Friday night’s “Clash at Kinnick” was everything Graham Beckman dreamed of and more. 

In his first high school start, the junior quarterback threw for three touchdowns, ran for another, and he did it all at what most Iowa residents deem their football mecca. 

His Liberty Lightning upset rival City High — ranked sixth in the preseason Class 5A poll by The Cedar Rapids Gazette — in wire-to-wire fashion, 36-19.

“It’s totally a dream,” Beckman said postgame. “Growing up in North Liberty being 20 minutes from here and coming to Iowa Hawkeyes games and seeing other players on the field,  It just means a whole lot more to be out here.”

Beckman said the gravity of the moment hit him as he was getting ready to head out of the tunnel prior to opening kickoff. 

“When we were waiting to walk out of the tunnel right before the game started, I just looked down and saw everybody I was like, ‘Wow, this is surreal,’” Beckman said. 

But after the first whistle blew, the 6-foot 1, 193-pounder looked confident, calm, and poised under center. 

On the game’s first drive, Beckman marched Liberty 86 yards on 11 plays and capped off the opening possession with a 40-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Garrett Gregoire.

The Lightning missed the extra point but Liberty kicker Hayden Saul redeemed himself later in the first quarter with a 37-yard field goal to put his team up 9-0 after 12 minutes. 

After surrendering 41 points in last season’s blowout loss to City High, Liberty’s defense allowed a total of eight yards in the first stanza and would prove stingy for the remainder of the night. 

The Little Hawks cut the deficit to four and trailed 23-19 at halftime but would not score in the game’s final two quarters.

Lightning second-year head coach James Harris was asked about his defense’s second half performance but gave a rambling answer nearly void of complete sentences. 

It’s safe to say he was proud of his players.

Offensively, Beckman led two more scoring drives in the second half including a third-quarter series that spanned 92 yards and chewed up 7:16.

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“I mean, for a guy that’s making his first start as a high school player in Kinnick Stadium in front of 8,000 whatever people, like, he’s got moxie,” Harris said. “He’s got some “it” factor. That’s what’s cool.”

Beckman credited his team’s preparation for his impressive performance, telling reporters that he and his teammates had trained all summer to get ready for City High.

“I think we came out here really confident,” Beckman said. “All week we’ve been … actually all summer we’ve been prepping to play them and get back the trophy, it just means a lot. Our team came together. We were all with each other and kept each other calm.”

Harris, who was anything but calm after the season-opening victory, said he enjoyed coaching a game on Duke Slater Field but hopes he doesn’t have to do it again.

“As someone that grew up in southeast Iowa, I mean, what else can you say about it? It’s pretty special, man,” Harris said. “I mean, to a degree, I hope we don’t play here again and I’m just going  to end with the greatest winning percentage at Kinnick ever, right?”