With an extra week to prepare its game plan for New Hampstead, the Liberty County Panthers resorted to an old-school method.

Using an extra offensive tackle and two blocking backs almost exclusively, the Panthers pounded out a 30-14 win over the visiting Phoenix on Friday night in the Region 3-AAAA opener for both teams.

The Panthers, now 2-3, ran 51 times for 216 yards and opened a 20-0 lead early in the second half on Jaeir Roberts’ quarterback sneak. After the Panthers defense forced a second turnover one play later, Noel Best converted that into his third rushing touchdown with 8:17 to go in the third quarter.

Aidan Ronk added a field goal in the fourth quarter for the Panthers’ final points.

The Panthers’ defense, which had not forced a turnover in the first four games, came up with three Friday night, including Nykeim Ezell’s interception of a tipped pass on the first play of the game. Liberty turned that directly into points on Best’s 16-yard TD run on the next snap.

The Panthers, who had accumulated just four sacks in four games, had four against the Phoenix.

Phoenix quarterback Antonio Benton was 20 of 44 for 187 yards and one touchdown.

Liberty travels to Savannah to play Windsor Forest in another region matchup on October 2.

For more, return to coastalcourier.com or see the October 1 edition of the Courier.