Liberty looks to extend playoff run Friday night

The Bedford boys are back in town tonight.

Liberty High’s football team, which has qualified for the playoffs in all but one season this decade, has new life as it makes its first Region III, Division 3, final appearance since 2005, starting at 7 tonight against visiting Northside.

“There were a couple years where we were in the playoffs, but we weren’t exactly contenders in the playoffs,” said eighth-year coach Chris Watts, who guided the Minutemen to a Group AA, Division 3 state championship in his first season in 2002. “We had six years with a lot of success (from 2000-2005), but three years where we had dropped off a level.”

Standing at 10-1, as the No. 1 seed in the Region III, Division 3, playoffs, Liberty is showing flashes of its form from the first half of the decade entering its showdown with the second-seeded Vikings (9-2).

“Last year, I told them we had turned a corner and gotten back to where we’d been for a long time,” Watts said, noting the Minutemen now have won 10 games or more in seven of the past 10 seasons. ”It’s been three years of really hard work to get us back to where we are now. We have fought really hard (and) it’s a tribute to these kids, who have bought into the hard work and did the things we’ve done in the past to get to that high level.”

The Minutemen have thrived flying under the radar this fall, staging dramatic come-from-behind victories over Broadway (28-20 after trailing 20-0 at halftime) and Jefferson Forest (28-21 after trailing 21-7).

“This year’s group, they just keep playing hard, no matter what the circumstances are,” Watts said.

Liberty’s lone setback came against Seminole District champion Amherst, in which it scored 20 second-half points, more than any team has put up against the Lancers this season.

“Nobody really gave us a chance to do what we’ve done this year, being 10-1 and playing in a regional championship game,” Watts said. “That’s huge for this program (and) hopefully, we can keep that going.”

After taking a 21-14 halftime lead on Anthony Reynolds’ 100-yard interception return and surviving a second-half shootout with Robert E. Lee, 35-28, in last week’s semifinal, the Minutemen host a powerful Northside squad tonight.

“Robert E. Lee stepped their game up a notch Saturday from what we’d seen of them on film,” Watts said. “We just have to keep rising to the occasion.”

The Vikings are in their second season running a double-slot attack, which resembles Amherst’s Wing-T in some respects.

“Northside has got a lot of size,” Watts said, noting that’s the main difference between the Vikings and the Lancers. “They’re a power football team, but they also have the ability to throw the ball. They have two wings and one back in the backfield. They’re going to motion the wings and give the ball to just about anyone. They’ve got big linemen and they’re going to come right at you most of the time.”

Offensively, besides quarterback Ryan Keith, who has completed 47 of 109 passes for 672 yards and four touchdowns with three interceptions, the Vikings feature fullback Philip Scott, who has rushed 224 times for 1,788 yards and 21 touchdowns, and tailback Dustin Phelps (103 carries, 827 yards, 13 TDs).

“They have two contrasting styles,” Northside coach Burt Torrence said, noting Phelps “has speed and quickness and is able to change directions” while Scott is more of a straight-ahead runner.

Both have benefited from running behind 6-4, 340-pound offensive lineman Cameron Carter, who has a quick first step for his size.

“We’ve held our own all year against teams that are bigger than us,” Watts said. “We’ve just got to tackle well and be disciplined. You can’t get guys out of position or they can make you pay, just like Robert E. Lee did last week. If you miss a tackle or have a breakdown in coverage, they’re going to make you pay for it.”

On defense, Northside boasts two of the area’s best linebackers in 6-foot-2, 236-pound senior Nick Sigmon, a Liberty University recruit and co-Region III, Division 3, defensive player of the year who leads the Vikings with 96 tackles, including 14 for loss, and sophomore Dakota Jackson (6-3, 224).

The Minutemen counter with middle linebacker Michael Bowyer and defensive end Brandon Sparrow on defense and a bevy of talented skill position players on offense. Running backs Malcolm McCoy and Thomas Clark and all-Seminole District quarterback Tyler Bowyer each ran for a touchdown last Saturday, while wide receiver Reynolds also rushed four times for 120 yards and a score.

“They’re an athletic football team,” Torrence said. “It’s going to be a good football game. Both teams are evenly matched.”

He said Liberty’s history and home-field advantage gives it a slight edge.

“They’re used to being in this situation whereas this is new territory for us,” Torrence said.

Watts said several former Liberty players, such as LU seniors Daryl Robertson and Ian Childress, have come back to support this year’s Minutemen.

“We’ve had guys come into the locker room before and after the game to encourage them and congratulate them and that makes a big difference,” he said. “They’re kind of like an extended family. We’ve got to carry on the traditions that those guys have left behind and keep that going from year to year.”