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Greg Jordan's first season at Liberty County was a far cry from his previous 14 seasons on the sidelines of Blountstown and then Port St. Joe when he won just over 70 percent of his games.

The Bulldogs struggled to a 2-6 record, not a particularly surprising mark given the recent struggles of the program, which went just 7-32 over the four seasons previous to Jordan taking over.

Liberty County does return its leading rusher and top tackler from a season ago, and Jordan hopes that, along with an extra year of strength and conditioning, will lead to a second-year leap and more wins this season.

Here's a look at what the Bulldogs are working with in 2021:

Key Departures:

QB Austin Waller, LB/FB Joeseph Finuff, WB/DB Cole Parker, LB John O'Neal.

Waller departs after leading the Bulldogs in total offense last season. He'll be replaced by sophomore Rylan Roddenberry.

Key Returners:

RB/LB Kole Ellis (jr.), DL/OL Adam Layne, FB/DL (sr.), FB/DLJosh Peterson (sr.), QB Rylan Roddenberry (so.) WR/DB Arron O'Kelley (sr.).

Ellis is back after leading the team in rushing with over 500 yards in 2020, while Layne compiled nearly 100 tackles to lead the defense. Layne is also one of three returning starters on the offensive line. Roddenberry sat behind Waller as a freshman but it will be his show in 2021.

Jordan on Roddenberry: "He'll be a 10th grader so he'll go thorugh some 10th grade growing pains. Being the starting quarterback on the varsity as a 10th grader is not an easy task, but he's a cognitive kid. He's pretty smart and understands what we're doing. We just need him to play to his strengths and away from his weaknesses. Hopefully he'll have a good year."

Impact Newcomers:

RB/DB Nate Carpenter (so.),ATH TyTy Braggs (sr.), WR/DB Tryston Lopez (sr.)

Jordan: "Nate Carpenter is a small kid, but he's got a lot of heart and he's got some wheels. He can run a little bit. Tryston Lopez is a kid who has played centerfield on the baseball team here and is a really fast kid who can help us skill-wise for sure. TyTy is basically a first-year varsity guy since he hurt his labrum and had a torn ACL since getting to varsity, but he's an athletic kid who can play multiple positions for us."

Team Strength:

Offensive line.

The Bulldogs return both of their starting offensive tackles in Riley Grim and Blake Sanders, along with Layne, who started at center last season but moves to guard this year. Sophomore Scott Harr steps into the role as starting center.

Jordan: "The offensive line has got a year under their belts. Other than our center all of our returning guys have experience with what we're doing offensively. We're going to need to maintain possession of theball and be physical with good offensive line play and play good defense. That's always been the formula that I've used."

Areas for Improvement:

Defense.

Liberty County surrendered 32 points per game in 2020, including 40.3 per game in their losses. The Bulldogs will need to sharply cut into that number if they're going to turn things around in 2021.

Jordan: "It's just making plays in space and getting off the field on third downs. It's something we struggled with last year. We also need to get more turnovers. Last year we scored points in some games and just gave up more than what we hoped to give up and it cost us some games. We just need better tackling and better overall defensive play."

Team Outlook:

It has been six years since Liberty County last posted a winning season and doing so this year will be a challenge. Getting back above .500, however, is certainly the goal, at least in the near term.

Jordan: "I hate to put a number on wins and losses and that part of it, but having a winning season would be big. We want to win as many games as we can win and be competitive and relevant again. That's what we're trying to get these guys back to, competing the whole time and get the program back to being relevant when it comes to playoff time in November.

"These kids don't know what it's like to practice during Thanksgiving and get out and get to play in the third round. That's a lofty goal for this group, but that's where we're trying to steer these guys to, but it's based on talent andhow hard they're willing to work andbe committed. It's got to matter to them. I think the young kids have that desire, so hopefully we'll be better."

2021 schedule

8/20 Blountstown, Vernon (Kickoff classic) 7:30 p.m.

8/27 Wewahitchka 7:30 p.m.

9/3 at Bozeman 7 p.m.

9/10 at Cottondale 7 p.m.

9/17 at Franklin County 7:30 p.m.

9/24 Graceville 7:30 p.m.

10/15 North Bay Haven 7:30 p.m.

10/22 Holmes County 7:30 p.m.

10/29 SSAC TBA

11/5 SSAC TBA

Read more here:
PREP FOOTBALL PREVIEW: Liberty County looks to improve in Year 2 under Greg Jordan - The News Herald