Prestonwood vs Liberty – Gameday Musings
Gameday Musings
It’s been too long
First of all, nobody snitch on me for writing this at work, it’s a slow day.
Tonight features the first matchup between the teams we’ve deemed real contenders in TAPPS Division I.
I’ve said since the beginning of the season that Prestonwood will be in that upper echelon of TXPS, and to this point have been proven correct.
The Lions boast a 5-1 record, the two most impressive wins being blowouts of ESD and Dallas Christian. The sole loss comes at the hands of All Saints (Fort Worth), and considering the way the Saints have been performing, its hard to fault Prestonwood for that.
The biggest question coming into the year for Prestonwood was the quarterback spot. We had assumed ‘25 Denton Ryan transfer, TJ Hobbs would step into the starting role. However, the lesser known ‘26 Luke Glass has taken the reins, and has impressed. Standing at 6’5 210, he’s a true pro-style guy, with plenty of weapons at his disposal.
The weapons in question are ‘26 WR Matthew McClain and ‘25 WR Enzo Bingham.
As for McClain, any guy toting number zero has to be a dog. I don’t make the rules. He is one of the best wideouts in the state, and if you need further proof, consult this clip.
Bingham is another guy that is a zone nightmare. His ability to get vertical and shred the seam in cover 3, or the deep middle in cover 2 creates a lot of headaches for defensive coordinators, and lord forbid you try to go man against him. He’s also a heck of a safety as well.
Toting the rock, you have a two headed monster in ‘25 RBs Caiden Collins and Takashi Shaw. We have word that both of these guys are pretty banged up, but will try to go, and for Prestonwood’s sake there’s no other choice here. Risking becoming one dimensional is suicide against a LCS defense we will detail shortly.
Defensively, the summary can really be boiled down to two words, Jack Harwell. The 2023 TXPS defensive lineman of the year is a matchup nightmare, and after slimming down to 280 is splitting out wider over tackles, and creating chaos.
However, Liberty is still Liberty. After making waves in the offseason by landing 4 star Baylor commit, ‘26 QB Quinn Murphy from Austin Regents, the Warriors have shot out to a 4-1 record. The sole loss comes at the hand of Texas high, who is 6-0 and will be playing deep into November.
Image credit: forhim.media (instagram)
As good as the pieces Liberty brings in are (Murphy, 6’7 OT Austin Bandlow) the strength of this squad is their returning production.
They bring back 3/4 starting receivers, all of which can be considered top in the state.
‘25 Boise State commit WR Quinton Brown accelerates faster than any player I’ve covered live.
‘25 SDSU commit WR Jaylon Hawkins is dynamic in every sense of the word. Whether its putting up 100 yards receiving, or housing punts, the dude makes plays.
‘25 OU (baseball) commit WR Brady Janusek has been the best player on the team since he was a sophomore in 2022. I cant quite quantify what “it” is but he has it. And if you’ve seen him live, you know.
Oh, and the guy they add to that mix? ‘27 ATH Cooper Witten. A guy who I think when it’s all said and done might be the greatest to ever walk the halls of Liberty Christian.
His production on the defensive side of the ball as a freshman was nothing short of phenomenal, and now he joins Janusek as guys that will make plays in every facet of the game. I mean it when I say we are truly spoiled to get to see guys like this play week in and week out, because they sure don’t come around often.
‘25 OLs Keathan Smith (6’4 345) and Nate Humphries (6’4 272) return invaluable leadership, and are pretty dang good in the trenches as well.
The guy they’re blocking for, ‘25 USF commit (recruitment recently reopened) Chase Garnett is arguably the best in an elite class of TXPS running backs. Also squats 570. Closing in on my max.
Defensively, there is no weakness. ‘25 LBs Maddox Sekeyre and CJ Witten, ‘25 LB/DB Nick Blevins up front, Cooper Witten and Brady Janusek in the back end, there’s no unit of this defense you can pick on, and we will see if Prestonwood experiences that this evening.
In Retrospect:
Liberty thumped Prestonwood in last season’s opener. Janusek, Garnett and Hawkins jumped all over Prestonwood in the first half to jump out to a 28-0, and never looked back.
This was the Warrior’s coming out party, and would not lose a contest for the remainder of the season.
Analysis:
I stand by what I said, Prestonwood is in the upper echelon of TXPS, and has the chance to make a deep run. Their key to victory tonight is not massive plays. It is keeping the ball away from Liberty’s playmakers, and allowing Collins and Shaw to churn out 4 yards a carry and eat clock.
That’s not to say McClain and Bingham should be excluded from the game plan, far from it. If I was a betting man (and I am) I would say LCS is going to play a fair amount of man and try to neutralize the run. This opens up the short game, whether it’s slants, drags, speed out, etc. I just don’t see Prestonwood taking the top off against guys like Blevins, Witten and Janusek.
As for Liberty, play ball. They have a talent advantage, as they will in every contest they play. There’s many ways they can skin the cat tonight, and barring egregious turnovers and gross negligence, this should be a three score game.
All in all, to be able to cover this is a treat. It’s not every day you pull up to a contest with 10+ DI guys, and this will be nothing short of phenomenal.
As always, if you see Ryan or me wandering the sideline, feel free to yell at us, whether that’s to tell us how little we know about ball, or to just say hello and talk shop. I’m indifferent to which you choose (yell at Ryan please I am sensitive to loud noises).
My final prediction is borrowed from the great prophet Bob Dylan:
A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall.
