It’s a new region, a mostly new schedule and a new way of determining how to make the state playoffs – but the goal still remains the same for the Liberty County Panthers.

The Panthers, 7-4 a year ago, reached the Class AAA state football playoffs but the Cairo Syrupmakers ushered them out in a first-round defeat.

With a veteran and potentially explosive offense, and defense bringing back some of its top players, fifth-year coach Tony Glazer enters 2026 with an optimistic outlook.

“There is a good bit of excitement,” he said. “With the team we have, we know we have the ability to have a special season. I think everybody in the building definitely believes it. The work has been put in, dating back to winter.”

The Panthers have to replace running back Elijah Brown, who posted a stellar senior season with 1,282 rushing yards and 18 touchdowns. Liberty County may look to more than one back to fill that void, and they will have a few from which to choose.

Senior Noel Best leads a returning contingent of running backs, having rushed for 150 yards on 27 carries in 2025, and Glazer believes the set of running backs could fill Brown’s production capably.

“Our running back depth is good,” he said. “We have four guys I trust to put in there. They all do things differently. They have different talents. As an offense, we try to find ways to use people’s talents to their best of their abilities.”

Liberty also brings back its top two receivers – Aaron Brown led the Panthers with 35 catches for 439 yards as a junior, and Kalale Green was second on the team with 20 receptions.

Aaron Brown, a senior speedster, could be positioned all over the field this year. Just in their two scrimmages, the Panthers have lined Brown up at different receiver spots and in the backfield. It’s all in an effort to get the dynamic playmaker the ball as much as possible and in as many different ways as possible.

“It makes it a lot harder for people to key on him,” Glazer said.

Another reason Glazer and the Panthers are upbeat about the offense is the offensive line. Liberty returns four of five starters – after bringing back just one starter in 2025 from the 2024 team. Carson Carter, a 6-foot-3 senior, anchors the line at left tackle, and the Panthers also may rely on Michael Colmenares, Samuel Brant and Jameson Lee, along with massive 6-foot-6 Tywann Jackson.

“We have a veteran group playing in the same spots,” Glazer said. “They should be used to playing with each other. We will continue to rely on them to get some push up front. We’ll go into every game knowing we have the ability to run the football.”

The Panthers also may turn to senior Caheim Anderson and junior Myson Benjamin at receiver.

Junior Ja’eir Roberts threw for 1,047 yards and six touchdowns, and ran for another 273 and four scores, in a solid sophomore campaign. He and Jack Jacobson, a 6-foot-4 sophomore, have split time leading the offense in the preseason scrimmages.

The Panthers have several holes to fill on defense. Longtime stalwarts Tyrese Alexis and Christian Hines combined for 11 tackles for loss, and Alexis topped the team with 93 stops. Both, however, have graduated. Five of Liberty’s top tacklers last year were seniors.

“Guys like that are hard to replace,” Glazer acknowledged. “We have to find guys to step into the roles they had and be the best they can be. Those guys played a lot of football for us. They were leaders.”

David Bacon, second on the team in tackles last year and team leader with 10 TFLs, returns for his senior season. Jahair Rodriguez also will be counted on to lead the defense. In fact, Bacon and Rodriguez inherit the jersey numbers – 5 and 6 – worn by Alexis and Hines a year ago.

Glazer called Bacon and Rodriguez two of the defense’s leaders, along with Nykeim Ezell.

“They are the veterans of this group,” he said. “We’re also breaking in some newer guys. We’ll continue to get stronger. I hope we don’t play anybody as fast as Bradwell’s skill guys were.”

Juniors Harry Stevens and Benjamin Farrell, along with senior O’Shay Powers, will help man the front. Senior Mekhi James joins Bacon and Rodriguez at linebacker, and the secondary could be made up of Ezell, Solomon Ball, Wylie Ellis, Paul Woods and Jaden Floyd.

It’s also a new region for the Panthers this season. Liberty retains region foes and rivals Long County and Southeast Bulloch, but only Windsor Forest remains from the Savannah public schools in Region 3-AAAA – Johnson is on the schedule but is not in the new region – and nemesis Calvary Day also is no longer on the slate.

But the region – and the schedule – remain chock full of obstacles. West Laurens went 13-1 a year ago, losing 17-13 to Jefferson in the AAA semifinals, and Harlem went 9-3 last year, falling to Jefferson in the second round.

Plus, the Panthers get Class 7A Richmond Hill, also a playoff participant last year, in the second week of the season.

Liberty also has only four home games this year, and the Panthers’ home opener isn’t until September 11 against McIntosh County Academy. The Region 3-AAAA opener is September 25 at home against New Hampstead.

“I think our schedule is harder than last year,” Glazer said. “We lost Calvary and Jenkins but we pick up West Laurens and Harlem. I think our region top to bottom is tougher than what it was last year.”

Being into the top four in region standings used to guarantee a playoff spot. Under the Georgia High School Association’s new format, only the region champ is automatically in. The remaining spots are determined through power rankings, so finishing second in the region standings may not lead to a postseason berth.

“You want to try to win every game,” Glazer said. “Every game has the same significance.”

Glazer said he is comfortable with the new procedure.

“I think you’ll see a lot of teams are upping their non-region schedule,” he said. “It truly rewards you if you have a harder schedule. I think it’s going to make us better. We need to continue to find ways to get a little bit better so that when we get in the heart of region we’re firing on all cylinders.”

The Panthers open the season on the road Friday night against Wayne County. The Yellow Jackets, coming off a 1-9 season, hired former Swainsboro coach Scott Roberts to lead their program. Swainsboro went 9-3 a year ago and the Tigers, in two stints under Roberts, won three region titles.

With a new staff at Wayne County, the Panthers and Jackets made a film swap of Liberty’s two scrimmages and the Jackets’ spring game and preseason scrimmage. But Glazer is prepared that there may be surprises in store from Wayne County’s staff, especially in its first game.

“They could run some different stuff,” he said. “You have to come out and play, regardless of what they’re doing.”

Glazer likes the amount of work the team has put in, and what they’ve learned from their scrimmages against Groves and Bradwell.

“We have a good group of kids,” he said. “They like to work hard. They understand what it takes to win. We challenged them this summer and they accepted the challenge. Summer is the hard part – now we’re on game week. You can tell there is a little more excitement.”