The Seminole District matchup between Liberty Christian (9-0) and Jefferson Forest (8-2) had the hype of two heavyweights squaring off. In the first half, the score remained close and the Cavaliers appeared to be ready to make it a long night for the Bulldogs.

Unfortunately for Jefferson Forest, their offense struggled to reach the endzone early, settling for a pair of field goals from Cameron McClendon. Liberty Christian running back Gideon Davidson scored twice in the first half for the Bulldogs giving them a nine-point advantage at intermission.

The Clemson commit scored three more times in the second half and the Liberty Christian defense shut down the Jefferson Forest offense en route to a 50-6 victory, their 24th consecutive, and secured the Seminole District championship as well as homefield advantage throughout the postseason.

Football is about adjustments and with Jefferson Forest trailing 15-6 at halftime, spectators at Sabre Stadium were eager for a competitive second half. The Bulldogs defense, however, seemed to adjust the most shutting down a Cavaliers rushing attack that had led the teams’ offense to 42 points per contest prior to Friday night.

The Jefferson Forest managed to only record 94 total rushing yards on the night and after falling behind following Davidson’s 61-yard burst, had to rely more on their passing attack to erase a three-score deficit.

Dylan Marks was able to complete 50% of his passes in the contest but his team simply couldn’t get much momentum going offensively. Four consecutive runs after the long score by their opponents appeared to be providing a much-needed spark but on the fifth handoff, Liberty Christian senior Justis Belford ripped the football away from a Cavaliers rusher and took it 50 yards to the endzone extending the Bulldogs lead to 36-6 with just over a minute remaining in the third quarter.

With seemingly nearly everything going their way, Liberty Christian ended the scoring midway through the fourth quarter after a handoff was fumbled by a Bulldogs rusher. The loose football was booted deep into the backfield where an alert Tyler Jackson scooped up the pigskin and ran the football into the endzone from 34 yards away.

SCORING SUMMARY

Liberty Christian 8 7 21 14—50

Jefferson Forest 3 3 0 0—6

FIRST QUARTER

JF—Cameron McClendon 38 field goal

LCA—Gideon Davidson 8 run (Austin Tremblay pass from James Deyo), 3:02

SECOND QUARTER

JF—Cameron McClendon 23 field goal, 6:11

LCA—Gideon Davidson 18 run (Samuel Mejia Ibarra kick), 1:17

THIRD QUARTER

LCA—Gideon Davidson 61 run (Samuel Mejia Ibarra kick), 9:23

LCA—Gideon Davidson 15 run (Samuel Mejia Ibarra kick), 4:08

LCA—Justis Belford 50 fumble return (Samuel Mejia Ibarra kick), 1:12

FOURTH QUARTER

LCA—Gideon Davidson 56 run (Samuel Mejia Ibarra kick), 10:14

LCA—Tyler Jackson 34 run (Samuel Mejia Ibarra kick), 6:50

STANDOUT PLAYERS

Gideon Davidson, Liberty Christian…The Class of 2025 prospect and Clemson football commit had a dominating night scoring five touchdowns for his team. Two of the scores were on long runs of 60 and 56 yards that were a part of a 252 yard rushing performance for Davidson. The running back averaged 11.5 yards per carry in the victory and will certainly cause opposing defenses some sleepless nights as postseason play begins. While it’s not likely Davidson will eclipse his 2023 total of 2716 rushing yards, he averaged 167 yards per game this season and had 25 total rushing touchdowns in the regular season.

Justis Belford, Liberty Christian…The senior recorded two turnovers on defense, both of which equated to scores for his team. In the first half, with an 8-6 lead and with his team in danger of falling behind, Belford recorded an interception that allowed the Bulldogs the opportunity to score before halftime and extend their lead. Then in the third quarter, Belford showed his tenacity and strength by ripping away the football from a Jefferson Forest ball carrier and going the distance to score himself.

TAKEAWAYS

Can the Bulldogs Win Back-to-Back Championships?

The competition will heat up even more now that the playoffs are on the horizon but playing in the Seminole District bodes well for Liberty Christian’s demeanor against high-level competition. Six of the eight teams in the district finished with a .500 record or higher on the season and four of those squads will be in the top half of their respective region.

Easton Ware anchors a solid offensive line and Davidson provides the experience and power in the backfield with freshman quarterback Tyler Jackson coming into his own and leading an offense that is scoring 43 points per game with their lowest output coming in week six against Rustburg. Defensively, the Bulldogs have allowed single digits in each contest during the second half of the season and are giving up a total of just 12 points per game all season.

There are six teams in Class 3 that are still unbeaten so it is not by any means going to be a cakewalk for the Bulldogs to repeat as Class 3 state champions but they shouldn’t be discounted based on their play in the regular season.

WHAT’S NEXT

Liberty Christian will host a Region Quarterfinal contest next week as they stay atop Region 3C. Their unofficial opponent is Broadway, who finished the season 7-3 after defeating Harrisonburg 56-0 this week. However, the Gobblers struggled against elite competition this year, with a 22-0 loss to #2 Class 2 seed Strasburg and a 31-6 loss to #2 Class 3 seed Turner Ashby. The Bulldogs defeated Broadway 48-0 in Lynchburg in the region semifinals in 2021.

Jefferson Forest will also host a Region Quarterfinal next week. The Cavaliers are unofficially the #3 seed in Region 4D following Sherando’s 19-14 defeat of Handley on Saturday afternoon. Our calculations have Orange County visiting Jefferson Forest next week, and we’ll see if that holds true when the VHSL releases the first-round playoff pairing on Sunday, November 10th. If that is the case, it will be the first time the two schools have met on the gridiron.

Robert Edmonds has been contributing to Virginiapreps.com, part of the Rivals.com network, since 2013. Follow him on X (formerly known as Twitter) @bigrob2523 and subscribe to his YouTube channel for sports-related content. You can read his work in the Daily Progress and occasionally in other journalism publications. He began working in the sports sector in 2006 and covers public and private schools throughout the state with a focus in the Central Virginia area. He currently lives in Keswick with his wife and has seven children and two grandchildren. To contact Robert, please email him at bigrob2523@gmail.com.