The stars came out for the Liberty football team Thursday night at Bethlehem Area School District Stadium.
A team loaded with experienced skill-position players showcased those playmakers with five different players scoring touchdowns in a 38-14 victory over Allentown Central Catholic.
Quarterback Antonio Fontanez threw for two touchdown passes. He ran for one, and Gabe Green, Adriaan Deleon, Jake Pukszyn, and Jaxon Barlok all got into the end zone as the Hurricanes bounced back from a disappointing opening-night loss to Pennridge to even their record at 1-1 with one more nonleague game to play.
But while the skill-position players were well-known in Eastern Pennsylvania Conference football circles and a big reason why Liberty was the sleeper pick of many to contend for league and district titles, it was the unheralded offensive line that deserved a large chunk of the credit.
“We didn’t play with enough physicality last week, and the two big things that I told the people who interviewed me last week were that we were out-physicaled and out-disciplined,” Liberty coach Shawn Daignault said. “I thought tonight we improved in those two areas quite a bit.”
Most pleasing to Daignault about the play of the O-line was that three of the guys up front are sophomores and the lone senior is Dartmouth-bound left tackle Nick Schenkel. Joining Schenkel up front are sophomores Anthony Martin, Jason Doughty and Finnegan Munro and junior Nazir Barahona.
More story to follow …
Scoring summary
Allentown CC 7 – 7 – 0 – 0 — 14
Liberty 7 – 10 – 21 – 0 — 38
FIRST QUARTER
L: Gabe Green 1 run (Christian Hackett kick), 8:02 (Drive: 7 plays, 18 yards, 2:13)
C: Tate Shoemaker 3 run (Bryson Baker kick) 1:03 (Drive: 16 plays, 80 yards, 6:59)
SECOND QUARTER
C: Deon Johnson 7 run (Baker kick), 11:42 (Drive: 1 play, 7 yards, 0:05)
L: Hackett 26 field goal, 9:42 (Drive: 8 plays, 71 yards, 2:00)
L: Adriaan Deleon 4 run (Hackett kick), 0:22 (Drive: 13 plays, 53 yards, 6:04)
THIRD QUARTER
L: Jake Pukszyn 11 pass from Antonio Fontanez (Hackett kick), 9:41 (Drive: 5 plays, 39 yards, 2:19)
L: Jaxon Barlok 53 pass from Fontanez (Hackett kick), 7:35 (Drive: 2 plays, 62 yards, 0:51)
L: Fontanez 73 run (Hackett kick), 0:55 (Drive: 2 plays, 73 yards, 0:52)
Individual stats
RUSHING
Allentown CC (38-118): Tate Shoemaker 14-55, TD; Patrick Cahill 14-13; Deon Johnson 7-41, TD; Trey Torres-Johnson 3-9.
Liberty (36 for 233): Adriaan Deleon 16-133, TD; Gabe Green 14-48, TD; Antonio Fontanez 2-75, TD; Mason Kennedy 2-(-10); Jake Pukszyn 1-(-12); Robert Rush 1-(-1).
PASSING
Allentown CC: Cahill 6-16-1, 124 yards.
Liberty: Fontanez 12-20-1, 172 yards, 2 TD.
RECEIVING
Allentown CC: Tahir Edmonson 3-66; Nate Bringuez 1-44; Harry Restino 1-11; Grayson Schmell 1-3.
Liberty: Zyaire Davis 5-80; Jaxon Barlok 3-65, TD; Jake Pukszyn 3-27; Adriaan Deleon 1-0.
https://www.mcall.com/2025/08/29/lehigh-valley-high-school-football-liberty/
