Photos from Kevin French of Maxpreps and highlights from Desert Edge’s 26-0 victory at Liberty Friday night:

Senior Liberty running back Kyle Harms (No. 5) didn’t play in the second half after suffering a left leg injury in the first half of Friday’s game.

Not only did Kyle Woolard (No. 20) score two rushing touchdowns, but he also intercepted Liberty quarterback Tyler Rogers twice. Woolard has offers from San Jose State and Montana State to play safety, the position he played last year for Desert Edge. “Our coaches put together a great game plan for (Friday’s game),” Woolard said.

Desert Edge’s defense didn’t allow the mobile Rogers (No. 17) to break free or connect with his go-to receivers for much of the night. Desert Edge coach Rich Wellbrock credited his assistant coaches for devising the defensive plan that helped shut down one of the state’s better offenses. Assistant coaches Travis Guiney, Jose Lucero, Lamar Baker and Jason Linn have worked with Wellbrock since they took over Desert Edge three seasons ago. Desert Edge is now 25-7 under Wellbrock. “How exciting for our kids to come out and get a shutout in such a big game in a big stage,” Wellbrock said.

Wellbrock didn’t say who didn’t play, but Desert Edge was without one or a couple of defensive players for unspecified reasons.

Woolard had rushed for more than 900 yards this season before facing Liberty but hadn’t played in the fourth quarter of a game until Friday. With Desert Edge in control, Woolard didn’t need to play in the final quarter of his team’s previous games.

The turning point of Friday’s game came when Liberty turned the ball over twice, allowing Desert Edge (8-0) to score the game’s first two touchdowns with less than a minute remaining in the second quarter. Ismael Murphy-Richardson caught a 28-yard touchdown pass (photo) to give Desert Edge a 14-0 lead. “Oh man. Those guys are special,” said Desert Edge quarterback Sawyer Lung about his wide receiver weapons, Richardson and Elijah Marks.

The left side of Desert Edge’s offensive line cleared the way for Woolard, helping Woolard gain most of his rushing yards Friday night at Liberty. “In the end, no matter what happened, our kids love to play the game and they love to play for each other,” Wellbrock said. “And that’s the most important part. They are not worried about their schedule. They will come out and play anybody on a Friday night that’s ready to go.”