PARIS -- The 10th-ranked Liberty-Eylau Leopards raced out to a 28-point lead, but had to score twice in the fourth quarter to finally put away Paris North Lamar, 47-29, Thursday night.

The Leopards (8-1, 4-0 in District 7-4A Division I), which captured their eighth consecutive win and took over sole possession of first place in the district after Princeton's 49-39 loss to Pittsburg, will finish off the regular season next Friday night at home against Princeton (7-2, 3-1).

Liberty-Eylau took a 28-0 lead early in the second quarter, but a Ty Waggoner 85-yard interception return for a touchdown trimmed the Leopards' lead to 35-29 with three seconds to play in the third quarter.

But the Leopards were able to slam door by scoring a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns on runs of 40 yards from Lamont Byrd and a 6-yard run by Kameron Levingston.

Senior quarterback Ke'Mon Freeman led Liberty-Eylau's 595-yard effort with 385 total yards of offense. He completed 13 of 21 passes for 213 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions, and added 172 yards and two touchdowns on 14 carries.

Byrd finished the night with 16 carries for 158 yards and three touchdowns, while receiver Garyco Witcher caught six passes for 131 yards and a score.

Javon Franklin paced North Lamar (5-4, 1-3) with 94 yards on 19 carries, while quarterback Matt Gibbons passed for 164 yards touchdowns.

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