By Gabriel Rodriguez
After a long-awaited year without Liberal Redskin football, they are back and stronger than ever. The Redskins kicked off the season with a 70-6 victory over Wichita North on Friday, September 6. This is a great start after the 2023 season. Last season, the Redskins went 8-2 with a heartbreaking loss against Maize in the state playoffs to end the Redskins’ season. The residents of Liberal, Kansas have been waiting for moments like this, where the Redskins make playoff runs and possibly win a state championship. Third-year head coach Bryan Luetters is ready to make another run this season and give Liberal what it has wanted since 1997; A State Championship!
Unfortunately, the list of players that graduated last year is extensive, but Coach Luetters is not concerned even though it’s a popular topic. “It’s funny, I keep getting told that and everything I read online people keep saying that,” Luetters said. “We lost a couple of defensive leaders playing safety with Adan Mata and Ivan Moreno and we also lost our right tackle Peyton Morlen who was a key kid for us. Let’s not forget we lost our quarterback in Brooks Kappelman and wide receiver Zayden Martinez who’s up at K-State, yeah, there’s some holes to fill there.”
The Redskins have lost some key players to graduation but without a doubt, the younger generation of players plans to take that next step. Coach Luetters and the Redskins worked day and night to be prepared for the season opener, and plenty of starters from last year are back on the field. “We have seven guys on defense coming back and this will be their third year starting,” Luetters explained. “Xavier Tofayo started as a freshman and the others started their sophomore year. We’re really experienced on the defensive side. Offensive line we got everyone coming back except Peyton. We’re in the process of filling that spot with Miguel Ovalle. Miguel hurt his knee (last season). He is back now but we have a little bit of a competition on the line between Angel Peregrino, he stepped up and he's in a position battle with a couple of players.”
Coach Luetters is also excited to see what some of his other returners are capable of. “That receiver spot, James Fieser is just incredible, he’s grown another two or three inches I swear, so he's a big, physical kid. He’s only a junior and he’s bought into the weight room and dang near-perfect attendance this summer. He really has a future in football if he decides to go that route.”
The returning players are a major asset for the Redskins this year. “These kids have now seen it when it wasn’t really good,” Luetters said. “They saw it when we first started and we were trying to transition and we only had three wins. They saw last year where we had success and a playoff win and know they want to take it a step further. So these kids have had the luxury of seeing the good, the bad, and the ugly, and they really like the good and want more of it.” Luetters believes that helps the returners mentally. The Redskins return 16 seniors this year, and Coach Luetters says they are all contributing to the team anyway they can. He’s also aware that they are going to lose a lot of starters at the end of this season but knows that there are kids who are willing to work hard to take the empty spots this season and next.
As far as replacing Kappelman at quarterback, Coach Luetters is looking to the underclassmen. “Quarterback wise we got a lot of young guys, Wyatt Manel and Tevin Cotter, a sophomore and freshman battling it out. They both bring different things to the table. Tevin has been leading us through the summer, but Wyatt has really worked hard and he’s opened our eyes to a couple of things he can do. We have packages at least however it shakes out.”
On September 6, the Redskins faced Wichita North, who ended their 2023 season 0-9. Luetters said that even though they had a tough season, it’s hard to know what they will be like on the field. “Wichita North is a Wichita city team and those teams get shook up a lot during the offseason and now with kids being able to transfer more easily than they used to be able to (Due to KSHSAA rule changes),” Luetters said. “You could have a bad team one year, then a good team the next year. Their coach started three years ago when I started here at Liberal, and he’s trying to build a culture there.”
As far as the culture at LHS, things are looking great. The Redskins will kick off a five-game home series this Friday, the 13th, at Redskin Field against Wichita South. The first pep rally of the season begins at 2:45 in the Big House. The Bank of Beaver, KSCB, and Seaboard will host a Tailgate at 6 pm. Football kicks off at 7 pm. LHS will also recognize first responders and military members at halftime before That Liberal Band performs.
