Once the Liberty County Panthers got out of their own way Friday night, they had little problem pushing aside Windsor Forest.

The Panthers turned the ball over three times in the first half but eventually found their footing and rolled past the Knights 36-6 at Donell Woods Stadium/Kirk Warner Field. It also marks the first time the Panthers have started a football season 2-0 in three years.

Despite a lopsided advantage in the stats, the Panthers led just 15-6 at halftime. Elijah Brown’s second touchdown of the game, a 13-yard burst, capped Liberty’s first possession of the second half and put the Panthers ahead 22-6.

The Knights’ only threat of the second half reached the Panthers 26-yard line before Liberty held on downs. Three penalties aided the Knights, including a pass interference, a targeting call that Panthers coaches argued was a shoulder-to-shoulder hit and a roughing the punter infraction after Liberty coaches implored their players not to touch the punter.

There were 33 accepted penalties in the game.

Noel Best scored on a 2-yard run with 8:26 to go in the game, with Jaeir Roberts’ 43-yard strike to A.J. Garlin on third down keeping the drive alive, and Raymond Woods took a bobbled pass 70 yards for a clinching interception return with 6:12 remaining.

The Panthers defense held the Knights, who racked up more than 300 yards passing in their opener against Brantley County, to 164 total yards. Knights quarterback JR Rowland was sacked four times and forced into two intentional grounding calls.

Roberts’ 13-yard keeper on Liberty’s first possession, followed by Elijah Brown’s two-point conversion run, put the Panthers ahead 8-0 with 8:40 to go in the first quarter.

But on fourth and 1 near midfield, a fumble gave Windsor the ball, and the Knights turned that into Rowland’s 10-yard touchdown pass to Jayden Thomas, who stretched over a Liberty defender to make the catch in the corner of the end zone.

The Panthers answered with a seven-play, 65-yard drive, and Brown ended it with a 1-yard TD run.

Liberty had a chance to extend the lead on their next drive, but fumbled again on first and goal at the Windsor Forest 2.

A fumbled punt return on the next Knights series put Windsor at its own 47 but the Liberty defense held and forced another punt.

The Panthers chalked up 386 yards of offense and held the Knights to 103.

Liberty, also 1-0 in Region 3-AAA, visits Jenkins on September 5 in another region game.

For more, see the September 4 edition of the Courier.