The Liberty North football team has become one of the elite programs in the state in recent years.
Last season, the Eagles went 12-1 and made it to the state semifinals before falling to Christian Brothers College. In 2021, they made it to the Class 6 state championship and lost to the Cadets.
This season is a new era for Liberty North as the graduated first team all-state quarterback Sam Van Dyne, who led an explosive offense that averaged more than 30 points per game. In Friday’s preseason jamboree against Grain Valley and Lee’s Summit, it looks like the Eagles may lean more on the defense in 2023 as it held both teams without a touchdown at Lee’s Summit High School.
“We have some new pieces and those guys have been really coming along this summer, Liberty North head coach Andrew Lierman said. “We have a big week one and we need to fix some things, but I am happy overall.”
Each team got to have four series on offense and defense – two against each team. Two of the drives from each team started at their own 30-yard line, where each team ran eight plays each. The others started in the red zone at the opponents’ 20, in which each team ran five plays per possession.
Even when the Tigers and Grain Valley started in the red zone, neither team scored against a stout Liberty North defense. The latter came the closest when quarterback Sal Caldarella threw a laser to Noah Olah in the end zone, but the senior side receiver couldn’t haul in the pass.
In total, Liberty North surrendered 71 yards in 30 combined plays from its opposition. Senior defensive lineman Jay Ross shined for his team as he had an interception on a screen pass by the Tigers and a pass breakup.
“He’s a very good players for us,” Lierman said of Ross. “He’s going to play a lot for us. It’s going to be a tough ask for opposing team to block him.”
While Liberty North’s defense looked stout, the offense looked solid, too. On the drives from their own 30, the Eagles made it to the opponent’s 16-yard line against the Eagles and to the Tiger 12-yard line against Lee’s Summit.
New starting quarterback Tillman Martin, a junior, completed 7 of 12 passes for 80 yards and a touchdown, which came from the drive started from Grain Valley’s 20-yard line. He hit a wide-open Keelan Smith in the back of the end zone for the 20-yard score.
The Eagles’ run game was also solid. Micah Barnett and River Therrien combined for 76 yards rushing on 10 carries.
For Grain Valley, its offense looked explosive while the defense was a little shaky.
The Eagles scored five touchdowns – all against Lee’s Summit. In their drive from the 30, they made it to the Liberty North 35-yard line on a drive that was highlighted by Caldarella hitting Olah on a crossing route for 33 yards.
Against the Tigers, Grain Valley had two explosive plays from the 30 that resulted in two TDs. Senior running back Ty Williams broke off a 70-yard score in which he cut to his left after going right, and outran the Lee’s Summit defense. On the next play, Caldarella dropped a ball over the top of the defense and Olah caught the ball and scored on a 70-yard jaunt as he beat his defender by two steps.
“It took us a split second to find our feet,” Williams said. “But this was our first game reps. Once we got going, we were firing on all cylinders. Last year, I was getting my first varsity reps. This time, I was more comfortable and doing my thing out there.”
On the red zone reps, Grain Valley scored three times against Lee’s Summit and Caldarella looked sharp. Williams scored on a 20-yard run up the middle and Caldarella rolled out to his right and hit wide receive Aaron Barr for a 20-yard TD on the first play. The senior signal caller connected with tight end Peyton Woodrome on a fade route for 10 yards just inside the right side of the end zone.
On defense, the Eagles just gave up one first down against Lee’s Summit on the drives from the 30, but Liberty North made it to the red zone in eight plays and had a 28-yard TD run called back on an illegal procedure penalty.
On the red zone possessions, Grain Valley gave up two scores to Lee’s Summit and one to Liberty North. It didn’t aid its cause that three starters were out with injury – Brody Baker, Gabe Storment and Anthony Greco.
For Lee’s Summit, its defense held up against Liberty North by not giving up a single score, but Grain Valley torched it for five TDs.
On offense, senior Dawson Heeney, who completed 10 of 20 passes for 90 yards, assisted in his team’s two scores, both of which came against Grain Valley on the red zone possessions. Heeney threw scoring passes of 12 and 30, with the latter coming on a roll out to the right and a deep pass.
From the 30, the Tigers made it to their own 40 against Grain Valley and to the Liberty North 48.
“I thought we got better as the night went,” Lee’s Summit head coach Eric Thomas said. “We have a young squad. We lost 32 seniors from last year’s team. What we did in the jamboree is what we’ll probably do during the season. We’ll steadily get better.”
