SAN ANTONIO — Liberty Hill did what it does best Friday: wear opponents down.

The Panthers never punted and rushed for 465 yards as they reached their fourth straight Class 5A Division II regional final with a 49-28 win over Corpus Christi Flour Bluff at Heroes Stadium.

Noah Long ran for 194 yards and four touchdowns, Ben Carter finished with 135 yards and a score on the ground and Jaxson Hines and Jack Pitchford both had rushing TDs as Liberty Hill pulled away in the second half.

Here are some thoughts from the game as the Panthers now await the winner of Saturday’s contest between San Antonio Pieper and San Antonio Alamo Heights.

Defense comes through when needed

Defense hasn’t been Liberty Hill’s strength this year, but that side of the ball came up big a few times Friday.

It forced a turnover on downs in both halves, made the Hornets punt in the third quarter, allowed Flour Bluff starting quarterback Jayden Paluseo only 48 yards of passing in the second half and yielded less than 400 total yards.

And while no one will confuse the Panthers’ defense with the 2000 Baltimore Ravens, that was plenty with what Liberty Hill was doing on offense.

“We played well when it mattered most,” Liberty Hill coach Kent Walker said. “We felt like we made great halftime adjustments to some of their formations, and our kids came out and played a great second half.”

Offense relentless

Liberty Hill likely would have had more rushing yards had it not had two possessions that started in Flour Bluff territory.

The only possessions it didn’t score on came at the end of the half when it received the kickoff and when it kneeled to run out the clock at the end of the game.

The Hornets tried two onside kicks and at times operated as if they wouldn’t be able to stop the Panthers’ slot-T offense.

“Our offensive line was moving guys out of the way like they were nothing,” said Long, who now has more than 1,300 yards rushing on the season. “This is a hard offense for defenses to figure out, and we ground and pound the whole game.”

Still, when Flour Bluff scored on the opening possession of the second half, the game was tied at 28-28.

But strong second halves are what Liberty Hill prides itself on, and an 18-play drive that took more than six minutes of game clock and ended with Hines’ 2-yard touchdown run to give the Panthers a 42-28 lead seemed to be the knockout blow.

“Normally, in the third and fourth quarters we have the stamina and opponents don’t,” Long said. “They get tired, and it’s a lot harder to play and think when you’re tired.”

Iron man Vallejo

Sophomore lineman Alister Vallejo has turned into Liberty Hill’s iron man.

After an injury to a teammate in the final regular-season game, Vallejo has played on both sides of the ball for the Panthers’ three playoff games after normally just playing defensive end.

“You kind of get the best of both worlds as you get to celebrate scoring touchdowns with your boys on offense and then take down quarterbacks on defense,” said Vallejo, who plays tackle when Liberty Hill has the ball. “So it’s very enjoyable, but at the same time it can get tiring and you’re like, ‘Man, can I please get a break.’”

4-for-4 in Class 5A regional semifinals

Liberty Hill has only been in Class 5A for four years, and both Long and Walker said it’s a point of pride the program has had so much success immediately after making the jump in classification.

“It’s expected culturally at Liberty Hill,” Long said. “Football is taken seriously and we expect to be this deep in the playoffs.”

The Panthers started out the season 2-3, but they've rallied and Walker thinks the team is peaking at the right moment.

“A lot of people maybe doubted we would be back here, but we finally got healthy and just started playing better,” he said. “I’m just super proud of our kids.”

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Liberty Hill tops Flour Bluff to make fourth straight regional final