There wasn’t much defense on display in Liberty’s matchup with Wyoming Valley West in Friday’s District 2-11 4A Subregional semifinal, but there was plenty of offense during the Spartans 55-35 victory.

The Hurricanes never led in the contest, which was their deepest playoff run since 2008, and could never figure out how to stop Spartans star running back Sean Judge.

Judge, a junior, was a highlight reel himself, as he rushed for 116 yards and three touchdowns, while catching five balls for 123 yards and another touchdown.

West’s dynamic offense ripped off 240 yards on the ground and 247 yards through the air, but there was one stat that stood out more importantly than any other and that was the turnover battle.

Liberty (8-4) limited their chances for success against the undefeated Spartans (12-0) by committing six turnovers in the game, ultimately costing them the opportunity to beat a team with a potent offense.

“It really came down to mental errors and turnovers,” said ’Canes head coach John Truby. “We just turned the ball over too much against a good team to win the game.”

Liberty moved the ball with ease on West in the opening quarter, matching score for score with the Spartans, as Gunner Anglovich punched in a 5-yard TD and Darian Street caught a one-handed, 20-yard TD from Doug Erney to keep things level at 14-14 after the opening 12 minutes.

But after Liberty’s Joe Curzi picked off quarterback Aaron Austin for the first stop of the game, Anglovich fumbled on the next snap and West never looked back. Judge would score his third TD of the first half from 2-yards out to give the Spartans a 21-14 lead with 10:45 to go in the first half, which Liberty would chase the rest of the night. Erneyy, who will go down as one of the best quarterbacks in school history, was picked off by Judge on the next series, who returned the ball 45 yards to the Liberty 10. Two-plays later Devon Weidman took a handoff six yards for a score, giving the Spartans a 28-14 advantage.

A fumbled punt by the Spartans gave Liberty momentum before the half, asAnglovichh scored on a 38-yard TD with 2:22 left to cut the deficit to a touchdown, but two more TD’s by West before halftime made it 42-21.

Liberty would never get closer than two touchdowns the rest of the night.

“Those scores before the half were big,” Truby said. “You cut the lead down to one score and then you give up some big plays and all of a sudden you’re down by three scores at halftime. You got to give them [Wyoming Valley West] credit. They’re a heck of a team.”Anglovichh finished the night with 293 yards rushing and three touchdowns, whileErneyy wrapped up his final night as a Hurricane going 11-of-22 for 162 yards and two touchdowns, but throwing four interceptions in the process.

Liberty graduates 30 seniors from the program and Truby knows how important they were.

“This was a great group of guys and we’ll miss them,” he said. “They brought Liberty football back to where we expect it to be. There’s more of a buzz about the football team now and these guys are a major reason for that. We know we have a lot of work to do heading into next season to replace this group, but I think we’re all happy about how far we’ve come and where we’re heading.”