Liberty, North Side not thinking about history

Liberty Tech and North Side have had some epic football games in recent years.

The Crusaders and Indians have not only had good teams for the majority of the past decade that have competed for region championships and made long playoff run, but their matchups against each other have been memorable affairs more times than not.

But none of that matters much this week when the programs meet at North Side.

The Crusaders are coming off a big win over Henry County. The Indians are coming off a disappointing loss to Oakland.

Liberty’s defense holds on to beat Henry Co.

But that doesn’t matter much either, according to Liberty head coach Tyler Turner.

“I know for us as big as that win for us was last week, this is North Side week, and it’s a game our kids want to win pretty badly,” Turner said. “And some people may think North Side doesn’t look like a very good team after that loss, but they’re wrong in my opinion.

“Oakland is ranked nationally and will beat a lot of great teams that bad.”

North Side football won’t dwell on rough start

So what threats does North Side have?

“Their defense looks just as good and as athletic as it’s always been,” Turner said. “They’re quick and fly around to the ball and make it hard to move the chains on them with much consistency.

“The offense might have the most athletic backfield we’ll see all year. And they have a big line blocking in front of them, so there are no gimmes in this game.”

North Side head coach Donnie Nickey said earlier in the week his players were probably looking more forward to this week’s game with Liberty in the preseason than last week’s opener. That’s one reason why he thinks his players will have a better game this time around.

“It’s a little easier to keep them motivated if they’re preparing to play their neighbor and not someone 100 miles away,” Nickey said. “But it doesn’t take much to know Liberty has a good team.

“All of the NCAA D-1 guys they have on their team and what they did last year with everybody that’s back – this will be another tough game for our team. We’ve got to be ready.”

There are a number of players on both sidelines who have the extra motivation of playing against former teammates.

Three players will have switched locker rooms.

Evan Johnson, Damion Transou and Kendrick Brown will be suiting up in their former rivals’ colors.

Sophomore quarterback Johnson and senior defensive end Transou donned the black and maroon of the Crusaders last year but will run out in the Indians’ blue and yellow tonight.

Senior lineman Brown, who played for two years at North Side before before sitting out last season for personal reasons, will make his return to the Reservation under a silver Liberty Tech helmet.

The switch between schools was tough on both former Crusaders.

“Honestly it [switching schools] was really hard at first,” said Johnson. “But then I started adjusting. . . just gotta move on.”

Transou said he felt like he would be playing for a rival team.

As a freshman at Liberty he would talk about this game with his teammates.

“Now I’m going against the people I talked about that with,” he said.

On the other side of the ball, it is all business for the former Indian.

“This is my senior year,” Brown said. “I just came back [to] work hard, play hard and better my future. I believe Liberty Tech will help me do that.”

While he has two cousins who still play for North Side, Brown says he hasn’t been doing any trash talking. He is, however, looking forward to hitting some of the North Side guys.

“Yes sir,” he laughed, “Just . . . play fast and hit hard and do it with dignity and respect.”

After Liberty games last season, Transou said some of the Crusaders would go out to eat to celebrate the game. When asked if he would continue that tradition with his former teammates he laughed and gave a simple “no sir.”

Because of the consolidation of Vision 2020, a former Jackson Central-Merry coach has been thrown into the fray.

Cedric Hampton, Johnson’s position coach at North Side, is a science teacher at Liberty Tech.

“It’s a tough situation to know that I’m going against kids that I see every day,” he said. “But it has to be done. I’m just going to approach it like I approach any other game.”

Brandon Shields, 425-9751