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Winning them, however, has been another story. Until Friday.

The visiting Grizzlies knocked off Liberty 21-20 in a Class 5 District 4 semifinal game. Third-seeded North Point (7-4) will host fourth-seeded Fort Zumwalt West (6-5) for the district championship next week. Zumwalt West beat previously undefeated Fort Zumwalt North 35-31 in the other district semifinal game on Friday.

North Point, in just its third full varsity season, lost this season at Liberty (15-12), at Zumwalt South (37-35), to Washington (24-23) and to Zumwalt North (l0-7).

"We love the drama, right?" North Point coach Alex Zangriles kidded. "We've definitely been a team that's kept things exciting. It's not great for my heart rate or my hairline, but our guys and our fans have really enjoyed it."

Friday's game seemed to be headed to overtime when Liberty (7-4) scored a touchdown with 1:36 left in the fourth quarter. But North Point blocked the extra point.

Liberty managed to recover the onside kick and drove to the North Point 15-yard line before the North Point defense came up with a sack on fourth down with 18 seconds left in regulation.

"Just a great win; we'd never beaten this team, so tonight, we made history,'' North Point senior defensive back Joel Massey said. "The key tonight was playing hard for all four quarters and that's exactly what we did. We fought and we got it done. It came down to one of the game's final plays and we found a way."

A scoreless first half was highlighted by a North Point goal-line stand in the first quarter. A 39-yard bomb from Liberty's Cody McMullen to Caleb Orcutt gave the Eagles the game's first scoring chance.

But the North Point defense came up with four stops inside the 7-yard line to keep the game scoreless.

"They're very good defensively,'' Liberty coach Ryan McMillen said, "but we have to find a way to score there."

Liberty threatened again late in the second quarter, reaching the North Point 13-yard line. But again, the Grizzlies shut down the drive with a fourth-down blitz.

Opening the second half, North Point put together its best drive of the night, moving 66 yards on 10 plays _ and a costly late-hit penalty on the Eagles _ to grab the lead on a 10-yard touchdown pass from Hoyt Gregory to Ty'Ron Williams with 7:51 to play in the third quarter. The drive was highlighted by a 25-yard pass from Gregory to Nicholas Speiser pass on a crossing route. Landon Manco's kick gave the visitors a 7-0 lead.

Liberty tied it in the waning seconds of the third quarter when wildcat QB Jaylen Mack hooked up with Riley Decaro on fourth-down pass with 57 seconds to play in the quarter. Quarterback-kicker Cody McMullen added the kick, evening the score at 7.

But North Point's Williams helped the Grizzlies respond quickly. Taking the short kickoff, he raced past the Liberty defenders and down the right sideline for a long return to the Eagle 9-yard line.

Three plays later, Gregory scored on a 9-yard scramble and the Grizzlies were back in front. Manco made the kick, giving North Point a 14-7 lead with 26 seconds to play in the third quarter.

Liberty answered with its best drive of the game, moving 73 yards to even the score at 14. The drive featured the passing and scrambling of McMullen and was capped by his 17-yard TD pass to Jadaan Leach with 9:08 left in the fourth quarter. McMullen's kick tied the game.

But this time, North Point responded, thanks to a 41-yard pass down the left sideline from Gregory to Jeremiah Mozee. Three plays later, that duo hooked up again as Gregory threaded the needle and Mozee made the catch despite some quality pass coverage. The touchdown, with 6:24 to play, was followed by a kick from Manco that put the visitors on top 21-14.

That set up another solid drive from Liberty. It included a fourth-down pass interference call on the Grizzlies and another fourth-and six pass from McMullen to Mack to set up Mack's 3-yard scoring run with 1:36 to play. That made it 21-20.

But the kick was blocked.

"We knew we had a shot (at a block) based on how they were aligned and our guys made it happen,'' Zangriles said.

"That's high school football,'' McMillen said. "Until the end, our kids battled and I couldn't be prouder of them for that. They played their butts off tonight and we came up a little short against another good football team."

Zangriles said defense has been a key for the Grizzlies all season.

"It's all about 11 helmets moving toward the football and looking to make plays,'' he said. "Defensively, we've played lights out all season and I credit (defensive coordinator Brandon Hankins) for that. our guys on defense have stepped up when we needed them."

Massey, the North Point defensive back, added, "Offense wins games, but defense wins championships. And we'll be ready to do everything we can to try and win one next week."