The Liberty County Panthers’ winning streak came to an end, in a damaging blow to their playoff chances.

West Laurens picked off five Panthers passes, running one back for a touchdown, and blocked a punt for another score as the Raiders beat Liberty County 28-6 Friday night at Donell Woods Stadium/Kirk Warner Field.

Liberty fell to 5-4 overall and 4-1 in Region 3-AAAA with the loss, while West Laurens improved to 5-4 on the season and also 4-1 in the region. But the Panthers entered the game with a PSR (postseason ranking) of 30. This year, only the region champions are guaranteed playoff spots and the remaining 24 spots will be determined on a team’s PSR.

Had the Panthers won against West Laurens, that would have set up next week’s game at Harlem as a region championship game.

But the Panthers fell behind quickly to the Raiders, with Kelsey Ashley running a blocked punt back 21 yards for a touchdown midway through the first quarter.

The lead swelled to 13-0 on Kington O’Neal’s 19-yard interception return for a touchdown with 9:54 to go before halftime, and Jamari Blash’s interception deep in West Laurens territory led to Duggan Malone’s 5-yard TD pass to Tripp Mascaro with just 18.9 seconds left before halftime.

Liberty’s defense held of O’Neal’s second pick of the game, forcing the Raiders to settle for a 22-yard Malone field goal.

The Panthers capped a 12-play, 89-yard drive on Jack Jacobsen’s 1-yard sneak with 2:06 remaining in the third.

But Steven Odum came up with the Raiders’ fourth interception of the night on Liberty’s next possession, and Kaden Bloodsaw added the coup de grace on a 3-yard run with 32.6 seconds left.

For more, see the October 29 edition of the Courier or return to coastalcourier.com.