By EARL WATT

• Leader & Times

Marc Svaty's debut as the head coach of the Liberal Redskin football program started with a bolt of lightning, but he was still pleased with the outcome — a 7-0 win over Wichita Southeast.

Lightning led to a delay with about one minute remaining in the first quarter, and four hours later the game resumed until halftime. But during the 10-minute intermission lightning returned, and the game was called.

Liberal's best drive of the first quarter was the first drive of the game. The Redskins started at their own 35 yard line and showcased a no-huddle style of offense that relied heavily on the run until Bren Kappelmann completed a six-yard pass to Isaac Castaneda for six yards on a fourth-and-two.

But after that the Redskins had three straight incompletions and pinned the Buffaloes back at the 13 yard line after a punt.

The Angry Red defense forced a punt, but Liberal muffed the kick, and Southeast recovered at the 39 yard line.

But the defense prevented Southeast from moving the ball with two tackles for loss.

The two teams traded punts, and Southeast put together its best drive of the game with a 10-play drive that started before the weather delay, and after the teams returned to the field four hours later, the Buffaloes moved the ball to the Redskin 33 yard line before the Redskins forced a turnover on downs.

But the Redskins fumbled and gave the Buffaloes a golden opportunity with the ball at the Liberal 30 yard line.

Southeast moved the ball to the Liberal 18 yard line, but two false start penalties thwarted the drive, and after an incomplete pass on fourth and 14, the Redskins took over at their own 23 yard line.

But a three-and-out led to a Liberal punt. Still, the Angry Red defense continued to step up and held the Buffaloes to another three-and-out.

Southeast punted, and with 4:17 remaining in the first half, the Redskins took possession at their own 4 yard line.

Ismael Calderon had a 15-yard run followed by an 11-yard scramble by Kappelmann on a bobbled snap, and the Redskins moved out of the shadow of their own end zone.

A Southeast pass interference coupled with an unsportsmanlike penalty moved the ball 30 yards in one play, and Landry Fitzgerald broke a 10-yard run followed by a four yard dive, and the Redskins moved the ball to the 16 yard line with less than a minute to play before half.

Liberal drove down to the 6 yard line, and with eight seconds to play in the half Kappelmann found Calderon in the end zone for a touchdown and a 7-0 Liberal lead.

Southeast threw two incomplete passes in the final five seconds of the half, and when lightning returned after midnight during halftime, the officials called the game.

"I thought we played real well defensively," Svaty said. "We gave up a couple plays, a couple broken tackles. They had some good running backs. We had a difficult time getting things going offensively."

But when the Redskins had to score late in the half, they were able to execute.

"We probably would have kicked a field goal if we didn't complete that pass," Svaty said. "It's been a whirlwind. I've only been here for 78 days, and I can't wait for tomorrow."

After waiting for the season opener, Fitzgerald said the lightning delay added to the suspense.

"I was ready to hit," Landry said. "We were in the small gym waiting. My mom brought me a salad from Braum's and that got me going."

Fitzgerald didn't have a rushing yard before the delay but had 19 yards on six carries after, and his biggest play was a run down to the goal line that was negated by a penalty, and Fitzgerald had to come out after the play when his helmet was ripped off.

"I felt my chinstrap get pulled off, and it ripped my lip open, and my nose was bleeding," he said. "Then I had to get all the blood off before I could go back in."

The weather delay allowed adjustments, and Svaty noticed the backside scoop blocks were being missed, and that allowed the Southeast defense to make stops.

"We noticed the hard scoop on the backside of the offensive linemen," Svaty said. "They had  a lot of blitzes, and we were not picking up the backside. We had several nice blocks. Iker (Favila) and Trent (Holmes) each had pancake blocks, and backs were getting caught from the back side. We figured it out and were able to drive the ball after that."

The game-winning drive started at the 4 yard line, and Svaty's first goal after three-play drives was to get a first down.

"We had three downs to get a first down, and we had been punting all night," he said. "We would have punted in the wind and rain."

Instead, they drove 96 yards in 12 plays for a touchdown.

Liberal will now prepare for a battle with Wichita Heights on the road.

"We have some film to watch," Svaty said. "I didn't know about the hard scoop going in, but we are still young together. We are working on our identity. We have to move the ball on first downs and get some big plays."