BELLEVUE — It is becoming awfully crowded near the top of the KingCo 3A Conference. So it is a good thing that the league gets two invitations to the state football playoffs this year.

For a second straight week, the team coming off a loss to top-ranked Bellevue bounced back with a convincing victory. A week ago it was Mount Si, defeating Issaquah. Last night the Liberty Patriots romped past previously unbeaten Newport 28-7 to stake a share of second place in the conference. Liberty (4-3 overall, 3-1 league) lost 35-7 to four-time defending state champion Bellevue last week.

"We just flushed that loss," said Liberty senior running back Deon Horne. "It's our playoff run. We know we can still go to the playoffs even with a loss to Bellevue. We just to have to win out."

Liberty finished tied for second with Issaquah behind Bellevue last season, but had to stay home because the league had just one playoff berth.

"Last year was not fair, but we know we have two berths this year," Horne said. "We want to make the best of it."

Horne made the best of things last night. In a game featuring four of the top seven rushers in the league, Horne ran for a career-high 208 yards on 29 carries and two touchdowns. He came into the game ranked seventh, averaging 77 yards per contest.

"I was in the zone," he said. "I just had it (last night). It wasn't all me, the line made it real easy for me to run."

Newport (5-2, 3-1), which boasted the top rushing offense in the league at 353 yards a game, but couldn't get its ball carriers on the field.

The Knights trailed by two touchdowns before their offense had snapped the ball. At one point, Liberty had run 33 plays to Newport's three. By the end of the half, the Patriots had run 41 plays, gained 321 yards and held the ball for 20:18 while Newport had the ball for just 3:42, running nine offensive plays totaling 18 yards.

More importantly, behind touchdowns by Liberty's Ross Milligan, Corey Marek and Horne, Newport trailed 21-0.

Newport quarterback Curtis Charles scored on a 16-yard run to break up the shutout late in the third quarter. But any comeback hopes were dashed when Liberty's Jeff Moeller intercepted a pair passes in the fourth quarter, one in the end zone.

Other games

At Mount Si 43, Interlake 13

Mount Si intercepted four passes and Brandon Yakaboski rushed for 248 yards as the Wildcats (6-1, 3-1) rolled. Yakaboski, a 6-foot, 180-pound junior who carried 19 times, broke TD runs of 70 and 66 yards — the first score coming on the game's first play from scrimmage. Eric Forslin had 93 yards and two TDs on nine carries for Mount Si. Scott Galland of Interlake (3-4, 0-4) completed 19 of 31 passes for 193 yards and two touchdowns.

Bellevue 48, at Sammamish 0

The top-ranked, defending Class 3A state champion Wolverines pitched their second shutout of the season and got three TD runs from Thomas Zaffino to win their 29th consecutive game. Zaffino had 79 yards on only five carries. Matt Ramirez had 90 yards and a score on six carries and Michael Strong ran 83 yards for a score only his only carry for the Wolverines, who had 455 total yards. Keith Rosenberg and Kyle Edwards intercepted passes for Bellevue (6-0, 4-0). Eric Jochim had 101 yards on 17 carries for the Totems (2-5, 0-4).

Issaquah 27, at Mercer Island 7

Two second-half turnovers inside the Issaquah 10-yard lines took Mercer Island out of the game. Willie Ironmonger intercepted a pass at the Eagles' 8 in the third quarter, and Issaquah (3-4, 2-2) pounced on a fumble at the 5 in the fourth quarter to kill another Islanders drive. Issaquah's Matt Glenn carried 24 times for 128 yards and two touchdowns and Bryan Jones completed 13 of 20 passes for 194 yards and a score. Quarterback Joe Fronk had 87 yards on six carries for Mercer Island (3-4, 1-3).