Prep football playoffs: Raiders overcome early adversity for playoff berth
· Yahoo Sports
It’s been five years since Liberty played an 11th football game. That streak will end Friday when the No. 10 Raiders travel to No. 7 Roane County for a Class AA first round playoff game.
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The regular season couldn’t have gone much better for Jamie Newman in his debut as head coach of his alma mater.
“It’s been a dream come true for me, man,” Newman said. “This is where I went to school. I grew up watching Liberty Raider football, always dreaming about playing, and enjoyed my playing career here at Liberty. It’s an honor to come back and coach them, and to be the head coach this year was just a dream come true for me.”
He’s even more happy for the players.
“It really couldn’t happen with a better group of boys,” he said. “I love my team, and my seniors especially. I have a great relationship with them and knew they had the potential to make a run and turn the program around and start playing the kind of football that they’ve been capable of.”
Junior quarterback Jaxson Workman has been getting a load of attention, and for good reason. He has surpassed 1,000 yards passing and rushing for the second straight year.
Through the air, Workman has completed 90 of 157 passes for 1,404 yards and 12 touchdowns. On the ground, he has 204 carries for 1,093 yards and 17 TDs.
But one thing that has stood out is that Liberty (7-3) is not a one-man show.
When Workman had to leave the Raiders’ game at Shady Spring early because of an injury, Chase Shea stepped up and led a 22-21 comeback victory with 196 yards and three rushing touchdowns.
A week later, with Workman back on the field, Shea ran for 233 yards and three more scores in a 36-30 win at Ritchie County.
Noah Ellis came up big in a win over Midland Trail, with 176 yards and two touchdowns. Landon Lusk also scored twice in that game.
Senior receiver Aiden Tabor has had a big season, his first since he was a freshman. He set what is believed to be a school record with 300 yards in a loss to St. Marys on Oct. 30 and has 820 on 37 receptions with six touchdowns.
And of course there is the offensive line, with the likes of Lusk, Logan Ellis, Jacob Akers, Walker Smith and Parker Wriston, as well as James Toney and Caden Cook.
“We have an exceptional quarterback in Jaxson Workman. He can run and throw, and he is the leader of our football team for sure,” Newman said. “But, yes, he definitely doesn’t do it alone.”
The season actually didn’t get off to the start everyone had envisioned.
The Sherman Tide rolled into Glen Daniel and left with a 50-26 victory in the opener. A week later, the Raiders lost a shootout with PikeView, 39-37.
“So there we sit, 0-2, kind of wondering, ‘all this hype and no power behind it,’” Newman said. “But the boys just rallied at the end of that PikeView game in that fourth quarter and really just showed a lot of heart and character. And we, as a coaching staff, there at the end of the game really just told them how proud we were of them for fighting back at the end of that game and just challenged them to make that the turning point in the season.”
That’s what happened. The Raiders defeated Greenbrier West 28-6 to start a six-game winning streak that helped secure their spot in the top 16.
They lost their regular season finale at St. Marys but, just as they did against PikeView, waged a comeback that fell just short. The Raiders fell behind 20-0 before coming back and briefly leading 28-27, eventually losing 35-28.
The Raiders have a tough assignment in Roane County — also the Raiders. Roane (9-1) was the state runner-up in 2024 and has a 31-4 combined record over the last three seasons.
Roane is a run-heavy team, rushing for 3,590 yards. Leading the way are Brodey Proctor (90-1,251 yards, 15 TD) and Koltyn Starcher (115-805, 11).
Liberty has motivation beyond just getting a win. The team is still looking for its first-ever playoff victory.
“It’s going to be a tall task,” Tabor said. “Roane County is a really good team, but I think we’re a really good team, too.”