Llano football kicks off district with ‘solid’ Liberty Hill squad

[box]GAMETIME
Llano Yellow Jackets at Liberty Hill Panthers
KICKOFF: 7:30 p.m. Oct. 11
WHERE: Liberty Hill High School, 13125 Texas 29 in Liberty Hill[/box]

JENNIFER FIERRO • PICAYUNE

LLANO — History will be made Oct. 11 when the Llano High School football team faces Liberty Hill in the Panthers’ new stadium.

Kickoff is 7:30 p.m. on the Liberty Hill High School campus, 13125 Texas 29 in Liberty Hill.

It will be the first district contest played in the new facility, and the Yellow Jackets (2-3) have plenty for which to play. At the top of the list is getting a road win to snap a two-game losing skid.

But it won’t be easy. The Panthers (4-1) are on a four-game winning streak. Their only loss was to Giddings, 21-20, to begin the season.

Liberty Hill is led by senior quarterback Tyler Vickers, who has rushed 26 times for 253 yards and two touchdowns. He operates the Slot-T offense, a run-oriented scheme that uses misdirection and capitalizes on the defense’s confusion.

Senior running back Nick Barrios has 78 rushes for 515 yards and six touchdowns, senior running back Will Fromme has 51 carries for 310 yards and four touchdowns and junior running back Hunter Lindsay has 58 rushes for 304 yards and two touchdowns for the Panthers

In all, the Panthers average 349 rushing yards per game.

“They’re a very solid club, like always,” Llano head coach Craig Slaughter said. “We must limit the big play. We must tackle very well. We must score when we get the opportunity.”

Both squads enter the contest after taking a district-wide bye, which was agreed upon by the coaches.

Llano used the time to practice fundamentals. Slaughter said his players “had a great attitude” throughout the week.

Llano coaches also used the time to formulate a game plan for Liberty Hill and Lampasas, the Oct. 18 opponent, because both teams’ offensive schemes are the same, Slaughter said.

“I felt very good about our defense going into the off-week,” he said. “I still like where they are at. We must have a great tackling week this week.”

Junior quarterback Holden Simpson and senior quarterback Tyler Stiles led the Llano offense during the bye week, Slaughter said. Starting senior quarterback Layton Rabb continues to recover from emergency surgery.

“Holden and Tyler got great work in,” Slaughter said. “They have handled it the last four weeks. No new steps, just reps and understanding defenses.”

He added Rabb is getting closer to perhaps being able to play, but he hasn’t put on pads or run more than 50 percent while his teammates work out.

“There’s still lots of progress to be made,” he said.

jfierro@thepicayune.com