Liberty Bell Coach Jeff Lidey, left, worked with the line units on hand-and-foot reaction and speed.
Scheduling opponents a challenge for LBHS
Defending a state championship can be a daunting task. First, the target on the back is huge. Everybody in the Washington B 8-man world now knows of the Liberty Bell High School Mountain Lions.
It is also difficult to find opponents to play. Two years ago, after the Mountain Lions’ first year in the 8-man classification, three of the five voting Central Washington 1B schools voted to boot Liberty Bell out of the league, setting up last year’s independent status and lack of a league affiliation.
Liberty Bell Activities Director Michael Wilbur scrambled to find games to play, and had some success filling the Mountain Lions’ docket for 2022, which included road trips to Odessa, Bellingham (Lummi Nation), La Conner and Kendrick, Idaho, to accompany home games with Bridgeport, Okanogan’s JV, Concrete and Almira-Coulee-Hartline (ACH). This year, Wilbur’s task has been made more difficult by a general reluctance to play the defending state champs.
Indeed, as of this past Sunday, the Mountain Lions only have six games of a permissible nine game schedule in ink, only one of those an “at home” game, against 11-man, 2B Jenkins (Chewelah) on Oct. 21. Odessa backed out of their “travel” year of a two-year home-and-home agreement and will not be coming to the Methow Valley this year.
Liberty Bell opens the season this Saturday with a listed 3 p.m. kickoff at Oak Harbor High School, a rematch of the 2022 state title game with Neah Bay. Other road games include Brewster, ACH, DeSales (Walla Walla) and Bridgeport.
Wilbur said on Monday that the game with Neah Bay will proceed despite the recent re-closure of the North Cascades Highway this past weekend. Even if travel requires use of Stevens Pass, “the game will go on as scheduled,” said Wilbur. “We’re too far into it now, and can’t really afford to drop another game this season.”
As a benefit of their independent status, the Mountain Lions will again have an automatic seed into the district tournament in early November, and should host the first-round game. Next season, by agreement with the WIAA, Liberty Bell will return to the 2B 11-man roster and schedule.
Not ‘filling shoes’
The veteran senior class of that magical 2022 run is now graduated. There are some key components that have moved along now and, to use a worn and tired cliché, left some “big shoes to fill.” But Coach Jeff Lidey’s message to this year’s team was simple: “I don’t want them to fill shoes, I want them to be themselves, play like themselves. This is their team.”
There is reason to believe Lidey’s approach may be a good take on this coming season in developing their own personality. This group is loaded with talent, and they are comparatively young. “They just need to be confident in their own abilities because they are driven, and they are good,” said the coach.
Stepping into the quarterback role is junior Lucien Paz. He played fairly extensively in his freshman year, filling in when starter Lidey had some injury issues, and showed potential as the signal caller in his freshman year.
Playing time was limited last year at the quarterback position, but the elder of three Paz brothers is athletic, has an accurate short- to middle-range arm and is a threat to break off and run with lightning quick speed. His ability to advance the ball on the ground is well documented over the past two years, and that should provide some problems for the defense on every single play.
His physical ability, combined with his passion for the game and drive for success, makes him a solid candidate for the leadership role on this team.
Sophomore brother Remington Paz, a defensive standout, is ready to step into the quarterback position if needed, and will probably see equal time on both sides of the ball, as a running back on offense and defensive back when the Lions don’t have the ball. It was Remi’s 93-yard interception return in the state championship against Neah Bay that probably broke the will of the Red Devils and highlighted the Mountain Lions’ second-half explosion on their way to their 54-12 title win.
Two more Paz boys enter the fray this year. Brother Greyden and cousin Yolo, both freshmen, look to contribute almost immediately. Yolo provided the Mountain Lions with a fifth-place trophy at the WIAA Mat Classic last February, as an eighth-grader. Greyden’s varsity sport participation was limited to baseball last spring, catching, pitching and displaying some excellent speed on the base paths. Expect both to get some significant playing time on the gridiron this year.
If there is an unknown quantity on this team, it might be in the receiver corps. Senior Brody Barnhart leads a speedy corps, along with Remi Paz, either from the flank or from the backfield. Logan Hughes, Jake Grady and Dylan Carpenter are all relatively inexperienced at the varsity level, but are capable and quick.
Looking at the lines
This team will be characterized by speed and finesse, but that’s only part of the story. There were not many seniors in the offensive or defensive lines. Those units have gotten bigger and stronger this year.
Anchoring the offensive line at center is junior Damon Alumbaugh. He played baseball last spring, and through the summer, pitching and playing first base. He’s been hindered by a late-season hip injury last fall. “It feels pretty good, getting better,” said Alumbaugh at practice last week. “I’ll be fine.”
Alumbaugh will probably see most of his action snapping the ball, and will get some rest when the Mountain Lions are on defense.
Sophomore Damien Spears, also a medalist at the state wrestling tournament, sophomores Gavin Blank and Alex Ramsay-George and senior Fischer Edwards provide some athletic beef to the interior line. “Gavin shows some really balanced and quick foot movement,” said Lidey. Blank seems to be able to move laterally fairly quickly for a big lineman, something he probably developed as a spring tennis player.
Edwards, a two-time podium placer in the javelin throw at state B track and field the past two years, is strong and has a low center of gravity. He is a force in the middle of the defensive line and, likewise, very difficult for on rushing defenders to move around when on offense.
“Alex is just a really good all-around athlete, big and strong, and Damien just keeps getting better and better,” said Lidey. “I feel really good about our line play on both sides of the ball this year.”
As much talent as there is behind the front line on offense and defense, the interior line play might actually be the strong point of this team, which should translate into lots of points on offense, perhaps created by defensive turnovers.
Whether replacing, reloading, or letting them develop their own identity, this could be another special year for the Mountain Lions.
2023 Liberty Bell football schedule
(Schedules are tentative and subject to change)
• Sept. 2, 3 p.m., Neah Bay (at Oak Harbor)
• Sept. 8, 7 p.m., at Brewster
• Sept. 16, 5 p.m., at ACH
• Sept. 23 and 30, open dates
• Oct. 6, 7 p.m., at DeSales
• Oct. 13, 7 p.m., at Bridgeport
• Oct. 21, TBA, home v. Chewelah
• Oct. 27-28, District 6 seeding games
• Nov. 2-4, D6/7 Crossover
• Nov. 10-11, first round, state playoffs
• Nov. 17-18, state quarterfinals
• Nov. 24-25, state semi-finals
• Dec. 1, state championships at UW Stadium
