PENDLETON — Pendleton head football coach Paul Sutherland implored his team this week in practice not to come out flat against the underdog Liberty Red Devils on Friday night.

It was obvious from the outset that his team listened well.

Led by an effective rushing attack and a defense that forced three first-half turnovers, the Bulldogs jumped out to an early lead and never looked back on their way to a resounding 45-0 victory over the Red Devils that was virtually over before the Homecoming queen was crowned at halftime.

“This is the first game we’ve played this year that we’ve been favored,” Sutherland said. “We stressed that we had to do what good teams do, which is to come out and take care of business.”

The Bulldog defense certainly came out and set the tone early, forcing turnovers on Liberty’s first two drives of the game, the first of which set up a 53-yard field goal off the foot of kicker Zach Sears.

The Bulldogs (6-1, 2-0 Skyline AA) enjoyed a significant advantage in field position throughout the first half due to Sears’ deep kickoffs and the Liberty turnovers. In fact, their average starting field position in the first half was the Liberty 39, and they used that to their advantage throughout the first two quarters.

After the second fumble of the game, the Bulldogs went 42 yards in only four plays before Tyler Stewart tacked onto the lead with a six-yard touchdown run, giving Pendleton a 10-0 lead with 1:24 to play in the first quarter.

On the first play of the second quarter, Pendleton was able to get pressure on Liberty’s Spencer Saunders as he attempted to punt the football deep in his own territory. Four Bulldog players teamed up to block the punt, which was recovered and returned for a two-yard touchdown by Hack Sullivan.

After a pair of short touchdown runs by Stewart and Morris Williams, the Bulldogs took a 31-0 lead into the locker room at halftime, but Sutherland told his team not to let up at all in the second half.

“We challenged our starters at halftime, both offense and defense, to put together one good possession,” he said. “It was huge that we didn’t come out sloppy after the half.”

The team heard Sutherland’s words, starting off the half with a three-play, 59-yard drive that culminated in an 18-yard touchdown run by Tye Burke.

The final drive of the game for Pendleton was perhaps its most impressive, as it amassed 99 yards and took 19 plays. The Bulldogs managed to take 12:51 off of the clock before a short touchdown run by Tyler Smith capped the drive and the scoring.

Reggie Earle led the Bulldogs with 103 yards rushing on just 7 carries, but 10 different players got a carry in the game as Sutherland made a point of getting his young players some experience.

Liberty (2-5, 0-2 Skyline AA) was led by Matt Whitworth, who finished with 12 carries for 67 yards.

With a big region contest with Abbeville looming next week, Sutherland wants his team to enjoy the win while realizing that there is still work to be done.

“It was good to get this one behind us, because Liberty is fundamentally sound and well-coached,” said the smiling coach. “But we fully realize the challenge ahead of us next week.”

Pendleton 45, Liberty 0

LHS 0 0 0 0 — 0

PHS 10 21 7 7 — 45

SCORING SUMMARY

First Quarter

PEN – Z. Sears 53 yard FG 7:30

PEN – T. Stewart 6 yard run 1:24 (Sears kick)

Second Quarter

PEN – H. Sullivan 2 yard blocked punt recovery 11:54 (Sears kick)

PEN – T. Stewart 2 yard run 4:59 (Sears kick)

PEN – M. Williams 2 yard run 4:16 (Sears kick)

Third Quarter

PEN – T. Burke 18 yard run 10:12 (Sears kick)

Fourth Quarter

PEN – T. Smith 2 yard run 3:37 (Acevedo kick)

Liberty Pendleton

First Downs 12 17

Rushes-Yards 37-184 36-269

Passing Yards 14 18

Comp-Att-Int 3-7-0 2-7-0

Punts 2-17.0 0-0

Fumbles-lost 3-3 0-0

Penalties-yards 4-42 7-61

Rushing — Liberty, Ju. Smith 9-68, M. Whitworth 12-65, E. Ladd 8-32, J. Dixon 4-23, M. Braswell 2-12, J. Black 1-9, N. McQueen 1-5. Pendleton, R. Earle 7-103, T. Burke 4-36, T. Smith 6-31, M. Williams 4-28, L. Brown 6-27, H. Sullivan 2-26, T. Stewart 2-8, M. Mosher 2-4, Ty. Sutherland 2-4, M. Skelly 1-2.

Passing — Liberty, Ju. Smith 2-5-0-12, J. Black 1-2-0-2. Pendleton, J. Gibson 2-7-0-18.

Receiving — Liberty, T. Cook 1-11, N. McQueen 1-2, J. Dixon 1-1. Pendleton, CJ Gleaton 1-16, R. Earle 1-2.