Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

NORTH LIBERTY – It was a magical season for the Liberty High football team last fall.

Liberty High won a program-record 10 games including victories over rivals City High and West High on the way to its first ever state semifinal appearance.

It’s the way last year’s historic run ended that stuck with many of the returning Liberty High players.

Liberty High saw a seven-point halftime lead slip away in a 38-35 loss to eventual state champion Southeast Polk in a Class 5A semifinal heartbreaker.

“Last season was amazing and I think it gave us a lot of confidence but it’s also really motivating,” Liberty High senior linebacker Landon Bell said. “Losing in the Dome in the semifinals when you are that close to your dreams and you watch them live your dreams it’s motivating for sure.”

The mission for the Lightning this season is using that combination of confidence and motivation to build off the best season in program history.

Liberty High appears poised for another deep playoff run.

Eight starters return from last year’s squad that went 10-2 and had an eight-game winning streak end with the semifinal loss to the four-time defending 5A champion Rams.

“I think it’s both motivating and confidence building,” Liberty High senior quarterback Reece Rettig said. “We definitely gained some confidence and I wouldn’t say it raised our expectations because our expectation last year was to win but it raised the community’s expectation and puts a little more pressure on us and we like the pressure, we want to be expected to win. Last year we went into every game expecting to win and we are going to do the same and that last loss triggered us and we are going to try to not do that again.”

Rettig headlines the list of returning starters after an all-state junior season in which he was among the most productive quarterbacks in the state.

The 5-foot-10, 175-pound Rettig accounted for more than 3,200 total yards and 39 touchdowns last season as the leader of a dynamic Lightning offense.

Behind Rettig the Lightning averaged 40.3 points and 433 total yards per game and 7.7 yards per play.

“We go over film and there are probably 20 percent of the plays I was like ‘we could have had 20 more touchdowns’ so there is a lot to work on,” Rettig said. “As great as the year was there is always a lot to improve on.”

The challenge for Liberty High this season will be replacing a strong group of departed skill position players that includes the top two rushers and top three pass catchers from last season.

Senior Jordan Schroeder (6-0, 170) returns at receiver after catching eight passes for 52 yards and a touchdown last season.

“We had very talented guys and we aren’t going to try to replace them with the same talents, we have guys coming in with new talents and different talents and they all wanted to get better and we were here working in the offseason all the time,” Rettig said. “The desire to get better is there and I know the guys enough and I have trust in them and they are going to do what they need to do.”

An important element in the late season run for Liberty High last season was the play of the Lightning defense.

After allowing an average of 37.3 points per game through the first four games the Lightning held opponents to 21.3 points per game over the final eight contests.

Liberty High held five of seven opponents under 300 yards or total offense allowing 274 total yards per game during that stretch.

“Last year we ended playing really fast and physical and so we want to keep playing fast and physical and keep flying around,” Bell said. “We want to be a fast and physical defense.”
Bell (6-0, 200) ranked second on the team with 50.5 tackles last season and headlines a list of five returning defensive starters for the Lightning.

Defensive linemen Jackson Williams (6-0, 240) and Jacob Avgenackis (5-9 225) return after combining 30.5 tackles, five tackles for loss and two sacks.

Senior Quayshon Harrington-Johnson also returns along the defensive front after making 31 tackles with eight tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks last season.

“We’ve changed quite a few things, even the idea behind our defense,” Chandler said. “We want to be an aggressive team in every facet. I think that especially in high school football a lot of times you see the team that is more aggressive be the team that comes out on top.”

Senior Logan Laubenthal (5-11, 170) and junior Pryor Reiners return in the secondary.

Laubenthal had four interceptions last season and Reiners ranked eighth on the team with 31 tackles as a sophomore.

“We’ve been playing together since we were eight years old so we have great chemistry,” Bell said. “We all trust each other and know what we can do so we just have to keep that up.”

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