By TYLER HENRY
Little Apple Post contributor
The Salina Liberty put on a show in their final home game of the season handing the Topeka Tropics a 62-26 reciprocal rout in front of a rowdy home crowd.
With this win, Salina moves ahead of Omaha in third place with just one regular-season game left to play while Topeka’s quest for win number one continues.
After much anticipation, reigning MVP Tracy Brooks returned to the Liberty lineup and had an instant impact, scoring three big touchdowns and igniting the Salina faithful.
“I’m happy for Tracy,” Liberty HC Heron O’Neal said. “He’s been through a lot this year and it’s been tough but I’m glad he was able to get right to get this opportunity. Doing what he did tonight put any doubts to bed about our MVP, he’s back.”
This game also proved to be a terrific home debut for Javin Kilgo, who added four more touchdown passes in just his second start under center for the red, white, and blue, solidifying the final piece the Liberty needed after the departure of Tyrie Adams.
With Brooks back on the field, Salina found a new gear, blowing the doors off the Tropics in their second widest margin of victory this season.
“When you lose a player of Tracy’s magnitude that hurts more than people realize,” O’Neal said. “He’s the most humble superstar I’ve ever seen and he cares about the team more than he cares about himself or his stats.”
The Salina defense was as stout as ever tonight, blanking the Tropics for the entire first and third quarters and scoring a touchdown of their own on a Kendrick Harper scoop and score from 28 yards out.
The Liberty will play one final regular-season game next Saturday when they travel to Southwest Kansas for a date with the 5-3 Storm, the final test of a brutal schedule that the Salina has seen as an opportunity.
“We’re playoff ready because we played a playoff schedule,” O’Neal said. “All the schedule-makers did was help us when it’s all said and done because we don’t play creampuffs, we play the best of the best and that has us prepared and I want to thank them.”