Spring drills came to an end last week for the Liberty Chargers, who posted a 10-7 win against Lake Region.
But the team will have a new look on the sidelines in the fall after head coach Brandon Pennington announced he has accepted the defensive coordinator role at St. Cloud.
Pennington had a 14-18 record in three seasons as head coach — including a 9-2 mark in 2018.
“It was an incredibly hard decision to make,” said Pennington, who was the defensive coordinator at St. Cloud before moving to Liberty. “Both my children go to St. Cloud Middle School and will be starting high school soon. I had an opportunity to return there and I wanted to be coaching and teaching at the same high school they would be attending. When the opportunity presented itself a while back, I just felt it was time.”
He said he was grateful to coach the Chargers.
“Liberty gave me an opportunity to fulfill a lifetime dream of becoming a head football coach,” Pennington said. “And for that I can’t thank the administration, players and my staff enough.”
Coming off a 4-6 mark last season, Pennington said this year’s spring drills went fairly well despite only having about 30 players in uniform.
“It was a little light ... but 18 to 20 of them were either starters or major contributors last year and that made it a little easier,” he said. The new staff will
The new staff will most likely rely on rising sophomore Jeremiah Pierre-Louis to handle the quarterback position. Last season, he played sparingly but threw a touchdown pass a n d played m o s t of the second half in a win against Celebration.
Although last year’s top running back, Jose Mateo, has indicated he might transfer, Liberty should have a solid back in Bryan Rodriguez.
At receiver, the Chargers will have Greg Vital, a versatile athlete who can play wide, in the slot or line up at tight end.
Brandon Williams is an elusive young player, who can catch, run or line up behind the center and take snaps as a “wildcat” quarterback, something he did in the spring game when he scored Liberty’s only touchdown.
The Chargers will return four starters on the offensive line, including Aidan Palma, senior guard Brainys Robles, Jahir Lopez and senior center Dixon Palma. Lopez, who will be a sophomore, possesses both size (6-foot-5, 340 pounds) and potential.
Liberty also has experience returning on the defensive side of the ball. Three starters return on the line — Benson Merjuste, Demarco Howard and leading sacker Luis Novoa, who had two sacks in the spring game.
Joshua Herrera, a former defensive end, became a starting linebacker as a junior, and handles the calls for the defense.
The secondary returns pretty much intact, led by Davian Barrett, Carlos Ríos and Kymani Chevannes. Incoming transfer Brent Walden also may factor into the equation.
Earlier in the year, the Chargers announced they would play as an independent team, and not join a district.
“We felt it was in the best interest of the program and the school,” Pennington said. “We would have been in a district where we would have had zero chance to be competitive. Instead, we put together a balanced schedule.”
