Flames wow in opener, notching five interceptions to defeat Bowling Green

The Liberty Flames kicked their season off with a bang, defeating the Bowling Green Falcons 34-24 in their season opener. In his initial contest as the Flames head coach, Jamey Chadwell claimed his first win as a Flame, and his 100th career win in college football. 

Just 15 minutes before kickoff, the Flames finally answered the question all of the Liberty media and fans had been wondering about, who would start at quarterback? The answer — sophomore Kaidon Salter. Salter was chosen over senior quarterback Johnathan Bennett, whom many fans believed would get the call to start. 

Salter did his best to erase any doubts about his starting quarterback role as soon as he stepped onto the gridiron. In his first drive against Bowling Green, he led the Flames 71 yards and into the endzone, passing twice for 21 yards and running the ball three times for 43 yards. Those totals together show that Salter tallied 63 of the Flames 71 yards. The drive was capped off by a powerful run up the middle by sophomore running back Billy Lucas, who gave the Flames their first 6 points of the new season. The Flames defense mirrored the offense’s success, forcing a punt on Bowling Green’s first three drives.   

At the end of the first quarter, the Flames led 7-0, but those numbers would quickly become old news. Eight minutes into the second quarter, Salter marched the Flames down the field yet again, this time capping the drive with a picture-perfect touchdown pass to freshman running-back Vaughn Blue. After the touchdown from Blue, the defense would again support their teammates, as Kobe Singleton picked off Bowling Green and ran the ball back for a defensive touchdown. That interception was one of five on the day for the Flames, whose secondary was in the right place at the right time all afternoon. 

After the Singleton interception and a 36-yard field goal from sophomore kicker Teagan Lenderink, the Flames led 24-0, but by the end of the first half the Falcons fought their way back into contention with the score at 24-14. The last 7 of those 14 points came off a kick-6. The Flames lined up to kick another field goal with Lenderink, but a mishap on the front line of the special teams group led to the attempt being blocked, and the Falcons took the loose ball and scored. 

After a blocked field goal, momentum began to shift in favor of the Falcons, and the game became much more of a contest than it had previously been. By the end of the third quarter the Flames lead had shrunk from 10 to just 7. While the Flames did score in the third on a touchdown pass from Salter to senior tight end Bentley Hanshaw, the Falcons matched that touchdown with one of their own and added a field goal along with it. 

With the pressure on the Flames, the fourth quarter was a chess match, as Liberty attempted to regain momentum and the Falcons did their best to claw their way into the lead. As less than 10 minutes remained on the clock, Bowling Green began to drive yet again, and a string of good runs placed them over the 50-yard line. A Falcons touchdown felt inevitable, until sophomore linebacker Jerome Jolly Jr. came flying to pick off the Falcons quarterback and return it for 25 yards. 

That interception was the Flames’ fifth, and Jolly’s second of the day, and it all but sealed the victory in favor of Chadwell and the Flames. Another field goal by Lenderink, also from 36 yards, would give the Flames their final score of 34 as they defeated the Falcons 34-24. 

“I’ll say this; I was very proud of our response in the second half,” Coach Chadwell said. “We came out and we were up 24-0. Things were going well. We had some special teams miscues and let them get back in the game … the biggest question mark I think our staff had is how would we respond to some adversity when it got tight. And I’m very proud of that.” 

The highlights of Saturday’s victory were most certainly the performance of the Flames’ secondary and the emergence of Kaidon Salter as the Flames starter, Jolly Jr., who tallied two interceptions himself, was one of four Flames to don the team’s new joker-themed turnover mask after an interception. Singleton, Jolly Jr., senior safety Quinton Reese and sophomore safety Brylan Green all left the field with an interception.

“Yeah, defense,” Salter said. “Them boys are dogs over there, we practice against them every day all through spring. We were running against their actual defense, so they gave us great looks. Just practicing against them every day, that helps us. That helps the O-line going against all the D-line that they have, (and it) helps our receivers with our secondary. It’s just all fun out there and everybody’s working.”

Jolly Jr. might be a new name to some Flames fans, but it’s a name that everyone will come to know over the next few seasons. In his first game as a starter for the Flames he pulled in two interceptions, tied for second on the team in tackles with 6, and forced a key incompletion with a pass breakup that led to a punt from Bowling Green. 

“Yeah, he was tremendous,” Chadwell said about Jolly Jr. “Jerome Jolly … loves to play, man. He’s got a motor that’s on all the time. Sometimes that gets him in trouble and (he) gets down on himself. We had some specific packages in when he was … Y’all probably saw him at deep safety and you’re probably scratching your head and going why is the linebacker at deep safety?” 

“But we had that plan the whole time. We knew he was going to get that pick. I thought he played with confidence. I thought he stayed within himself. He’s an emotional young man but he didn’t let his emotions get the best of him when he wasn’t playing the way he was capable of. (I’m) so very pleased with him and really just that overall effort.”

Salter, who ended the day with 143 yards, two touchdowns in the air and 82 yards on the ground, certainly appeared to deserve the confidence that the Flames’ coaching staff has in him. This version of Salter that stepped onto the field Saturday isn’t the one that Flames fans had seen before. This version is confident, composed and mature in his play, which was clearly a point of emphasis for Salter and the Flames’ coaching staff. 

“I’m very proud of the way he competed,” Chadwell said. “He took care of the ball; he handled his business. He didn’t get down on himself when he didn’t make the plays that he needed to. And I thought he made pretty smart decisions with it, and we can build off of that. Obviously, we don’t want him running the ball as much as he did.”

Salter had 18 rushing attempts in the game. 

“Making him run was what (Bowling Green) tried to get him to do. He obviously had some quarterback scrambles and he did a nice job, but (I’m) proud of how he managed our game,” Chadwell said. “I thought he did a nice job of that. And we’ll continue to build with it.” 

The Flames head into week two with a win under their belt. Next up for them is the New Mexico State Aggies, the Flame’s first CUSA opponent of the season. Kickoff is Sept. 9 at 6 p.m. at Williams Stadium. 

Palsgrove is the asst. sports editor for the Liberty Champion. Follow him on X