By TYLER HENRY
Salina Post contributor
After a brief stumble last week at the hands of the Omaha Beef, the Salina Liberty will look to get back in the win column this Saturday when they play host to the Southwest Kansas Storm.
The Liberty will enter this contest in 4th place in the CIF standings at 4-2 while the Storm continue to battle in 6th at 2-3.
Salina will return to Tony’s Pizza Events Center with an ace up it’s sleeve this week, following the signing of new quarterback Ed Crouch, who brings a wealth of indoor experience in addition to a championship-winning pedigree.
Crouch was named MVP of the Fan Controlled Football League in 2021 after leading his Wild Aces to an FCF championship, defeating the Glacier Boyz 46-40.
The dual-threat finished that season completing 39 of his 69 passes for 673 yards, 13 touchdowns, and only five picks, racking up an additional 242 yards and 10 TDs on the ground all in just seven games.
Crouch also brings CIF experience as a former signal-caller for the Wichita Force, which only improved the confidence in the Liberty staff to bring the elite talent on board.
“I’m very excited to bring him in,” Liberty head coach Heron O’Neal said. “I saw firsthand what that young man was capable of in Wichita. He’s a dual-threat quarterback with incredible accuracy and the mindset of a competitor. Getting to work with a guy like this is going to be a lot of fun and we believe he’s the missing piece to our offense.”
The first test for Crouch will come in the form of a Southwest Kansas team that ranks third in the league in total defense, and fourth in scoring defense, and one that will unveil a new QB of its own in Josh Hollins.
“They play good defense and they can keep the pedal to the metal offensively,” O’Neal said. “They added a new quarterback from Wyoming and revamped their offensive line to add to a strong core of skill guys. Defensively they’ve always been strong but now they have a weapon at quarterback to really open up their offense.”
In order to get things back on track, Salina will need to ensure that they win the battle in the trenches this week, a task that will be entrusted to several new recruits making their Liberty debuts on Saturday.
“We need to control the line of scrimmage,” O’Neal said. “That’s something we didn’t do in that Omaha game and we didn't really do it against Billings either which led us to bring some guys in on that line.”
Kickoff between the Liberty and Storm is set for 6:35 pm at Tony’s Pizza Events Center, and as always the game can be heard on KINA (910 AM or 107.5 FM) courtesy of Eagle Radio.
For continuing coverage of Liberty football all season long, stay tuned to the Salina, JC, and Little Apple Posts.