By TYLER HENRY
Salina Post contributor
The Salina Liberty battled but ultimately fell short in Champions Bowl VIII at the hands of the Omaha Beef, who capped off their undefeated season with a 50-30 win at the Slaughterhouse.
Omaha wasted no time jumping on the Liberty early, collecting a rogue point on the opening kickoff, before picking off Ed Crouch twice to bookend a touchdown on the ground and take an early 8-0 lead.
As the Beef looked to extend their advantage Salina forced a fumble that rolled into the end zone, and got on the board with a made field goal in the closing minutes of the first.
From there, the two teams traded punches, and the Liberty even found a lead thanks to a 32-yard hookup from Crouch to Anthony Love, but the Beef battled back and took a 17-12 lead into the intermission.
Out of the break, Omaha once again delivered a haymaker in the form of a kickoff return for a touchdown, but Salina bounced right back as Tracy Brooks took a handoff to the outside and ran 40 yards to the house to cut the deficit back to six.
After trading another set of scores, Omaha trotted out their kicker who hit a colossal 43-yard field goal to give the Beef a two-possession lead going into the fourth.
With their backs to the wall, Salina set out to trim the deficit once more, but a third interception by the Omaha secondary and a subsequent touchdown would put the game out of reach as the Beef went on to win 50-30.
Two of those crucial interceptions belonged to league leader Dreko Statham, who closed out his campaign with 15 picks in just 12 games.
With this, the book closes on yet another bittersweet Liberty campaign, that saw Salina rack up nine more wins and make a fourth-consecutive Champions Bowl, but fail to secure a second title.