Not long after the 2023 season ended, the Liberty County Panthers coaching staff made sure their players knew that a 3-7 record was not up to their standards. 

In the long offseason since that season-ending loss to Savannah Christian, Panthers coach Tony Glazer has been reassured that the message appears to be sinking in with his team.

“They have bought in,” he said. “They are playing with an edge. We started fresh from the time we ended last year, that the kids understanding that 3-7 is not acceptable.”

The Panthers offseason wrapped up with a convincing scrimmage effort against former Region 3-AAA foe Savannah Country Day. The Hornets, who moved to Class A in the GHSA’s reclassification of its member schools, beat the Panthers 38-14 last year en route to a state playoffs appearance.

And with two Power 4 prospects in left tackle Andrew Nicholson and middle linebacker Tyler Scott, the Hornets still provided the rebuilding Panthers with a stern preseason test.

“I wanted to play somebody good to see where we’re at,” Glazer said. “There is no such thing as winning a scrimmage. The only way to lose is to not get better. We wanted to get better and we did that.”

Glazer was encouraged particularly with the defensive line’s effort against SCD, as Anquan Roberts, Christian Hines, Zorrion Green and Karlos Caison bottled up the Hornets’ offense throughout the varsity portion of the scrimmage. 

Liberty’s offense committed four turnovers in the first half, but none of those miscues resulted in Country Day points as the defense, which projects to start only three seniors, held steady.

“They got put in some tough situations early on,” Glazer said. “It was good to see those guys battle back. Our defensive line played pretty well. They had five straight possessions where they punted with fourth and 12 or longer because we kept taking them backward. They were in the backfield most of the night.”

Ryan Golden is one of the few seniors on defense and is expected to lead a young secondary. 

While there were plenty of mistakes, from turnovers and penalties, one of which erased a Brandon Roberts’ touchdown run, there was more than enough to encourage Glazer on his team’s progress. 

“That stuff we can fix,” he said. “The kids were playing hard. The effort was there.  The biggest thing I’m excited about is that’s basically the same team that came to our stadium and beat us. To see where we are a year later just shows all the hard work the kids have put in in the offseason. We feel like we’re in a good spot if we keep doing what we’re doing.” 

The Panthers struggled on offense in 2023. They were held to under 10 points in three games and averaged just over 20 points per contest. 

Basketball star Jah’barri Felix likely will step into the starting quarterback spot vacated by Carlos Singleton, who graduated. Singleton threw for 1,465 yards and 14 touchdowns last year, and also led the Panthers in rushing with 503 yards. 

Trey Aiello booted a 40-yard field goal, and Felix threw a 35-yard touchdown pass to Aaron Brown to cap a long first-half drive for the scrimmage’s lone TD. 

“Carlos was a great football player,” Glazer said of Singleton, who was a three-year starter. “We’ve been able to get Jah’Barri to step in and he’s done extremely well.”

But Liberty’s rushing attack accounted for only 13 rushing scores last season. Glazer, though, has liked what he has seen from the offensive line and especially from Roberts and junior Elijah Brown at running back.

“We’ve got a two-headed monster back there with Brandon Roberts and Elijah Brown,” Glazer said. “We feel very confident in our run game running behind that big offensive line.” 

The Panthers also must replace Ron Golden, who led the team in receptions with 33, and Jeremiah Payne, whose 561 receiving yards topped the team. There is some experience returning, with Ryan Golden and Jaden Hurd back at receiver, along with Julian Gerena. 

With a new offensive line in place, Glazer is hopeful its performance in the scrimmage is a harbinger of things to come this fall. Eben Dudley, Tyriece Armstrong, William Buckley, Carson Carter and Edward Spencer Jr. took most of the first-team snaps on the line against Country Day.

“We have weapons on offense,” Glazer said. “Our offensive line was physical. If they block like they did (in the scrimmage) and we keep getting the ball to our playmakers, and allow them to do their thing, we should be able to move the ball. The only time we didn’t move the ball is when we made a mistake.” 

Following the season opener against in-county rival Bradwell Institute, it’s straight into the region for the Panthers. The Panthers no longer have Class AA power Pierce County on the slate, and Savannah Christian, with one of the nation’s top recruits in Elijah Griffin, also fell to Class A in offseason reclassification, as did Savannah Country Day, who also made the state playoffs last year.

Aside from Calvary, the combined records last year of Liberty’s region foes for 2024 was 22-62 and that includes the 5-8 mark of Jenkins. 

With Calvary and its bevy of stars, Long County coming off another postseason appearance, Jenkins off a run to the Class AAAAA quarterfinals and Windsor Forest also in the mix, Glazer isn’t expecting an easy path back to the playoffs.

“I don’t think our region got any weaker,” he said. “It got bigger, but it didn’t get any weaker.” 

One of the facets Glazer hoped to see from the scrimmage was a return to physical play from his offensive and defensive lines. That effort, in the scrimmage and in the padded camp earlier in the summer at McIntosh County Academy, have Glazer optimistic about the season ahead. 

“The big thing was getting lined up and playing hard and playing a physical brand of football we’re used to playing and we did that,” he said. “The areas we focused on were to get more physical all around but especially on offensive and defensive lines. They controlled the tempo on both sides.  I think they have really, really stepped up.

“It goes to the work they’ve put in. We’ve got a couple of new coaches and they have done a great job. We’re excited for what we’ve got going forward.”