Stam brings experience to Lions' secondary
WEEKLY BLOG: 5/15/21
After spring practices were canceled last year due to the pandemic, the Liberty Lions were on the prowl these past three weeks to prepare for the 2021 season.
"It's been great," Liberty head coach Colin Thomas said of the return of offseason work. "Our kids got plenty of repetitions. We're trying to evaluate who the best players are and get better."
Pads are still not allowed in Arizona for these few weeks of work and that might be a good thing considering it was 100 degrees for the Lions' spring game put on before a couple hundred parents on hand in North Peoria.
Different teams have different goals in this optimistic time of year while in shorts and t-shirts. There are still just over 100 days until the start of the regular season.
"For us, (the goal) was to grow," Thomas said. "It was to compete and try to gel as a team."
One difference this year was the absence of Division I college coaches as the NCAA dead period has been extended eight times since March of 2020 and will end on June 1. During this time, D-I coaches have not been able to visit high school campuses or have face-to-face contact with recruits. Thomas said it didn't have an effect on what they did at their practices.
In 2020, Liberty showed it doesn't rebuild - it reloads. The Lions lost 40 seniors from its 2019 team that won the 6A Conference championship. Thomas was elevated from the offensive coordinator position in April after Mark Smith took a coaching job in Washington, where he was from. Despite those changes, and an on-and-off again practice schedule over the summer, Liberty went a step further. The Lions finished their eight-week schedule at 5-3 and were selected by a human committee as one of the eight schools for the Open Division.
Once they got to the postseason, the Lions showed the ability to learn and rebound. In Week 8, Liberty was outscored 13-0 in the fourth quarter of a 34-24 defeat to district-rival Centennial. Just one week later, the Lions and Coyotes had the opportunity to run it back in the Open quarterfinals. This time, Liberty was outgained by more than 120 yards, but pulled out a dramatic 25-24 win with a two-point conversion following a touchdown with 1:19 on the clock. The next week brought a rematch with defending-champion Chandler. Way back in Week 1, the Lions were routed 44-10. But this time, Liberty rallied from a 28-7 halftime deficit to tie the game and send it to overtime. In the extra period, Liberty found itself down one once again and went for the win. Unfortunately, the pass went incomplete and Liberty nearly missed chalking up a national upset.
The quarterback from last year's team, Brock Mast, will graduate next week and then head to Rocky Mountain College in Montana, where he will play football. Perhaps the biggest decision the coaching staff makes this summer is who his replacement will be. Four returning players to the roster are in the mix and all saw action in the 7-on-7 Spring Game.
Senior-to-be Brock Phillips and Max Martin (Class of 2023) were the starters for the Red and White teams, respectively. Also seeing action were lefties Dominic Ochoa (Class of 2023) and Navi Bruzon (Class of 2024). Phillips threw long touchdown passes in his first two throws of the night. Martin, the tallest of the group at 6-3, got into a couple varsity games last season as Mast's backup. Ochoa was on the JV team and Bruzon led the Frosh squad to a 7-1 record on a team that averaged 50 points per game. Bruzon also threw the pass (to Mast on a trick play) that beat Centennial.
"All four are working very hard," Thomas said. "We're excited to see them progress in the summer and we'll see where we're at in the fall."
Whichever signal caller ends up lining up behind center will have some talent returning to get the ball to whether via the handoff or the pass.
The backfield features a Zac-Attack duo of Zach Wallace and Zaccheus Cooper. Both will be juniors and they each rushed for nearly 500 yards and six touchdowns last year. Cooper, who started as a freshman, also led the Lions in receptions (31) and yards (410). Rather than complimenting one another, both have similarities.
"Both are physical, downhill runners," Thomas said. "They are versatile and can catch the ball."
At the receiver positions, Grant Brunelle will be a junior and Jordan Guevara a senior. Each player had nearly 400 receiving yards and five touchdown grabs. Thomas said Brunelle will be used as more of an inside receiver. Guevara ran a PR of 48.44 seconds in the Peoria District meet last month and will be competing in the final of the AIA State meet on Saturday. They are joined by a transfer from O'Connor. Kane Metts-Terrell caught five TDs in five games for the Eagles last season and has picked up a Division I offer from Morehead State.
On the defensive side, the Lions bring back key players at each level.
Jax Stam has seemingly been at Liberty forever. He started from Week 1 as a freshman (and made eight tackles against Brophy), was a team captain last season, and led the Lions with 100 tackles. The safety was an All-6A Conference selection last season and holds FBS offers from Army and New Mexico. Stam has a total of 264 tackles in 36 games as a Lion.
Linebacker Gavin Dodge tallied 65 tackles last season. He also forced three fumbles and had a pair of sacks. Dodge got his cross-training work in during the winter by wrestling for the Lions.
On the defensive line, Braden Croteau (6-1, 250) had 25 tackles from his nose guard position last season. He heads into his senior year with a 4.0 GPA. Thomas is also excited about defensive end My'Keil Gardner, who will be a junior this fall. Gardner brings the size off the edge with his 6-3, 295-pound frame.
There were actually two 7-on-7 games being contested simultaneously. The JV team was on the north half of the field with the varsity on the south. With 80 players on last year's two freshman teams, there were plenty of athletes for the extra game.
Another of the good things Liberty did was distribute its players evenly on the varsity level. Here's the line score from its 7-on-7 game. It was originally scheduled for six periods (more on that later). Check out how even it was all night. . .
Teams had three plays to get from the 40 to the 20 and then four plays to score from inside the 20. Six points were awarded for a touchdown, three for a defensive interception, and one for a defensive stop. Periods were 10 minutes long with a running clock.
In between the periods the linemen took part in their challenges. The four events were the tire carry, where six tires had to be moved and restacked in a relay fashion; obstacle course, which included lifting a 100-pound weight from the ground and bringing it to the next teammate; a slide pull, and a tire flip.
The linemen were split into two teams, so with an opponent performing the same challenge nearby, the will to compete raised the stakes compared to a normal practice, it was also the last time to make a mark before spring practices ended.
"It's more competitive," Croteau said. "Everyone was more serious about it. Trying to get their names out there and show what they can do for the coaches."
Croteau said his toughest event was the tire flip. Players had to work as a team with one other player to get the 350-400 pound tire to the other side and the next group to take part. With both groups going at the same time, fellow linemen along with players from the 7-on-7 game came up to give encouragement as the big men showed their feats of strength.
"It helps a lot," Croteau said. "It gives you motivation to go faster to get it done."
There was a reminder to everyone about the physical nature of the sport of football (even without tackling) as three players went down with injuries.
There was a collision early in the 7-on-7 between a receiver and a defender that left one player shaken up. He was helped off the field onto a cart and will be fine. In the obstacle course, one player tripped while carrying the 100-pound weight and it hit the back of his head causing the race to be stopped. That lineman will also be OK.
Finally, late in the fifth period, a receiver was going for a ball while being covered and his head struck the ground near the corner of the end zone on the natural grass field. An ambulance was called as a precautionary measure. Thomas reported on Saturday that the player was checked out and is doing well.
Next up for Liberty (after Finals this coming week) are some 7-on-7 competitions. The team will take part in the Arizona Christian tournament on May 27 and the Nike passing event on May 29. They may do a couple others in June. In July, the team will head to Eastern Arizona College in Thatcher for camp. The Lions open their season on Sept. 3 at home against Mountain Ridge.