Liberty-Eylau begins playoff campaign against Brownsboro
LONGVIEW, Texas—Liberty-Eylau begins its football playoff campaign tonight against Brownsboro.
The Leopards won four games in a row to close out the regular season and clinch the No. 1 seed from District 7-4A, Division I. The Bears slipped into the postseason for the first time since as the fourth seed from 8-4A, Div. I.
L-E (5-5) and Brownsboro (5-5) clash at 7 p.m. at Pine Tree’s Pirate Stadium. The winner advances to the area round to play either Dallas Carter or Mineral Wells next week.
“Brownsboro has three really good backs, and Coach (Greg) Pearson is doing a good job down there,” L-E coach Steve Wells said. “We’ll have to do a good job of tackling those guys, and they throw the ball well, usually to the tight end.
“Defensively, they have some kids who play hard. We’re going to have to do a good job of getting some stops because they’re going to want to control the clock while we want to speed up the game. We want to score early and try to make them come from behind.”
The Bears, who run a Wing-T offense, average 32 points per game and give up 33.6. Brownsboro lost two in a row to finish the season and is making just its second playoff appearance since 2010.
The Leopards have scored 40.3 points and allowed 39.2 points per game. Liberty-Eylau gives up 280 rushing yards and 158 passing yards per game, and it has gained 155 yards on the ground and 271 through the air this fall.
“Liberty-Eylau is very athletic, very talented, throw the ball extremely well and have playmakers all over the field,” said Pearson, who started at Brownsboro in May and didn’t start installing any plays until August. “The three running backs can all take it to the house on you. The quarterback can beat you with his legs and his arm. Defensively, they get after it. We’re hoping with our run game we can control the tempo and slow the game down, and I’m sure they’re going to air it out and try to speed it up. We need our run game to hold up against their defense because they’re very good.
“They have a storied program; they are always in the playoffs and have won two state championships (1999 and 2006). They’ve got tradition, and when they take the field they expect to win.”
The game will be broadcast on KYGL 106.3 FM beginning at 6:45 p.m. TONIGHT’S LINEUPS (Numbers in parentheses) BROWNSBORO OFFENSE: WR-Chris Simons (6); TE-Izik Boykin (7); LT-Dylan Chapman (77); LG-Wesley
Walker (56); C-Walter Pate (75): RG-Hunter Bracket (50); RT-Noah Sissoms (65); QB-Jonathan Surlet (4); FB-Kenneth Woods (5); LHB-Saul Williams (8); RHBKevon Thompson (22).
BROWNSBORO DEFENSE: DE-Seth Rozell (3); DT-Matthew Craig (55); NG-Lawrence Lyles (76); DT-Micah Schultz (67); DE-Luke Wellman (32); LB-Austin Loosier (45); LB-Kevon Thompson (22); LB-Gavyn Young (20); CB-Saul Williams (8); FS-Gage Wehrmann (1); CB-Ashton Williams (9).
LIBERTY-EYLAU OFFENSE: WR-El-Amin Greer (4), 170; WR-Dazawion Cooper (11), 148; WR-Isaiah Cross (10), 165; WR-Mahleik Darty (9), 145; LT-Kylar Cooks (76), 250; LG-Dayshuwn McChester (64), 285; C-Colton Bergt (52), 251; RG-Connor Green (65), 242; RT-Trey Parker (51), 221; QB-Decorian Phillips (1), 180; RB-Ralph Crabtree (6), 160; PK-Steven Goben (43), 158. LIBERTY-EYLAU DEFENSE: DE-Gerald Webster (85), 195; DT-Antony Alexander (58), 225; DT-Trey Revels (42), 210; DE-Lakken Stuart (35), 201; LB-Cedric Dickerson (33); LB-Marzavin Riles (34), 160; LB-Donté Coopwood (3), 160; CB-Davonta Vaughn (13), 155; S-Dominique Williams (23), 140; S-Ken’Trell Chatmon (14), 165; CB-Michael Conley (15), 150; PNT-Isaiah Cross (10).