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Liberda, who glided for 123 yards on 18 carries, served notice right from the start that neither rain nor puddles would deter him. On Berlin’s second play from scrimmage the 5-foot-9, 165-pound senior raced 16 yards for a first down.
Five plays later, he slithered through a host of Plainville tacklers for a 24-yard touchdown run to give the Redcoats (4-1) a 6-0 lead.
When the Blue Devils (4-1) tried to turn the corner on their first possession, Liberda shut them down from his safety position as if he was in another gear from anyone else on the field. When the first half ended, Berlin had a 26-0 lead and Plainville was still looking for its initial first down.
"The kids had a great start. We jumped right on them," Berlin coach John Capodice said. "We moved the ball down there and finished our drive (71 yards, 7 plays in 2:27). The defense was terrific tonight. Terrific. Our coaching staff did an outstanding job preparing the kids for this game and the kids responded."
The Devils lost leading rusher T.C. Scott (left knee) on the first possession and never recovered.
"I’ve got to tip my hat to Berlin," Plainville coach Mike Archangelo said. "They came out and took it to us from play one. They took us out of our game."
Berlin dominated the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. Tackle Kevin Bennardo and guard Tom McLellan worked the left side. Sophomore center Matt Delconte, right guard Chris Rogan and right tackles Andrew Legnani and Reggie St. Jarre were clearly ready to play.
"We challenged them tonight," Capodice said. "Bennardo and McLellan are 300-pound benchers. Delconte is the strongest on the team from a squat standpoint. We spend a lot of time in the weight room preparing ourselves. We had to get off the ball and control the line of scrimmage and we did that tonight."
Archangelo tipped his hat again.
"They were much quicker than us inside," Archangelo said. "We’re bigger than them but with big comes slow and they used their speed to their advantage. ... They were disrupting things in our backfield. Our line wasn’t picking up the blitzes and they were able to take advantage of it."
Berlin took a 14-0 lead with under a minute left in the first quarter after driving 57 yards and wiping almost 7 minutes off the clock. Liberda took a deep pitch and slashed over from four yards out on fourth down.
A 26-yard interception return by linebacker Jay Catalano kept the Redcoats on track early in the second quarter. A Plainville fumble opened the door for an 18-yard touchdown strike from quarterback Jim Connelly to Chris Schroder for a 26-0 lead with 8:18 remaining in the first half.
The Redcoats added a late score on an 11-yard gallop by Ryan Molloy which was set up by a 20-yard reception by Schroder.
Linebacker Nic Barbagallo turned in a determined effort on defense for Plainville.
