ISSAQUAH — After a loss to top-ranked Bellevue earlier this year, Liberty football coach Steve Valach told his team they needed to play harder, to play with "an edge."

"Not dirty," Valach explained last night. "But being tenacious, being fierce within a circle of discipline. Football is a game of aggression. So play that way."

The edge showed up last night, razor sharp.

In a key KingCo 3A matchup for second place, the Patriots outhustled and outmuscled Mount Si in a bruising game that featured 19 penalties, hard hitting and one mammoth scrum.

When everything was finally untangled, Liberty (5-3, 4-1) had won 28-14 to put itself in complete control of a state playoff berth.

The hustle came from Deon Horne who churned, slashed and powered his 5-foot-8, 150-pound frame to 185 yards on 21 carries, including a 56-yard burst that put the game away in the fourth quarter.

"The kid is about excellence in everything," Valach said. "He takes honors classes, he's a weight-room guy. What a warrior. What a warrior."

The muscle came from Chris Prummer, a center and defensive tackle, and the rest of the linemen, who simply handled Mount Si (6-2, 3-2) up front and held Wildcats running back and KingCo 3A's leading rusher, Brandon Yakaboski, to just 23 yards in the first half.

"All week, just physical, physical defensive practice," said Prummer, the 6-2, 260-pound senior who was named homecoming king at halftime. "All week, just defense, just heart, just hard-hitting. That's what we tried to do."

Still, Liberty only led 13-0 at half, despite a decisive edge in yards and number of plays. A 17-yard Horne touchdown run in the third quarter made it 20-0.

Yakaboski carried the load, running 12 times for 61 yards in the third quarter, including a 9-yard score. After an interception by Erik Alexander, the Wildcats drove down and scored again on a 1-yard Eric Forslin run to make the home crowd nervous.

But Horne delivered, exploding past the line, past the secondary, diving into the end zone for the game-clincher.

For the game-tested Patriots, whose losses have come to last year's Oregon state champion (Sprague of Salem), to four-time Washington state champ Bellevue and to eighth-ranked Rainier Beach, the goal is now within sight. Win the next two games, and they're in the state playoffs.

Other games

At Bellevue 62, Interlake 7

The top-ranked Wolverines (7-0, 5-0) rolled to their 30th consecutive victory and clinched KingCo 3A's top playoff seed. Anthony McQueen scored touchdowns on runs of 38, 83 and 65 yards and returned an interception 47 yards for a TD. Scott Galland scored on a 1-yard run for Interlake (4-4, 0-5).

At Newport 42, Mercer Island 21

Newport (6-2, 4-1) took control early, scoring two touchdowns in the first quarter. Both were rushing touchdowns by Brock Olesen. The Knights racked up 376 yards on the ground. Morgan Anthony ran for two touchdowns in the fourth for Mercer Island (3-5, 1-4).

At Issaquah 43, Sammamish 18

Issaquah (5-4, 3-2) led the entire game. Joe Fike had TD receptions of 56 and 53 yards from Bryan Jones, who completed 7 of 13 passes for 202 yards. J.D. Aylward scored the first TD for the Totems (2-6, 0-5) on a 29-yard run.