Preseason Blitz: Liberty-Eylau Leopards relying on leadership with young team

TEXARKANA, TX  (KTAL/KMSS) — In their first season under Brad Willard, the Liberty-Eylau Leopards had one of the program’s most successful seasons in years. Now, even with a younger team, that standard is set. 

“Day by day,” Willard said.

That’s the Leopard philosophy when it comes to the young team, especially the young QB room. But that’s not a bad thing

“We’ve got a bunch of options and the exciting part about the room is we’re throwing about 6 or 7 kids and the oldest one’s a junior,” Willard said. “So, a lot of youth at the position, not a lot of experience, but it’s a bunch of eager kids that are trying to learn and trying to get better.”

That eagerness breeds competitiveness, which only makes teams stronger. 

“They say iron sharpens iron, we go hard every day and have gotten a lot better,” junior running back Arian Taylor said. 

Taylor, along with senior Zamanthyre “Tank” Haire, were some of Liberty-Eylau’s most reliable playmakers last year on their respective sides of the ball, and have now emerged as the team’s top leaders. 

“Tank on the defensive line, I’d say he’s kind of the heartbeat, not just of the defense, but of the whole team,” Willard said. “Really proud of how AT [Taylor] has stepped up. His work ethic’s never been in question, but he took it a step up after baseball this year.”

Taylor is coming off a deep playoff run in baseball, where the Leopards fell just short in the state title game. But now him, along with Coach Fowler and other baseball guys are sharing the knowledge of what it takes to make a championship and translating that mindset to football.

“It’s like in baseball, every day we say state champions, and then we work hard every day. 

That’s the dream goal today, so I’m trying to bring that to football so they know,” Taylor said. 

The momentum and impact has made a noticeable difference.

“It’s like their talent mixed with how hard they work is what has let them see the success they’ve had in baseball. So when those kids get over here, nothing changes, and it definitely sparks everyone in the room when we know those kids have state championship experience,” Willard said.

One area you can expect to see a big spark this season is the defense.

“Our defense,  we feel great about it. I mean, you look at the kids we have at certain positions, changing positions for some, and there’s gonna be some buy-in that comes involved with that,” Willard said. “But when they do buy into position changes and kind of see how everything’s gonna mesh and go together, we’re gonna have a really strong defense.”

As a leader on the defense, Haire agrees. 

“I feel like defense is gonna be better for sure,” Haire said. “Like we just need to get a little things done, get a little couple of things done, but we’re gonna be great though.

But the Leopards aren’t looking too far ahead. 

“Tomorrow’s practice. That’s what I’m most excited about,”

The Leopards begin their season at home, against Pittsburg on August 29 at 7:30 pm.