No. 2 Arbor View beats No. 5 Liberty for 1st time since 2011 — PHOTOS

Arbor View’s football team had erased a halftime deficit and held a seven-point lead after a pair of early touchdowns in the third quarter at Liberty on Thursday night.

Then momentum appeared to swing back in Liberty’s favor after Arbor View committed turnovers on back-to-back possessions.

Fortunately for the Aggies, their defense stood tall.

Arbor View’s defense forced a three-and-out and then held Liberty to a field goal to maintain a four-point lead. That helped the Aggies, No. 2 in the Review-Journal’s Class 5A rankings, hold on for a 31-28 road win at No. 5 Liberty.

With the win, Arbor View (7-1, 4-1 5A Division I) clinched the No. 2 seed in the Division I playoffs, which begin with state quarterfinals Nov. 8. The win is also the Aggies’ first against Liberty since 2011.

“These guys believe in each other,” Arbor View coach Marlon Barnett said. “That’s the statement this (win) makes. They believe that they’re supposed to be here, and they believe they’re supposed to be on the road to Allegiant (Stadium).”

Liberty (3-6, 2-3) led 17-10 at halftime, but Arbor View quickly took the lead. Thaddeus Thatcher hit Damani Warren on a 9-yard touchdown pass to tie the game, and then on Liberty’s ensuing possession, a high snap over quarterback Elijah Espinoza went into the end zone. Brian Townsend fell on the ball for a touchdown to give the Aggies a 24-17 lead.

Arbor View then committed two of its four turnovers of the game on back-to-back possessions. Thatcher was picked off by Gravis Lopez, and running back Sean Moore fumbled on the next possession. But Liberty managed just a 22-yard Colton Friedman field goal after the fumble for its only points of the two series and trailed 24-20 with 8:56 left in the fourth quarter.

The Aggies leaned on their running backs to control the clock on its following possession. They fed Kamareion Bell heavily on the drive, and the sophomore scored on a 2-yard run to extend the lead to 31-20 late in the fourth quarter.

“We got so many running backs, and all our running backs are good,” Bell said. “When we got a good passing game and great running back at the same time, you got to pick one to stop and you’re not going to stop both.”

Arbor View had to sweat out the final 3:29. Liberty scored on a 30-yard touchdown pass from Espinoza to Giovanni Criss, and a 2-point conversion cut Arbor View’s lead to 31-28. Then the Patriots tried an onside kick, but touched the ball before it went 10 yards, and the Aggies retained possession.

On third down, Thatcher broke off a 21-yard run, breaking through a tackler to keep Arbor View’s drive alive and secure the win. The Aggies grinded out 116 rushing yards. Thatcher scampered for 38 yards and Bell totaled 36 on the ground.

“I got a cramp (on the final drive) and I was on the sidelines and I heard it and saw that Thaddeus ran (a Liberty defender) over,” Bell said. “… It’s a big statement, but we got to move on to the next week.”

Thatcher completed 15 of 22 passes for 210 yards and threw two touchdowns. Jayden Williams had 91 receiving yards and a touchdown catch in the first quarter, and Zac Fares added 70 receiving yards on five catches.

“When we face adversity, we have to make sure we respond in an elite way,” Barnett said. “Five percent of life is what happens to you, and 95 percent is how you respond. They responded tonight really well.”

Espinoza completed 10 of 18 passes for 140 yards and threw two touchdowns for Liberty. His first touchdown was a 35-yard strike to Kellen Iwamuro that cut Arbor View’s early 10-point lead to 10-7 in the second quarter.

Lopez picked off Thatcher later in the second quarter, and the Patriots took a 14-10 lead on a 6-yard run from Ezra Sanelivi. Friedman added a 30-yard field goal right before halftime to give the Patriots a 17-10 lead at the break. Sanelivi finished with 98 rushing yards.

“We got to clean up the penalties and the turnovers and those mistakes,” Barnett said. “We’re young. We’re an extremely young team.”

Arbor View plays at Foothill, and Liberty plays at Basic at 6 p.m. on Nov. 1 to conclude the regular season.