},"modified":"2026-09-05T21:22:32","modified_gmt":"2026-09-05T21:22:32","slug":"lubbock-cooper-libertys-defensive-front-generates-sacks-and-turnovers-smothers-frenship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/427467\/","title":{"rendered":"Lubbock-Cooper Liberty\u2019s defensive front generates sacks and turnovers, smothers Frenship"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"FootballLubbock-Cooper Liberty\u2019s Isaac Rodriguez, from left, and Rylan Thomas were part of a Patriot defense that totaled 11 sacks in a win over Frenship on Friday night at Peoples Bank Stadium in Wolfforth. [Chase Seabolt\/ Press Pass Sports]<\/p>\n

WOLFFORTH\u00a0\u2013 It\u2019s a clich\u00e9 as old as organized sports has been around. It was legendary college football coach Paul \u201cBear\u201d Bryant who said it most bluntly, \u201coffense sells tickets, defense wins championships.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

While it may be the second game of the regular season, Lubbock-Cooper Liberty\u2019s defensive unit could be a force to be reckoned with.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Facing off against Frenship last Friday at Peoples Bank Stadium, the Patriots compiled 11 sacks and three turnovers before handing the hosting Tigers a lopsided 44-13 decision on Friday at Peoples Bank Stadium.<\/p>\n

Liberty yielded 342 passing yards, but blanketed Frenship\u2019s ground game. By game\u2019s end, the Tigers finished with -50 rushing yards and coughed up two fumbles. All throughout the night, the Patriots\u2019 defensive lineman \u2013 notably senior Isaac Rodriguez and junior Rylan Thomas \u2013 made Frenship junior quarterback James Ordonez uncomfortable all throughout the night.<\/p>\n

Thomas, who amassed seven quarterback sacks, gave credit to the guys behind him.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe secondary and linebackers were covering long enough for us to get home,\u201d said Thomas. \u201cWe worked as a team and got pressure. One of us would beat them, then the other one was right there to clean it up every time. It\u2019s fun to get after the quarterback, knowing that he\u2019s probably not going to be able to throw it, and (my teammates) were going to be on their guys if he does.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"TwoLiberty\u2019s Rylan Thomas accounted for seven sacks against Frenship on Friday night. [Chase Seabolt\/ Press Pass Sports]<\/p>\n

For Rodriguez, who tallied three sacks and two fumble recoveries, the foundation of the Patriots\u2019 victory came from studying tape.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was shown on film that they were going to have a vertical set,\u201d Rodriguez said. \u201cSo, we practiced with (assistant coach Cory Lynch) by bending the edge and just working on that. We were playing the pass, since they\u2019re an 80 percent pass team. It came down to watching film at the end of the day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Liberty head coach Joe Sexton knew that his team had to keep Frenship\u2019s\u00a0prolific offense in check.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was page one of our gameplan,\u201d Sexton said. \u201cWe wanted to keep that high-powered offense they have over there on the sideline. We believed that if we could keep them off of the field, that would give us a little bit better of a chance. With just a three-man front, sometimes it\u2019s hard to get pressure and you don\u2019t want to blitz these guys, because they\u2019ll screen you to death. So, being able to get pressure with those front three was awesome. We couldn\u2019t have drawn it up any better than that.\u201d<\/p>\n

On offense, Liberty senior running back Talon Wilcox racked up 167 yards and three touchdowns on 26 carries. Of the 38 overall attempts, the Patriots racked up 233 yards on the ground.<\/p>\n

Liberty junior quarterback Cy Leach was 12-of-19 for 129 yards and one touchdown.<\/p>\n

The Patriots improved to 2-0 and will now gear up for a showdown of a home opener against Midland Greenwood, scheduled for 7 p.m. next Friday at Patriot Stadium at First United Liberty Park in Woodrow. The Rangers (2-0) defeated Lubbock-Cooper, 25-15, last Friday at Pirate Stadium at First United Park in Woodrow.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to get over (the win against Frenship),\u201d Sexton said. \u201cI always think about when Texas Tech beat Texas back in 2008. Then, Tech got into trouble after that. So, we\u2019re going to do everything we can. That\u2019s part of our job as coaches, to make sure we get them ready to play next week.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"CollegeLiberty running back Talon Wilcox ran for 167 yards against Frenship on Friday. [Chase Seabolt\/ Press Pass Sports]<\/p>\n

According to Frenship head coach Jay Northcutt, the Tiger\u2019s home opener proved to be a hard lesson.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cYou always learn more from times where you don\u2019t succeed,\u201d said Northcutt, following the game. \u201cWe didn\u2019t handle adversity well. I don\u2019t know if we handled our emotions very well at times. Until you get into that situation, sometimes you don\u2019t really know how you\u2019re going to respond. Hopefully, we can build upon that lesson.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cMy hat\u2019s off to Liberty,\u201d Northcutt added. \u201cThey have a good team. I think their speed overwhelmed us. They had a great game plan. They ran the clock. They got us behind the chains on offense. We never really got into a good rhythm. They got us to where we were trying to throw the ball down the field almost every play, and we weren\u2019t good in protection.\u201d<\/p>\n

Frenship dipped down to 1-1 and will look to rebound against Abilene Wylie, set for 7 p.m. next Friday at Peoples Bank Stadium. The Bulldogs (1-1) overwhelmed Lubbock Monterey, 49-3, last Friday at Lowrey\u00a0Field at PlainsCapital\u00a0Park in Lubbock.<\/p>\n

Northcutt believes that his team will bounce back.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese guys are resilient out here,\u201d said Northcutt. \u201cThis loss hurts, and I know this means a lot of these kids. We\u2019re going to get back at it, watch film, get back out there, and have a good week.\u201d<\/p>\n

Liberty chewed up the clock to start the game, finishing off a 14-play, 70-yard drive with a 22 field goal from junior kicker Randen Schlumpf. At the 4:05 mark of the initial period, the Patriots held a 3-0 lead.<\/p>\n

Frenship took the lead early in the second quarter, when junior Noah Gonzles scored off of a one-yard touchdown run with 10:31 on the clock. The kick missed the mark, giving the Tigers a three-point advantage at 6-3.<\/p>\n

\"LibertyLiberty\u2019s Talon Wilcox (4) celebrates with his team after a touchdown against Frenship. [Chase Seabolt\/ Press Pass Sports]<\/p>\n

The Patriots responded with a 17-point run. The burst started with Schlumpf splitting the uprights from 33 yards out at the 7:25 mark, continued with a nine-yard touchdown connection between Leach and junior Jamison Gonzalez with 2:57 left until half, and finished with a one-yard Wilcox touchdown plunge with 29 seconds remaining until intermission.<\/p>\n

Before heading into the locker room, Frenship drove down the field and got within scoring range. However, an intentional grounding call prevented the Tigers from chipping away at their deficit.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Penalties also hampered Frenship, as the Tigers surrendered 102 yards by way of yellow laundry.<\/p>\n

Liberty picked up where they left off in the second half, stopping a Frenship\u00a0drive off three sacks and Rodriguez\u2019s first fumble recovery. By this stage of the game, Rodriguez and Thomas were challenging one another on who would have the most sacks and turnovers.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a friendly competition,\u201d Rodriguez said. \u201cThat\u2019s kind of what you need on a team like this. That\u2019s kind of what we need, is building off of each other\u2019s leadership.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rodriguez praised his teammate.<\/p>\n

\u201cRylan\u2019s an incredibly hard worker,\u201d said Rodriguez. \u201cWhen we were getting those sacks back and forth, we were congratulating each other.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sexton tipped his cap to Thomas and his defensive players.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love me some Rylan Thomas, and I love me some defense,\u201d Sexton said. \u201cThose guys get to the football, and that\u2019s just effort. We don\u2019t really talk about coaching effort, because these guys bring it on their own. We were concerned with how fast (Frenship\u2019s pace) would be. Coach Northcutt and his staff do such a great job. So, I\u2019m really happy with this win.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Patriots then finished off a 10-play, 67-yard drive with a one-yard touchdown dive from Wilcox with 2:19 left in the third quarter.\u00a0<\/p>\n

With 9:43 left in the game, junior running back Zach Ferris scored a one-yard touchdown run for Frenship. The score was set up by a 29-yard pass from Ordonez to senior wideout Maddux Archibald. As senior kicker Tristan Llanas\u2019 kick sailed true, the Tigers cut down the Liberty lead down to 27-13.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a pretty good receiving core,\u201d Northcutt said. \u201c(Archibald) has really progressed, and he\u2019s a big kid that will go up and get it for you. We have (Gonzales) and (senior receiver) Zade McClure, and we also have (senior running back) Isaiah Gilliam. We have (senior) Javier Jiminez, who moved here from Clovis, playing a few different spots. We just have to figure out a better way to get on the ball and buy (Ordonez) some time. We have to figure out how to run the ball better, especially with a light box.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ordonez did go 20-of-30 for 342 yards. McClure led the Tigers in receiving\u00a0by hualing in four passes for 114 yards, followed by Gilliam\u2019s three receptions for 76 yards. Maddux Archibald reeled in two catches for 36 yards, followed by junior Payton Archibald\u2019s two catches for 35 yards.<\/p>\n

Liberty then proceeded to pull away. With 6:53 remaining, Gonzalez ran into the endzone untouched for an eight-yard touchdown run. Gonzalez ended the night with 58 rushing yards on nine carries, and reeled in five catches and one touchdown for 56 yards.<\/p>\n

Schlumpf added with the ensuing PAT and a 38-yard field goal with 3:32 on the clock. The successful boot was made possible by an interception by senior defensive back Camren Colley.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Wilcox put the exclamation mark on the Patriot victory with a 37-yard touchdown run with 1:47 left to play.<\/p>\n

Senior wideout Pierce Fioroni had three catches for 32 yards, alongside junior teammate JJ Thompson\u2019s two catches and 32 yards. Senior defensive back Luke Livingston picked up seven tackles, followed by teammate Chris Shepherd\u2019s five tackles.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Photo gallery by Chase Seabolt:<\/p>\n

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\"Quarterback<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Lubbock-Cooper Liberty\u2019s Isaac Rodriguez, from left, and Rylan Thomas were part of a Patriot defense that totaled 11…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":427468,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[168,170,169],"class_list":["post-427467","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-lubbock","tag-lubbock","tag-lubbock-headlines","tag-lubbock-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/427467","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=427467"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/427467\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/427468"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=427467"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=427467"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=427467"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}