For Chandler Jenkins and the rest of the Liberty Patriots, Friday night’s halftime pep talk was simply a continuation of last season’s come-from-behind magic that led to a trip to the 3A state football championship game.

“That’s where we’ve been at halftime, so it was just our normal game,” said Jenkins, referring to trailing Skyline 28-20. “It just came down to focusing on what we’ve got to do, what we’ve got to correct, what plays are going to work — we went in there, chalked it up and came out and executed.”

Liberty most certainly did that.

The Patriots generated 355 yards of total second-half offense, while holding Skyline to 154 second-half yards, en route to a 39-34 victory.

“There was some magic tonight for sure,” Liberty head coach Steve Valach said. “Our group, how they’ll be defined, is how they respond to adversity, and I love the way they handled adversity tonight.”

It took Liberty just three plays and 57 seconds to cut into Skyline’s halftime lead when senior quarterback Trey Wheeler found Joshua Gordon on a slant route. The junior wide receiver broke free of the Spartan defense for a 71-yard TD, closing the gap to 28-26.

After forcing an interception of Skyline sophomore quarterback Max Browne, the Patriots marched down the field again. Wheeler connected once more with Gordon — this time on a 37-yard fade to the right front corner of the end zone over the outstretched arms of Skyline high-flyer Kasen Williams. The seven-play, 84-yard drive gave Liberty a 33-28 lead.

The Patriots forced the Spartans into their first punt of the game on their next possession, before getting their third score of the third quarter. This time Wheeler, who broke away from the Skyline pass rush, found Scott Dean wide open in the back of the end zone for a 4-yard TD with 7 seconds left in the quarter. The score put the Patriots up 39-28.

Skyline finally ended its scoring drought at the 7:40 mark of the fourth when Browne marched the Spartans 51 yards on four plays before finding Teran Togia for a 3-yard TD.

Skyline’s defense answered with 3:01 left in the game, recovering a Jenkin’s fumble at the Spartan 36. Skyline marched down to the Liberty 27 with over a minute left, but failed to convert a fourth-and-9.

“The bottom line is I loved the fight in our kids, they fought the entire way through,” Skyline head coach Mat Taylor said.

Browne, who was making his first career varsity start, was lights out in the first half. He completed 14 of 20 passes for 296 yards and four TDs over the first two quarters, ending with 28-for-40, five TDs and one INT.

“We’ve got to come away with the win, that’s all that matters,” said a disappointed Browne. “I played good, but it’s a team effort and we’ve got to win.”

Skyline senior wide receiver Jordan Simone, who missed nearly the entire second half with leg cramps, had six catches for 207 yards in the first half. He caught all four first-half TD passes — scoring from 20, 43, 37 and 38 yards.

Wheeler ended the game 16-for-26 for 352 yards, four TDs and one INT Liberty, while Jenkins carried the ball 27 times for 127 yards — 85 of which came in the second half.

The Patriots hope a win over a team many ranked the best overall team in the state, will provide a great launching pad.

“It obviously means a lot taking out the No. 1 team, it feels good,” Jenkins said. “But … we’ve got so many more games to go.”

For the Spartans, they hope to use the loss as a learning experience and turn it into something positive.

“You know what, that’s why you play the game and we’ll get better from this,” Taylor said.