It couldn’t have been much worse for Liberty last Friday night when Easton came to town.

The Rovers did whatever they wanted in a dominating display that left head coach John Truby scratching his head after a 49-14 defeat.

Nysir Minney-Gratz had a career day rushing for Easton, collecting 302 yards on 28 carries and two touchdowns, as Easton’s offensive line won the battle up front to keep the Hurricanes in disarray.

After Doug Erney found Sean West for a 24-yard TD strike to open the game for a 7-0 lead, it was all downhill from that point. The Rovers would barrel their way to 49 points the rest of the way in a physical victory.

“Easton just flat out beat us up,” said Truby. “They’re defensive line played a great game and we didn’t match it. Their kids wanted it and came out to play. It all starts up front and we couldn’t handle them.”

Minney-Gratz dazzled on the night, as he followed Liberty’s opening score with a 92-yard kickoff return to even the game in the first. He then broke off 19 and 87 yard TD runs in the third quarter, as Easton scored 42 unanswered points.

After an opening series score, Liberty’s offense went flat.

Erney finished the night 11-of-20 for 112 yards and a score, but also threw three interceptions.

After going 83 yards on their first drive, Liberty managed 204 yards the rest of the night.

Easton’s speed up front became a factor for Liberty’s linemen and it was something they couldn’t handle.

“I was surprised at how fast they [ Easton]were getting off the ball,” said Truby. “They weren’t doing anything special except beating us off the ball. You can’t play that way and they did a great job against us. It’s tough for Doug to do stuff when he has no time.”

The loss puts Liberty at 6-2 on the season, dropping them behind Easton (6-2) in the district power rankings.

With a key contest at Central Catholic (5-3) this Saturday, Liberty needs a win to get some momentum back heading into their season finale against Freedom.

“Hopefully we can watch film and get ready for a strong Central team,” said Truby. “I was surprised at how Easton was able to take control of this game. This is something we’re going to have to learn from heading into the next two weeks.”