| how bout taht game friday. Nathan is gonna get a little bit of attention after his 70 yard td run!!!! #2 blue jays my ass. try like #60. heres some stories on metro sports .com that u can read the first one, scott kelly, wrote that paper at like 11 o clock right after the game at my house because he lived to far away it was due at midnight. so anyone taht goes to rockhurst should read the last sentence of the liberty's story. hell no
Scott Kelly
Rockhurst High School
Prep News
Show-me Smack Down
Rockhurst had something to prove Friday night.
Pitted against the number two ranked Liberty Blue Jays, the Hawklets began the game with a life-sized chip on their shoulders. A couple weeks before, many around the area had cried “foul” when Rockhurst retained its number one ranking despite losing to Abilene in Texas. After all, Liberty was undefeated at 6-0 while Rockhurst sat at a tainted 5-1. Still others thought Liberty’s star running back, Jake Jenkins, would just be too much for the Rockhurst defense.
So Friday night, the Rockhurst players were all business- it was time to silence the nay-sayers. During pre-game warm-ups, the Hawklets practically smoldered with intensity. No joking around. No smiles. Just business.
And, from kickoff to finish, the Hawklets took care of business, proving once and for all that they are the team to beat in KC.
From the first whistle, Rockhurst grabbed a hold of the game. First, a pass from quarterback Conner Teahan to wide receiver Phil Strozier went for 78 yards. Next, Teahan ran the ball in for a one-yard touchdown. Only 23 seconds into the game, the Hawklets led 7-0.
Less than three minutes later, Rockhurst had scored again- this time with David Belfonte slashing the Liberty defense for a one-yard score. The Hawklets led 14-0.
All game long, Rockhurst dominated. The final score was 47-7. It wasn’t even close.
Rockhurst demonstrated, with one big play at a time, that they deserved their number one ranking.
Even when Liberty appeared to be making a comeback at the beginning of the second quarter, Rockhurst was able to stay strong on defense, forcing the Blue Jays to attempt a field goal. They missed, and, with that, Liberty’s momentum disappeared.
Bolstered by a dynamic senior core of starters, Rockhurst’s defense stopped a seemingly unstoppable force by holding Jake Jenkins touchdown-less and under 100-yards rushing. No other team had accomplished such a feat against the indomitable Jenkins.
Experience proved decisive in the game. After all, the Hawklets are used to big games and big hype. They have competed in two state championships and one state semi-final in the last three years. Powerhouses like Blue Springs, Blues Springs South, and Jefferson City continually try to take the Hawklets down. For Rockhurst, every week seems like rivalry week. For Liberty, the game against Rockhurst is the rivalry game.
So, in Friday night’s match-up, the pressure was on. Only, Rockhurst was used to it.
But, pressure alone didn’t undo the Blue Jays; no, the Hawklets’ multi-dimensional offense played the main part in Liberty’s dismantling. When Liberty guessed run, the Hawklets passed. When they guessed pass, the Hawklets ran. All night long it seemed like Rockhurst was thinking a step ahead. Between Teahan’s rifle of an arm and Jerome Jackson’s fleet feet, the Hawklets kept the Blue Jays off-balance and confused.
By the time the fourth quarter rolled around, the Rockhurst faithful were chanting “overrated” in reference to the staggering Liberty Blue Jays.
Only, the crowd got it wrong.
Liberty isn’t a bad team. Rockhurst is just really, really good. They proved that to everyone Friday night.
Max Pozel
Liberty High School Senior
Liberty Bell
Liberty vs. Rockhurst (October 14, 2005)
It was private school vs. public school.
It was the best downtown team pitted against the best suburban squad.
It was the best south of the river against the best north of the river.
It was the awaited match up between Number One and Number Two.
It was Rockhurst vs. Liberty, and it was 47-7.
Liberty offensive tackle Kirk Lakebrink stood with his back to his fans staring at the FieldTurf of Rockhurst High School. The temperature had just dropped 10 degrees. He didn’t notice. With 53 seconds left in the game, his team was down by 40 points to the team he had played on for one semester as a freshman. His chinstraps hung exhaustedly on the side of his helmet. Kirk was exhausted too.
Nothing went right for Kirk and his Liberty Blue Jays on Friday night. Jake Jenkins, Liberty’s potential 2,000-yard rusher was held to just 65 yards rushing on only 18 attempts. Quarterback Jimmy Costello threw for Liberty’s lone touchdown and went 14-for-23. Costello, at 60%, was above his season average, but amounted to one touchdown in a losing effort. And before the start of the second half, Senior DB Zack Buehrer was slumped over crutches with an apparent knee injury.
The mistakes began to pile up after Liberty Head Coach Pat Hansen’s decision to kickoff in the first quarter turned into a 23-second, 81-yard touchdown drive by Rockhurst. Liberty’s troubles didn’t stop on defense; the offense was muffled to few rushing yards and had to resort to short passes for any yardage. The lone bright spot for Liberty was the troubled and often-sporadic kicking game. Placekicker J.D. Warman and punter Kyle Heiman, both soccer players, joined the team before the season and have at times struggled. Heiman released several backpedal-inducing punts and Warman connected on his only extra-point attempt. Warman did, however, miss a 35-yard field goal by a few inches.
The key word of the game: opposite. Everything between the teams differed. From the two teams’ blue and white helmet/jersey/pants color combination, to the team introductions, Rockhurst and Liberty were as different as the style of game each team played.
QB Connor Teahan, HB David Belfonte, and WR Philip Strozier carried the Rockhurst offense Friday night. Belfonte returned a punt for a touchdown to add to his first quarter rushing score. The Hawklet’s passing game didn’t go unnoticed either. Brother of Kansas State WR Noah Strozier, Philip Strozier outmatched Blue Jay receivers and manhandled Liberty’s squat cornerbacks.
At the seventeenth meeting between these two dominant football schools, nearly 10,000 fans watched Liberty High School’s football team on a night when the defense couldn’t stop, and the no-huddle offense couldn’t go. Even Rockhurst’s freshman quarterback Nathan Scheelhaase managed to knife through Liberty’s secondary and score on an electric run that gave those in the stands flashbacks of Tony Temple.
To Kirk Lakebrink, listed in the Rockhurst all-sports guide at 6’6’’ 295 lbs., hearing the boys-only students in the home bleachers chant that his team was “overrated” and faced a “long drive home” wasn’t as irritating as the thought on the Blue Jay sideline that they could have played better.
At least when Monday rolls around, when his bruises have healed, and his body has recovered, Kirk can still walk into class and plop his 295-pound body next to a girl…Sorry David Belfonte. hell no |
so it will be a little while but we can wait atleast i am coming 
