4 Liberty athletes will play together

By Ken Jackson

Sports Writer

A group of players who started their football careers together at Liberty High School could end them together at Pikeville College.

Linebacker Mauricio Chacon, running backs J.J. Elisis and Evan Durand and offensive lineman Stefan Morales are part of a large Florida contingent that Dayne Brown, the former Harmony High head coach now Bears defensive coordinator and lead recruiter, is taking north with him.

The school, which is a 12-hour drive away (or a 90-minute flight into Huntington, West Virginia, followed by an hour drive) will become known as the University of Pikeville on July 1.

The Liberty foursome signed with the Bears, an NAIA program in northeastern Kentucky, in front of friends, family and faculty at the high school.

Brown said that Elisis and Durand also will learn the slot positions. He said the quartet was among the strongest he had to coach against in his three years at Harmony.

“We want to win up there, so we’re going to recruit Florida,” Brown said. “Being in the county for years and competing against these guys, I know what they’re all about. I’m excited to get great players and great young men, and who are the caliber of who we want to recruit.”

The prevailing sentiment among the players was that, if they have to leave Florida for a college football opportunity, then going as a group is a plus.

“It helps me knowing I have three guys I know going with me,” said Chacon, who had 60 tackles and a county-high eight sacks last season.

Said Durand, who rushed for 261 yards and eight touchdowns while adding 61 tackles on defense: “Now that we’re all going together, it feels more comfortable.”

Elisis, who led the team with 783 rushing yards after a 1,100-yard, 15-touchdown junior season, said he’s glad to be starting a new chapter alongside familiar faces, especially Durand, who he’s played with going back to 12-year-old youth football.

“I was hoping to stay in Florida, but this is a great opportunity,” said Elisis, who also had an offer from William Penn University in Iowa to wrestle.

Morales said the signing was a mixture of emotions.

“I’m nervous and excited at the same time, and a little relieved to have this over with,” he said.

Liberty Coach David Benson said that watching this group graduate and move on – they were part of the school’s inaugural year – was bittersweet.

“After watching these guys go through four years of hard work, this feels like we’re losing family,” he said. “They’re part of a group that broke the mold – the players and coaches were told that we couldn’t win here, but then they went out and learned what it takes to win.

“Collectively they put this program on the map. They only lost once with the freshman and only had one losing season. They don’t realize it now but they’re about to become the building backs of another team.”

Pikeville’s men’s basketball   team recently won the NAIA Division I national championship.

“Recruiting these types of guys, in four years they should be a national contender in football too,” Benson said.

The Bears have quite a ways to come before that happens. They were 2-8 in the Mid-South Conference.

“And that’s with the offense scoring 42 points per game,” Brown said. “We lost a game something like 70-58. We’re not going to let that happen again, and that’s why I said we’ve got to get the defense fixed, but I recruit guys like this because I want to win. It’s why we recruit Florida.”