Liberty North-Troy Buchanan: Game Recap & Players of the Game

The Liberty North football team had to drive three and a half hours to get to its Class 6 semifinal game at Troy Buchanan on Saturday, but the seven-hour round trip road trip will be one the Eagles and their fans never forget. Liberty North overcame an early deficit by scoring 28 unanswered points and defeated host Troy Buchanan 35-21 to earn the school’s first trip to a football state championship game. Liberty North, which opened the season with a loss to Bentonville (Ark.), has won 11 straight games and will meet CBC (12-1) in the Missouri Class 6 championship game at 1 p.m. Saturday at the University of Missouri. CBC, which also hasn’t lost since dropping its season opener, will be attempting to win its third state title in five years and fourth in eight seasons. <strong>PLAYERS OF THE GAME</strong> <strong>LIBERTY NORTH (11-1)</strong> <strong>QB [player_tooltip player_id="172248" first="Sam" last="Van Dyne"] 2023</strong> The state’s top quarterback prospect in the junior class, Van Dyne came up big in the Eagles’ biggest game. He completed 16 of 21 passes for 264 yards and two touchdowns – to a pair of sophomores in Freddie Lavan and [player_tooltip player_id="185414" first="Keelan" last="Smith"]. The 264 passing yards tied a season high for Van Dyne, who has thrown for 2,036 yards and 20 touchdowns (against five interceptions) this season. <strong>RB [player_tooltip player_id="217659" first="Cayden" last="Arzola"] 2022</strong> Arzola has had a good senior season and put together another strong effort in the semifinal. He carried the ball a season-high 27 times for 105 yards and two touchdowns. The 5-foot-11, 200-pounder has 489 yards rushing and six touchdowns in his last four games. <strong>TE [player_tooltip player_id="172302" first="Justis" last="Braden"] 2022</strong> Braden was Van Dyne’s favorite target. The big tight end recorded a season-high eight catches for 89 yards, which were his second-most receiving yards in a game this season. Braden, who has an offer from Dayton, is one of the talented tight ends in Missouri in the deep position group for the Class of 2022. <strong>LB [player_tooltip player_id="233158" first="Kaden" last="Durso"] 2023</strong> Durso, a 6-foot, 195-pounder, recorded five tackles, including two for losses, and blocked a punt late in the second quarter that helped set up an Arzola touchdown that gave Liberty North a 21-7 lead just before halftime. <strong>K Blake Craig 2023</strong> Special teams play can make the difference in the playoffs and Craig did his part by kicking two field goals in the first half. He kicked a 28-yarder midway through the first quarter for North’s first points of the game and then added a 40-yarder late in the second quarter. <strong>TROY BUCHANAN (10-3)</strong> <strong>QB [player_tooltip player_id="37718" first="Charos" last="Sutton"] 2023</strong> Sutton has established himself as one of the state’s best dual-threat quarterbacks this fall and showed that ability again Saturday against a talented Liberty North defense. He completed 14 of 24 passes for 188 yards and a touchdown and ran for 65 yards and a score. <strong>WR [player_tooltip player_id="212002" first="Nathan" last="Ryan"] 2022</strong> Ryan capped off his remarkable senior season with another big performance. He caught seven passes for 102 yards and a touchdown against Liberty North and finished the season with 58 receptions for 1,279 yards and 15 touchdowns. <strong>RB-DB [player_tooltip player_id="103392" first="Nick" last="Bova"] 2023</strong> Bova got the scoring started with a 35-yard touchdown run early in the first quarter. He finished with 45 yards rushing on four carries. A 6-foot, 190-pounder, Bova is a better prospect as a defensive back with decent size, good speed and a knack for making plays. <em><strong>You can follow Nate Latsch on Twitter at <a href="http://www.twitter.com/natelatsch">@natelatsch</a>.</strong></em>