Coastal Carolina football ends Liberty rivalry with beatdown on national TV

Coastal Carolina delivered quite the parting shot to its biggest rival in the school’s 14 seasons as a college football program.

In the final game between the teams for the foreseeable future, and in front of a national television audience on ESPNews, the Chanticleers administered the largest beating ever against the Liberty Flames with a 42-7 victory at Brooks Stadium on Thursday night.

“It’s a wonderful feeling, man. The last couple of years we’ve been disrespected by them – coming to our sideline after the game, flipping us off, waving at us. Today was personal,” said Coastal Carolina senior running back De’Angelo Henderson, whose team had suffered two straight tough losses to the Flames. “We put it all on the line. We told the young guys that this is the last time we’re going to play Liberty so we have to give it everything we’ve got and unleash a different kind of beast inside you tonight and that’s what we all did.”

The Chants entered Thursday with a 6-7 all-time mark against Liberty, which was the only current Big South Conference member they had a losing record against. In the previous meeting between the schools, the Flames took a 24-21 victory in the 2015 regular season finale.

But in 2014, Coastal Carolina suffered one of the toughest losses in school history as the Chants fell 15-14 on a blocked 24-yard field goal as time expired. It cost the Chants a shot at the No. 1 seed in the FCS playoffs.

“That was a tough one; that was painful,” CCU head coach Joe Moglia said. “We were the No. 1 team in the nation, we were undefeated. It not only cost us an undefeated season but a No. 1 seed in the playoffs. That was painful; I still think about that one. Last year, we gave up a couple of big plays in the fourth quarter and they beat us. When they won those games, they came over and taunted us and they were still celebrating on the field about 30 to 45 minutes after the game and nobody was in the stadium.

“To be able to have this type of win at this point, especially with the situation we’ve had as far as injuries, was an incredibly gratifying and satisfying win not just for me but for our entire team, our staff, everyone connected with the program and certainly our school.”

As far as where the win ranks in Moglia’s mind?

“In the locker room I told the team that I think from the beginning to the end I think this was the finest game we’ve played since I’ve been at Coastal. We’ve had some great games,” Moglia said. “I think for us to play these guys offensively, defensively and on special teams from the very beginning of the game like we did was a great overall effort.”

Despite losing starting quarterback Tyler Keane for the game due to an apparent arm injury suffered on the third play from scrimmage, the Chants offense got out to a comfortable margin, scoring the game’s first four touchdowns to take a 28-0 advantage in the first half.

The Coastal Carolina defense also had a record day, limiting the Flames offense to a CCU program-best minus-23 rushing yards and held them to 200 total yards for the game. It was Liberty’s fewest rushing yards since 2005.

Chants senior linebacker Alex Scearce led the way on defense once again with a team-high six tackles and 1.5 sacks as well as a forced fumble that resulted in the team’s eighth defensive touchdown, which is one shy of Alabama’s NCAA Division I lead.

“I could not be more proud of the offense, but make no bones about it, [Liberty] didn’t get a first down until the very end of the first half,” Moglia said. “To me, it was a great game offensively, defensively and on special teams.”

Henderson – who extended his NCAA Division I record for consecutive games with at least one touchdown to 34 – had 99 rushing yards and two touchdowns in the first half to pace the Chants rushing attack, which had 205 yards compared to Liberty’s minus-2 yards rushing at halftime.

Henderson, who was in his second game back after missing three games because of a shoulder injury, finished with 139 yards on 20 carries and had three touchdowns as he moved past the 1,000-yard mark for the season – the third time he has done so in his career.

“It’s great. We’re certainly proud of him and we’re glad to have him back,” Moglia said. “He played great tonight.”

Coastal Carolina also followed an unfortunate trend this season as the Chants had to deal with yet another quarterback injury when Keane – who missed most of the past two games with an ankle injury – exited after being hit as he threw a pass.

Backup Ryan Lee – a freshman originally recruited to play wide receiver – came in and split time with Tyler Chadwick – a senior that played four seasons for the Chants baseball team before joining the football team. Chadwick was 6-of-9 passing for 71 yards, and Lee didn’t attempt a pass but had 71 yards on 19 rushes.

“So you have Ryan Lee, who is a true freshman wide receiver, and you have Tyler, who is a second baseman on the baseball team and hasn’t played football since high school,” Moglia said of his quarterback situation. “I couldn’t be prouder of those guys.”

Now, Moglia will look to lead his team into the last game of the season as the Chants host Hampton at 2 p.m. next Saturday. It will be the last hurrah for Henderson, Scearce and about 20 other seniors on the roster.

“It’s just surreal thinking next week is our last game playing in this uniform,” Henderson said. “It has been a good ride. It’s been a blessing. We’ve done some great thing, played with some wonderful players, had a great staff and it’s too much to soak in right now. Ask me next week.”

This story was originally published November 18, 2016 at 1:09 AM with the headline "Coastal Carolina football ends Liberty rivalry with beatdown on national TV."