Liberty head coach Mark Workman and assistant coach Mark Montgomery are no strangers to the rebuilding process.
After a well documented tough stretch for the program in 2017 and 2018, the Raiders weathered the trials and tribulation of those lean years to post back-to-back playoff appearances the last two seasons.
While Liberty still has postseason aspirations, making it three years in a row is going to be a challenge because there have been a lot of changes in Glen Daniel.
The first notable change comes in the head coaching duties for the Raiders.
Workman will be stepping aside this year, taking a medical leave of absence which will move Montgomery into the interim head coaching position, his first time leading a team since he was the head coach at Indy in 2017.
The biggest change however, comes as a result of graduation last year and a few players that did not return.
Logan Dodrill, Ryan Simms and Logan Williams were all big-time offensive threats and some of the biggest names that have moved on after high school.
“Graduation did take its toll on us for sure. I think we only have a couple or so kids back with varsity experience on both offense and defense,” Montgomery said. “We lost mainly all of our skill players that have any varsity experience. We are kind of working from scratch this year. We have a lot of young kids and down the road we will be good, but we are definitely not giving up on this season. We want to get better every game and bring these kids along. Our goal is still to make the playoffs and win a state championship.”
The area that Montgomery feels the most confidence is the offensive line where two full-time starters return along with one that started part-time last year.
Junior Jake Dickens is the leader on the line checking in at 6-foot-4 and 250 pounds.
“Jake has started for us since he was a freshman. He can be as good as he wants to be really. He also plays defensive end for us,” Montgomery said.
T.J. Goff started last year also and he is back for his junior season.
“We will run a single-wing, so you can call T.J. a strong side guard or tackle,” Montgomery said. “Tyler Harris started on and off on the offensive line also. Those are the three we will build around just because of their experience. We have a boat-load of young kids and we have more lineman than we have skill players right now.”
Montgomery feels the line will be the strength of the team, but there are still issues with experience there.
“The line is where it starts and that will be our strength,” Montgomery said. “The team will go as the line goes.”
A pair of juniors will lead the crew in the backfield and in the early going. Montgomery says the duo has looked good and made good decisions so far.
“Dalton Williams and Brayden Houck are the two kids we will have back there. Where we run the single-wing, they are just as much running backs as quarterbacks, but neither has a lot of varsity experience,” Montgomery said. “We may be throwing the ball more because we had such a good backfield last year. We have a long way to go and we are still looking at some other kids to run the ball.”
When Liberty does throw the ball, Hunter McClain has been a player that has stood out in practice in the early going.
On defensive side of the ball, inexperience will still be an issue for the Raiders.
“In our first scrimmage we started a freshman inside linebacker, a junior inside linebacker that has no experience and two sophomore outside linebackers,” Montgomery said. “We lost everybody in the secondary. We had two freshman and a kid that had never played before on the line, so it is a work in progress.”
The biggest positive so far for Montgomery has been the attitudes of his players.
“This is a great bunch of kids. I know coaches say that a lot, but with every team you have some attitudes to deal with. So far, we have had none,” Montgomery said. “These young kids are like sponges, so we will see growth. Our goal is to get better each game.”
Liberty opens the season Thursday Aug. 25 at county rival Independence. The first home game for the Raiders will be Sept. 23 when they host Clay County.
2022 Schedule
08/25/22 7:00PM A – INDEPENDENCE SENIOR
09/02/22 OPEN
09/09/22 7:00PM A – PIKEVIEW
09/16/22 7:30PM A – SHERMAN
09/23/22 7:00PM H – CLAY COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL
09/30/22 7:00PM H – WESTSIDE
10/07/22 7:00PM H – MIDLAND TRAIL HIGH SCHOOL
10/14/22 7:00PM H – LOGAN
10/21/22 7:00PM H – JAMES MONROE
10/28/22 7:00PM A – SHADY SPRING
11/04/22 7:00PM H – WYOMING EAST