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Big second half pushes Frisco Liberty over Carrollton Newman Smith, 28-19

FRISCO - Jay Ajayi ran for 265 yards and three touchdowns for Frisco Liberty (4-0, 1-0 District 9-4A) as it rallied from a 12-point halftime deficit to defeat Carrollton Newman Smith (1-3, 0-1) in the District 9-4A opener for both teams at Frisco Memorial Stadium.

Liberty scored 21 unanswered points in the second half, including two scoring runs by Ajayi, to pull away. Newman Smith led, 19-7, at halftime. It's the second time this season Ajayi had rushed for at least 200 yards. He had 206 in a Zero Week win over Denison.

Newman Smith scored the game's first nine points. After a 29-yard field goal by Edward Valadez, Braxton Bearden scampered around the right side on an option play 67 yards for his first of two scores. Bearden had another run on the same play for 57 yards later in the half and finished with 147 yards rushing.

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Ajayi's first touchdown, which came in the second quarter from 6 yards out, cut Newman Smith's lead to 9-7. But Newman Smith answered when Bearden caught an 8-yard touchdown pass from Jose Martinez to make it 15-7. A 19-yard field goal by Valadez just before halftime gave Newman Smith a 19-7 edge.

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After a Newman Smith punt rolled dead at the Liberty 1-yard line with 6:25 left, Ajayi got his team out of trouble with a a 50-yard run on the drive's opening play. Liberty chewed up nearly four minutes with Ajayi capping the 99-yard drive with a six-yard run to seal the win.