L-B leaning on deep junior class in '24

Liberty-Benton rattled off eight straight wins in claiming the Blanchard Valley Conference football title last season.Scott Garlock knows just how the Eagles did it."Last year was we had a lot of seniors who were great leaders for us," Garlock said."Late in games, those guys made plays that we might not have made other years; the Pandora-Gilboa game, obviously the Arlington game. They were unselfish, they played their roles well, and they let these younger players, who are good football players, get that experience."Now we have a lot of those young kids back, and they are the ones stepping into those leadership roles."L-B's senior numbers are down this season, just seven on a 45-man roster. Garlock will be counting on a deep and talented junior class, though, to feed off last year's success and produce another BVC contender.Headlining that junior group are the Elchert twins – Seth, a 6-foot-3, 185-pound receiver/defensive back who has made a verbal commitment to attend Toledo, and Zach, a 6-3, 195-pound running back/linebacker who may be juggling college offers in both football and baseball."As far as I know, we've never had a Division I football player come out of Liberty-Benton. Aaron Craft went Division I, but in basketball not football," said Garlock, who has compiled a 72-21 record in two stints as L-B's head coach. "We might have a couple of kids capable of doing that. It's exciting to have kids with that ability, and I'm anxious to see us utilize that talent."Zach Elchert, who had 773 yards rushing, 238 receiving and 17 total touchdowns last season, will team up in the backfield with another junior, Austin Collert. L-B must replace one of the most versatile athletes in the league with the graduation of Mason Modd, who won the competition to be the Eagles starting quarterback and ended up completing 115-of-157 passes, placing first in the BVC in passing percentage (73.2) and second in yards (1,959) and TDs (26). Modd, first-team all-Ohio in Division V, threw just three interceptions and rushed for 562 yards and 10 TDs. "The biggest part of playing quarterback is making good decisions and Mason made some big plays for us when we needed them," Garlock said.Garlock won't be breaking in a new quarterback with Trevin Lieb returning for his senior season. Lieb lost the starting job to Modd a year ago, but put up solid numbers – 31-of-48 passing, 64.6 percent accuracy, 365 yards, three TDs – in his time under center.A plus for Lieb – and L-B's passing game – is that the Eagles will have one of the best receiving corps in the conference with the return of Seth Elchert and Brayden Lemire. Elchert, a first-team all-Ohio end, led the BVC with 62 receptions for 913 yards and 12 TDs. Lemire, second-team all-BVC, caught 31 passes for 550 yards and five scores.CJ Barbara, a 6-4, 200-pound junior, is another big target for Leib, with Reid Irwin (6-0, 160, jr.) and Connor Barbara (6-0, 150, soph.) adding wide-out depth and talent.Garlock feels L-B's returning talent gives the Eagles options … and may give opponents fits."Teams that are balanced are the hardest to defend," he said."If it's just run or mostly pass, you can take something away. We think we can run the ball, but I think we can jump into a five-wide set or a two-back set and use some H-back stuff."We're going to be very balanced. We want to make teams prepare for different sets, run and pass both."Graduation cost L-B two all-league linemen in first-teamer Brady Jolliff and second-team pick Javen Carpenter. Will Granger, a 6-3, 265-pound junior, returns at right tackle and Isaac Schworm (6-1, 235, jr.) at right guard. Senior Parker Wright (6-0, 260) also saw playing time last season.Robert Lawrence, a 6-2, 210-pound junior, will be the center, with Wright, Maguire Hohman (6-2, 220, sr.), Austin Berger (6-2, 260, jr.) and Maddyx Vermillion (5-9, 205, jr.) competing for the other starting spots.Defensively, Liberty-Benton ranked third in the BVC against the run and second overall, allowing 231.2 yards a game. The Eagles gave up the fewest points (13.2 ppg) of any team in the league.All-BVC defensive lineman Jake Elchert (59 tackles, 15 tfl), linebacker Brady Birkemeier, who led the league with 100 tackles, and first-team all-BVC defensive backs Modd and Anderson Roberts, were key losses from that team.Spearheading L-B's defense this season will be a linebacking corps that returns Zach Elchert (73 tackles) and Collert (64 tackles, 9 tfl), who Garlock says "pound for pound might be the toughest player on our team."Lawrence will be an outside linebacker in L-B's 4-3 alignment, while Granger and Berger will man the tackle spots. Schworm, Lemire and CJ Barbara, who had 18 tackles for loss among his 35 stops, will be the ends.Seth Elchert will anchor the secondary, along with cornerbacks Connor Barbara and Irwin.Liberty-Benton returns an added offensive weapon in Garrett Nealis, a 6-1 senior kicker who converted 47-of-52 PAT kicks last season and booted three field goals.With the schedule L-B is facing, Garlock will take any extra firepower he can find."We open up with Ottawa-Glandorf, then play Columbus Grove, then McComb … " he said."We're going to find out in a hurry what kind of team we are."