POWELL — The stretch of play extending from the final minutes of the first half to the opening minutes of the second half often proves pivotal in ultimately determining a matchup of quality teams.

In Olentangy Liberty’s case on Friday, that stretch turned a tightly contested game into a blowout as the Patriots sandwiched a flurry of haymakers around the halftime break en route to a 32-7 win over Hilliard Davidson (6-3) on senior night.

Liberty led 7-0 late in the first half before a pair of Davidson turnovers in the final minute of the second quarter led to two touchdown passes from Liberty senior quarterback Andrew Leonard to senior receiver Christian Moulton to blow the game wide open.

From there, the Patriots never looked back as they improved to 7-2 to set up a showdown with district rival Olentangy Orange next week for a share of the OCC-Central Division title.

“It was the difference maker,” Liberty head coach John Sansbury said of his team’s close to the first half. “It was a huge momentum swing. We started out kind of slow and had some special teams and defensive guys step up and make some plays, and we took advantage of some of the mistakes (Davidson) made.”

Playing in his final home game, Leonard went out with a bang, throwing for 174 yards and four touchdowns to lead the rout.

“It feels great to get that last win at home in front of your home squad,” Leonard said. “And going into next week, this win was huge for us. Dominating like this is huge because Orange is a great team, and we need to be ready to play next week.”

Leading 22-0 to begin the second half, Liberty added to its lead on the opening drive of the third quarter with a 28-yard field goal from Sean Kendricks to extend the lead to four possessions and effectively bury Davidson for good.

“We’ve had a good year,” Sansbury said. “Both of our losses were kind of heartbreakers, and we challenged our team to get to playing the way we should play heading into these last two weeks, which are playoff-type games with Hilliard Davidson and Olentangy Orange, to get some momentum going into a playoff run. They responded and played really well in all three phases tonight.”

Both teams struggled to find their offensive footing early on, trading stops through much of the first half before Liberty finally broke through late in the second quarter. Facing a third down from the Davidson 13, Leonard connected with running back Jake Struck on a 13-yard touchdown to give Liberty a 7-0 lead.

The game appeared destined to enter halftime with that same score before the Liberty defense delivered the play of the game with under a minute left on the clock.

After Davidson took possession at its own 35 with 59 seconds remaining, quarterback Johnny DiBlasio was hit while trying to get rid of the ball as a host of Liberty defenders converged on him. DiBlasio’s arm appeared to be moving forward as he released the ball, but the officials let the play continue as Liberty came away with the live ball.

After briefly discussing the play, the officiating crew upheld its ruling of a fumble, turning the ball back to Liberty in prime field position.

Four plays later, Leonard found Moulton in the end zone from 18 yards out to capitalize on Davidson’s second turnover of the half and increase the lead to 13-0. A bad snap on the extra point led to Liberty’s Tyler Thornton diving to the pylon in the corner of the end zone for a two-point conversion to push the Patriots’ lead to 15-0 with 27 seconds remaining in the half.

The turnover issues for Davidson were just getting started as utter disaster struck on the ensuing kickoff. After fielding the kick, the Davidson return man was stripped of the ball by Liberty’s Zach Cunningham, and Braxton Winks pounced on it to give the ball right back to the Liberty offense at the Davidson 17 with 18 seconds still on the clock.

Leonard tossed his third touchdown pass of the half two plays later, finding Moulton from 14 yards out to push Liberty ahead 22-0 and send a stunned Davidson sideline into the locker room reeling.

Leonard finished the half with 10 completions on 18 attempts for 127 yards to go along with the three touchdowns. Moulton was on the receiving end of five of those passes for 51 yards and two touchdowns.

“It’s great,” Leonard said of his chemistry with Moulton. “It started last year. He had limited playing time then, but he’s a really good player. It’s nice having him on our side.”

The Wildcats never recovered in the second half, turning the ball over for a fourth time on their opening possession of the second half. Leonard continued his hot hand, tossing his fourth touchdown of the night on a 34-yard strike to Jonah Lloyd to increase Liberty’s lead to 32-0 early in the fourth quarter and force a running clock for the remaining seven minutes of play.

“He’s played well all year,” Sansbury said of Leonard. “He’s a senior and three-year starter, and it’s very obvious to tell with his throwing, running, decision-making, and taking care of the football. And man, he’s tough, too. He loves running and likes contact just as much as our linebackers do. We go when he goes. That’s how it’s going to go, and we really like having Andrew Leonard on our side.”

While excited about his entire team’s performance in an emphatic win, Sansbury understood the challenge ahead with an Orange team whose lone loss on the season came back in week four.

“It’s a big one,” Sansbury said of next week’s showdown. “(Orange head coach) Schroeder is a good friend of mine and coached here. That’ll be exciting for all of us.”

Asked how soon he will direct his team to turn the page to what awaits them next week, Sansbury said, “We’ll review tomorrow, get better, and then it’s on to next week.”

Reach Dillon Davis at 740-413-0904. Follow him on X @DillonDavis56.