Acosta shines in Buffaloes 32-6 rout of Liberal
Photo by Adam Shrimplin
Garden City, KS-When he was a freshman, Carlos Acosta was expected to be the promising young point guard, who was going to lead Jacy Holloway’s team into the future.
And while that is still very much in play, Acosta has been moonlighting as a star quarterback in Brian Hill’s up-tempo attack. And he’s producing, in a big-time way.
The junior signal caller threw for 241 yards and three scores while totaling 86 on the ground, the defense held Liberal to just 125 total yards, and Garden City won their second straight game, 32-6 Friday night at Buffalo Stadium.
“You’re starting to see this team round into form,” Hill said. “They’re young, so it took them some time.”
The two-time defending Western Athletic Conference champions wasted little time in establishing their dominance in this one. Acosta engineered an eight-play, 56-yard drive on the Buffaloes’ first possession. It included a 46-yard completion to Tye Davis and ended when the senior wideout snagged a jump ball in the back of the end zone for an 11-yard touchdown and a 6-0 edge (Miguel Ramos’ extra point was blocked) with 8:00 to go in the first.
“We knew coming in that Liberal’s philosophy was to stop the run,” Hill said. “With that said, we knew we had an opportunity to make some big plays in the passing game.”
Time and time again, Acosta did just that. And following a Redskin punt later in the period, the junior threw another dart, this time threading the needle to Kaleb Lapointe for a 36-yard score that put the home team up 12-0. A few minutes later, Acosta unleased a bomb to Davis, who outleaped Elijah McCarter, and raced 86 yards to the end zone for a touchdown that made it 18-0 (the Buffaloes failed on the two-point conversion) with :19 to go in the first.
“With the wind, I thought we needed to be aggressive,” Hill said. “What a great job by Carlos and Tye.”
The Buffaloes produced 210 total yards in the first quarter with Acosta accounting for 187 of that.
In the second, the Buffaloes turned to a vaunted defense, that smothered Liberal quarterback Syris Dunlap. On his second pass attempt of the quarter, Davis intercepted him and returned it near midfield. That setup a nine-play, 52 yard drive that culminated in Avey Arana’s one-yard touchdown run that pushed the lead to 25-0 going into the locker room.
“He (Acosta) takes some shots, but he stands in there,” Hill said. “He’s starting to see things, and it’s slowing down for him.”
The Buffaloes added to their lead late in the third quarter when Reece Morss polished off seven-play, 38-yard march with a four-yard scoring run that made it 32-0.
“The receivers are starting to find their way in this offense,” Hill said. “That obviously is helping Carlos out tremendously.”
Garden City (2-3, 2-0) appeared to be in position for their first shutout of the season before McCarter got loose for a 58-yard touchdown run in the final two minutes. But other than that, the Buffaloes dominated every aspect, beating the Redskins for the 11th straight time.
“We are starting to come together as one,” Hill said. “These guys are starting to figure out that if you play for one another, good things happen.”
The 241 yards through the air for Acosta was the most in a game since Garrett Doll threw for 242 vs. Dodge City on Oct. 13, 2017. Morss added 43 yards and a rushing touchdown on the ground while Davis had three catches for 143 yards and two touchdowns. Kaleb Lapointe and Ethan Crone each had nine tackles apiece.
Dunlap finished the night 4-of-13 for 30 yards and three interceptions for Liberal, who has not won a game in Garden City since 2004. Alan Marquez had just 11 yards rushing on 13 carries, and Hunter Hatcher caught two passes for 25.
Next up: Garden City vs. Wichita Northwest-Friday, Oct. 5-6 p.m. Kpreps; 6:30 p.m. pregame; 7 p.m. kickoff on 99.9 FM; westernkansasnews.com/kwkr and KWKR mobile app
