(Jamie Williamson Photo) Liberty Hill quarterback Blake Thompson (far right, #15) breaks free for a 40-yard touchdown in the 4th quarter of Friday's 36-28 upset of Cuero. Thompson runs free while teammate Johnny Johnston (35) keeps the Gobblers defenders away from him.
By Chuck Licata
New faces make big contributions: Senior quarterback Blake Thompson and junior free safety Cody Turner made their first appearances of the season Friday night during the Panthers’ 36-28 victory at Cuero.
And what an impact.
Thompson looked great in handing off the ball in Liberty Hill’s Slot-T offense; and, he completed 1-of-3 passes (a 29-yard completion to Caleb Greer). Then in the fourth quarter, he swept around right end for a 40-yard touchdown run. It would prove valuable as the Panthers would give up a long TD run to Cuero’s Trent Jackson before nailing down the win.
Thompson did have the occasional fumbled snap, but considering it was his first game back one would think that will improve as time moves forward.
Cody Turner was huge on both offense and defense. Defensively, Turner had one of Liberty Hill’s two picks against Cuero QB Mason Blaschke. He also “chipped in” four solo tackles and three assists.
But Turner – who looked as fired up as anyone out on the field – made a huge and unexpected impact for the LHHS offense by rushing for 46 yards and two touchdowns on just four carries. The junior wasn’t even on the “radar” on the offensive backfield depth chart yet he made a big splash by running for 24 yards on a sweep on his first carry alone.
Turner then rushed for a 22-yard touchdown in the third period. He added a two-yard scoring run in the fourth.
No doubt he deserved to be named the K-MAC Sports Player of the Game.
LH Panthers #1 in more ways than one: The rise of the Panthers this year (okay, it’s only been two games, but you gotta like their chances so far) has been paralleled by the K-MAC Sports broadcasts.
Liberty Hill’s Zero week win (a 34-14 triumph over Rouse) was the highest-rated K-MAC Sports/Austin broadcast that Friday night. Considering last year’s Panthers Prime Time broadcasts took a bit of a “dip” in listenership (the 4-5 record didn’t help), there was concern about how the broadcasts would fare early this season.
Welcome to Panthers World, Part II (Part I is nestled at Tina’s Cottage).
The Rouse game was a home game, yet the K-MAC broadcast drew close to 1,000 listeners on the live broadcast! That was pretty close to 2008 listener levels.
The fact there were another 325 listeners to the replay of the Rouse game created a “warm fuzzy feeling.”
Then came the road game at Cuero; a bit of a bigger audience was hoped for. Well, Panthers fans certainly didn’t disappoint. The numbers showed about 1,500 listeners for the Cuero victory – more than any other broadcast on K-MAC Sports/Austin or affiliates!
Here’s hoping the trend continues for both the Panthers and K-MAC Sports.
He really did play in the game: Unbeknownst to most everyone – including this play-by-play man for the K-MAC Sports broadcasts – there was a change at center for the Panthers during the Cuero contest.
Konrad Pluenneke came in for an injured Will Weirich at center in the third period. No one seemed to notice – probably because the LHHS offensive line continued to dominate a much bigger Cuero line.
Assistant Head Coach Robert Draper reported the lineup change to us and said, “We didn’t miss a beat with Konrad in there. He picked up where Will left off; we’re lucky to have two very talented players to play center for us.”
No doubt Pleunneke fit right in with the guys up front – Weirich, Matt Brock, Tim Prudhomme, Marshall Leithead, Taylor Fullmer, Josh Woodbury, Caleb Greer and Daniel Miller, among others – who have pushed opposing lines around the first two games of the season, opening up the gaps for the Liberty Hill runners.
