Published: August 26, 2008 11:31 pm         

Liberty, Westside square off in opener Friday

The opening game of the prep football season is always important, but for Liberty or Westside, it could provide the momentum to carry one of those two squads a long way.

Liberty coach Jeff Alexander downplays that notion, though.

“I try not to put a lot on any game, more than (it) just being a game,” Alexander said. “But, they beat us last year. That sent us off to a rocky start and, of course, we had to fight uphill mostly all year to make the playoffs. I think they have something to play for because they just barely missed the playoffs last year. When those kind of things meet, you’re going to have a clash. You have to.”

Westside used that momentum last season to get off to a good start and coach Darren Thomas would like to repeat that again this year.

“That first game last year gave a lot of momentum and got our season going right,” Thomas said. “Like I tell the kids, ‘You can’t win the second one unless you win the first one.’ (Glen Daniel) is always tough place to play. It’s always been a pretty good football game between us and Liberty. We’re just hoping to get off on a good foot.”

Liberty is coming off a 7-4 season and replacing nine senior starters. A win for the Raiders could steady a young, inexperienced team.

“This is a different team, for sure,” Alexander said. “They are young. I’ve found out that they were kinda hungry though. A lot of young teams are really intimidated. They’re just young, in terms of years, but they are hungry. They have really grown up in the last couple of weeks of practice. They are getting back to where they need to be to be competitive.”

The entire backfield has changed for the Raiders.

Jamie Newman, a former running back, takes over the signal-calling duties for Liberty.

“It was kind of a surprise for both of us,” Alexander said. “We were in the locker room one day and I came up to him and I said, ‘Jamie, I’m thinking about switching you to quarterback.’ He said, ‘coach, that’s good because I was thinking about asking you to play quarterback.’ So, we happened to be on the same page the same day.

“He has some experience at quarterback. He’s picked up the offense and done everything that we’ve asked him to do.”

Four or five candidates are still in the mix for the Raiders’ running back spots.

“We have several options there,” Alexander said. “We really do. We’re in pretty good shape right there. We’re looking at everybody. You always try to go as deep as you can because you never know if somebody will get hurt or anything. Right now, they all are doing a good job.”

Seniors Nolan Philogene and Jeff Wills and junior Luke Hodge head that group.

Westside lost just six seniors to graduation from a team that went 5-5 last year. The Renegades appear to be on the rise and a victory might be the boost they need to push them into playoff contention for the first time since 2004.

“I guess everybody’s goal in the state is to get back to those playoffs,” Thomas said. “We’re still young. I think we only have seven seniors on this team. We took our lumps a couple of years ago playing all those freshmen. We feel we’re better but everybody we play this year got a little better too. We just want to improve on last year.”

Quarterback Eric Bailey leads the Renegades’ attack. The 6-foot-3, 185-pound senior is a threat both passing and running the ball.

Nick Lambert and Travis Whitten, both juniors, give Westside a nice one-two punch out of the backfield as well.

“Both of them saw a lot of time last year in the backfield,” Thomas said. “The only back we lost from last year was Matt Lambert.”

Both coaches believe the game could boil down to a defensive struggle.

“It’s kind of hard to get a read right now,” Thomas said. “I know they watched us scrimmage and we watched them. We’re kind of similar. We both have good size and decent speed. Usually when we play Liberty, it’s a knock-down, drag-out ball game.

“It’s a tough game to open up with. As always, we think the defense is a little ahead of the offense right now.”

Alexander agrees but doesn’t believe it will be a 7-6 contest.

“Yes and no,” Alexander said. “I think, they are going to do what they do because they do it so well. Hopefully, we can do what we do, and do it well. I think there will be some points scored .”

Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. Friday in Glen Daniel.