Liberty-Eylau’s young team overcomes early struggles to get first win before district play

TEXARKANA, TX (KTAL/KMSS) – Liberty-Eylau wasn’t leaving non-district without a win under its belt.

The young Leopard team made up of mostly sophomores and juniors has struggled the first couple weeks.

Trying out different quarterbacks, replacing top talent from last year, and going up against some of the top teams in East Texas has all contributed to the early season struggles.

“Always want it to be earlier than week four, but we had to learn from mistakes early on,” head coach Brad Willard said. “We’re a really young football team, so we kind of knew that there’s a chance that would happen, so it feels good to get it, whenever it is.”

Against Bullard, the Leopards got off to a fast start, going into halftime up 26-17. Bullard outscored Liberty-Eylau 14-0 in the third, and it was a battle throughout the fourth to claim the 41-38 victory.

Quarterback Huntley Fisher threw 14 of 24 for 170 yards and one touchdown in Friday’s victory.

“Huntley did really good. It was his first varsity snap, starting at quarterback, on the road against a 4A team, so he did really good,” Willard said. “A bunch of young mistakes, and I say a bunch, not a bunch, just a couple of them, but are easily correctable and he’s a really coachable kid, so we’re excited to get back to work.”

Liberty-Eylau is now in the bye week. The Leopards are not letting up after their victory.

“Every coach has a different philosophy when it comes to a bye week, I believe in being physical in a bye week,” Willard said. “Yes we’re going to nurse some injuries, get people back healthy, get our feet back underneath us, but when we hit the field for practice, we’re going to be physical. We aren’t going to take a week off from being physical.”

District begins next week for the Leopards, as they travel to Tatum to take on the Eagles.