By Rick Pedone
Sports Editor

On the surface, Liberty’s visit to Harmony Friday at 7:30 p.m. for their 7A-6 district opener is all about the offenses.

Liberty’s is rarely stopped, and Harmony’s needs a jump start.

The winner will have a leg up in what figures to be a nip-and-tuck struggle for a regional playoff berth. Both teams are coming off losses. Liberty, 0-2, fell 38-28 at Bishop Moore. Harmony, 1-2, was blanked by Palm Bay Heritage, 30-0.

Liberty Coach David Benson has watched his offensive unit blossom behind first-year quarterback Terrell Bonds, a sophomore. Bonds threw a pair of touchdown passes to Ameer Thompson and the Chargers took an early lead, but the Hornets countered behind running back Tyler Floyd, who rushed for 163 yards and three touchdowns.

“It seemed like we had to score every time we had the ball,” Benson said. “Bishop Moore is a very disciplined team that executes well. We just couldn’t stop them.”

The Chargers defense, which returns just three starters, still is figuring things out, Benson said.

“Aside from Demetrious (Taylor), Dario (Bennett) and Akia (Farruya), we don’t have a lot of experience out there,” Benson said. “It’s going to take some time to adjust.”

Harmony, which had just 48 yards of total offense last week, will try to take advantage of the Chargers’ defense lapses.

“For the most part I’ve been pleased by our effort. That hasn’t been the problem,” Longhorns Coach Jerrad Butler said. “We should have a few kids back this week who have been out, so that will give us some different options.”

Butler said his team will see an explosive Chargers offense Friday.

“It’s incredible the things they can do on offense, and even on their defense they have kids running around,” Butler said. “You can tell that they have a lot of athletes, kids who can make plays.”

The Chargers offense has scored 38, 28 and 28 points in three games, counting the Kickoff Classic.

Bonds has quickly blossomed to become one of the most dangerous quarterbacks in the county. He leads the county with 522 passing yards and five TD passes.

It is the second year in a row that a sophomore quarterback has run the Chargers offense. Greg Hankerson led the team last season before transferring.

“He’s done a great job. Having the blueprint in place in having a sophomore at quarterback last year has helped,” Benson said. “He’s a kid who understands the game and picks things up right away. It’s scary, because he’s getting better every week.”

Bonds hit Thompson on scoring passes of 46 and 20 yards. Bobby Jones scored on short runs.

Harmony’s Butler said it is important that the Chargers do not jump out to a big lead.

“Our kids have to play smart, and tackle,” he said. “We have to learn to get off the field on third down.”

The loser of Friday’s game will be a longshot to make the postseason.

“Each game, every game is going to be a grind, especially now that all of these county games count in the district,” Butler said. “Hopefully, we’ll be ready for a unique challenge against Liberty. Our kids will be jacked up.”

Harmony won both previous meetings between the schools.

Benson said the his defense has plenty of time to pull things together, beginning this week. After Friday’s game, the Chargers go to Orlando University for a non-district contest before visiting Gateway for another 7A-6 game.

Liberty then hosts Freedom, which has one of the best offenses in Central Florida, before a crucial two-game stretch in the district at St. Cloud and home with Osceola that will determine the Chargers’ post-season fate.

“I told our coaches that we still have time to pull it together. We just  have to keep patient and keep working,” Benson said.

Harmony will play its homecoming game against Bishop Moore next week before visiting Celebration in the district.