Adonis Watt is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Centennial High School for AZPreps365.com

The 7-2 Liberty Lions defeated the-then 9-0 Centennial Coyotes 36-17 on Friday in Peoria.

The game, which was both teams’ regular-season finale, sure did have a playoff feel to it.

The Lions started the game quickly by receiving the opening game kickoff and driving the ball down the field into a critical fourth down from the Coyotes’ 1-yard-line. Lions running back Jon Wilson forced his way into the end zone, giving Liberty a 7-0 lead.

After the Coyotes punted, the Lions were driving down the field when defensive back Marcus Logan intercepted a pass from quarterback Navi Bruzon. Even though they didn’t score, this was the first of three turnovers the Coyote defense forced in the first half.

After the interception, the Centennial offense drove down the field and got a 40-yard field goal to cut the Lions’ lead to four. The Lions responded with a field goal of their own to make the score 10-3. Even though the Coyotes caused two more fumbles from the Lion offense, they couldn’t capitalize with any points. With less than two minutes left in the second quarter, the Coyotes got the ball with hopes to score before halftime. After the first play of the drive started, the Lions intercepted a pass and returned it for a touchdown. After a missed extra point, the score going into halftime was 16-3, Liberty.

With the Coyotes down 13, they were going to need an explosive play to get the momentum back on their side. And that’s exactly what they got when Marcus Logan returned the opening kickoff of the third quarter to the end zone.

The Lions had a quick response with a deep ball to receiver Braylon Garner, then they added a two-point conversion to make the score 24-10. During the next possession, the Coyotes leaned into their power identity in which every play except for one was a run, and the play that wasn’t became a 10-yard touchdown pass to tight end Noah Carter. The Lions put their lead back up to 13 after another strike down the field to Braylon Gardner and a blocked extra point.

Moving on to the fourth quarter, the Lions put the game away with a touchdown to make the final score 36-17.

Friday was an uncharacteristic performance from the Coyotes, especially with the playoffs on the horizon.

“Tonight, they were better than us,” head coach Richard Taylor said.

He said he’s going to use this to motivate the team, though.

“Until you lose, you don’t know how much you like winning,” Taylor said. “I’m going to ask them how does this feel compared to the nine other games, and if you don’t like this, we got to do something about it, and I believe these guys will do that.”

With this being Centennial’s first defeat of the season, the team will take it not as a loss as much as a lesson.

“We will take tons away from this game,” defensive back coach Steve Isaac said. “We’ll learn from it and get better, without a doubt.”

The Coyotes will now have two weeks to find out and get ready for their opponent on Nov. 17. 

You can expect a “hungry team,” Washington commit Noah Carter said.