Liberty rides Flynn, special teams to victory

When the Woodland Park football players put their heads on their pillows Thursday night, chances are they will have nightmares about Dylan Flynn.

The diminutive, do-it-all receiver/running back/kick returner ran wild all over the Panthers in leading host Liberty to a 42-14 blowout victory.

He may have been one of the smallest players on the field at 5-foot-8 and 165 pounds, but he left his mark all over District 20 Stadium.

“Last year he was first-team all-city and he was more of a possession type of player for us,” Liberty (2-0) coach Jaron Cohen said. “He worked really hard to get his speed and strength up in the offseason and it’s showing. We are happy with his and the whole team’s work ethic and we try to get him the ball a lot.”

Flynn’s night started with a bang — he ran the opening kickoff back 89 yards for a 7-0 Liberty lead 12 seconds in. He was just getting started.

In the first half alone, Flynn would total 70 receiving yards and 50 rushing yards. Teams around the city beware; the little guy packs a big punch.

He added a 21-yard touchdown reception from Shane Walker to make the score 35-0 in the third quarter before most of Liberty’s starters were lifted.

“I know I’m not the biggest guy, but I look to use my advantages, which are my speed and cuts,” said Flynn, a senior. “We are getting better by the week and we have some tricks up our sleeves; our offense is really a hard one to cover.”

By the time the Lancers’ Zach Hill returned a blocked punt, his second touchdown of the game — he caught a 29-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter — the score was 42-0 before the end of the third quarter.

It was a special teams disaster for Woodland Park (1-1), and coach Joe Roskam wasn’t pleased with the amount of miscues. In addition to the opening kickoff, the Panthers allowed two blocked punts.

“When you look at the scoreboard, 42-14 doesn’t look very good, but when you break it down we were about six plays away from making it a close game,” he said. “We had four three-and-outs right before halftime, which you can’t do, and when you have a bunch of special-teams problems it’s a bad coaching job.”

The Lancers will face a test next week when they travel to Cañon City, a former 3A power now playing at 4A.

“Cañon is very talented and we will have a battle next week so we need to come prepared and see what happens,” Cohen said.