By Nicholas Huenefeld

Special to the Sentinel-Tribune

TONTOGANY — Liberty Center’s Waylon Rentz rumbled for 165 yards on just seven carries to lead a balanced and potent ground attack on Friday, dealing Otsego its first loss of the season, 37-7.

“They’re just really physical up front, and they fire off hard,” Otsego coach Craig Rutherford said. “It took us a little while to play at that speed, and I was proud of the way our guys came back and showed some fight as the game went on. We just have to make sure we start faster.”

Otsego suffered its first loss despite a 97-yard touchdown run from Keeghan Hutton in the fourth quarter.

Otsego (2-1) opened the game with a seven-play, 18-yard drive, but a punt set up Rentz for a 65-yard touchdown run on Liberty Center’s very first offensive play.

Back-to-back three-and-outs for the Liberty Center defense then set the table for a 13-yard scamper from Thomas Mohler and a two-yard burst into the endzone from Garrison Kruse.

When the dust settled, the Liberty Center offense needed just 11 plays on their first three drives for 145 yards and a 21-0 lead with 2:45 left in the opening quarter.

Those drives lasted just four minutes and 22 seconds combined.

“It’s obvious why (Liberty Center is) one of the top teams in the state,” Rutherford said. “They play really fast, and they’re physical. They execute things well, and they were just better at those things than us tonight. They’re better than most people at those things.”

Defensively, Liberty Center held Otsego scoreless in the first half, limiting the Knights to just 69 yards on 30 plays.

Otsego, however, responded for 151 yards on 11 carries in the second half, highlighted by Hutton’s 97-yard carry and a 32-yard scamper from Jake Limes.

“As we got into the second half, we were just trying to get first downs and do what we could to establish something,” Rutherford said. “We’re still trying to find our identity sometimes, and we’re trying to be consistent in what we do, so I was happy that throughout the second half that we were able to pick up some yards. “

The third quarter didn’t work out very well for Otsego as both drives resulted in fumbles. The second one came two plays after the 32-yard run from Limes set the Knights up at Liberty Center’s 40.

“We still had too many mistakes,” Rutherford said. “We have to look at ourselves and figure out why we’re making those mistakes and what we can do to fix them. But we did fight against a really good opponent, a team that made us play as hard as we could.”

Otsego wasn’t the only team with some sloppy play as Liberty Center had a pair of touchdown runs called back due to holding penalties, including a 57-yard run from Rentz in the second quarter.

The frustration continued in the fourth quarter as Liberty Center capped two drives with fumbles. Both of them came inside the 10 on third and goal situations.

“We got a little sloppy in the second quarter and had a couple penalties that took some points off the board,” Liberty Center head coach Casey Mohler said. “The fast start was definitely a big help, but we have to clean things up going forward.”

The Tigers (3-0) pushed it to a 30-0 lead on their eighth drive of the game when Kruse galloped in from 33 yards out midway through the third quarter to cap a two-play, 40-yard drive.

Braxton Light’s three-yard touchdown run with 1:43 left in the game rounded out the scoring – one drive after Hutton’s 97-yard burst.

In total, Liberty Center had 11 players tote the ball against Otsego for a combined 346 yards, which included 202 in the second half.

Every offensive yard in the second half came on the ground for Liberty Center, who got 47 yards on 4-for-7 passing combined from Grady Miller and Kaden Kreinbrink in the first half.

The Tigers received 39 yards on the ground from Mohler, 38 yards from Kruse and 37 from Tyler Rohrs, but it was Rentz’s big day as he had runs of 65, 47, 22, 17 and 10 yards among his seven carries.

“We always try to play as physical as we can,” Rentz said. “We play downhill and we try to play fast. I think the main things were just being physical and playing fast.”

“It’s obvious why they’re one of the top teams in the state,” Rutherford said. “They play really fast, and they’re physical. They execute things well, and they were just better at those things than us tonight. They’re better than most people at those things.”