'From day one, we made it all or nothing': Salina Liberty have eyes on CIF championship

Dontra Matthews didn’t even wait to get back to the locker room after last year’s crushing Champions Bowl loss to the Omaha Beef before he began plotting for the 2022 Champions Indoor Football season.

The Salina Liberty had dominated the regular season and breezed into the Champions Bowl, only to lose, 40-39, on a blocked field goal with 12 seconds left.

“I was motivated since that block happened and I was in coach’s ear saying, ‘We need this person, this person and this person.’ We all feel the same way,” said Matthews, the Liberty’s veteran defensive back. “We’ve been getting closer and closer, and I feel the next step is to bring the trophy back to Salina.

“Everybody’s got the same mindset and that’s to win the championship.”

The Liberty, who lost the past two Champions Bowls by a total of seven points, kick off their 2022 season at 7:05 p.m. Saturday when they take on the expansion Topeka Tropics at Stormont Vail Events Center in Topeka. It will be the second game for the Tropics, who lost their CIF debut last Saturday at Sioux City, 52-18.

The CIF has grown to eight teams this year in six states — three in Kansas. Kansas entries Salina, Topeka and the Dodge City-based Southwest Kansas Storm are joined by the Omaha Beef (Nebraska), Wyoming Mustangs, Sioux City Bandits (Iowa), Billings Outlaws (Montana) and Rapid City Marshals (South Dakota).

Running back Tracy Brooks, the league’s reigning most valuable player, is one of nine Liberty veterans back from last year’s 11-2 team. And like Matthews, he is single-minded in his goals.

“From day one, we made it all or nothing,” said Brooks, who has been with the Liberty since 2018 and last year led the CIF in rushing. “This is it for a lot of the guys, who came back because they wanted to win a championship.

“From the start of training camp, that’s what we’ve been preaching, that everybody’s got to buy in. That’s the veteran guys, and the rookies have all bought in, too. We’ve jelled and I feel like we’ve got a special group.”

Liberty coach Heron O’Neal, who last year was inducted into the Indoor Football League Hall of Fame, is just as determined to add a CIF championship to his CIF resume. Salina dropped just one game in winning the regular-season title, which gave them home field throughout the playoffs, only to see it slip through their fingers at Tony’s Pizza Events Center.

O’Neal likes what he has seen so far from his latest team.

“The biggest thing is how close they are,” he said. “They’ve bonded really well and jelled really well.

“The chemistry is good because we’ve added a bunch of veterans that have always wanted to play with each other. That brotherhood has come together very quickly.”

O’Neal also has built a roster that addresses the few deficiencies with last year’s team.

“We’ve basically got nine guys back from last year — that’s about what we’ve averaged the last three years — and we’ve filled in around them,” O’Neal said. “We’re a little more veteran than we’ve been since I’ve been here.”

And bigger and stronger.

I feel like we’ve got a better group this year than any we’ve had coming into any other season,” Brooks said. “We’ve made major improvements on the offensive line and gotten a lot better on the defensive line, and that’s how you win ballgames. It starts up front.”

On offense, the Liberty return their three biggest playmakers in Brooks, wide receiver Ed Smith and quarterback Tyrie Adams, the league’s offensive rookie of the year in 2021. Kelvin McCoy, whom O’Neal called the best center in the league, will anchor a revamped offensive line.

Adams lost several games to injury last year, but when healthy was a serious threat both throwing and running. Smith, a speedster from Fort Hays State, led the league in receiving.

“I’m looking for Tyrie to do great things,” Brooks said. “He didn’t get to play the whole year his rookie year, but I expect him to compete for MVP.

“I feel like we’ve got bigger and stronger receivers this year with great speed. You’ve got (rookies) Isiah Scott (6-foot-3, 230 pounds) and Anthony Love (6-5, 200), and Fast Ed (Smith) is going to do what he does.”

On defense, the Liberty return ends Travis Taylor and Shaq Bradford to go with former Wichita Force standout Keenen Gibbs. Rookie Zach Reynoso (6-4, 320) will play nose tackle, while offensive linemen Steven Fluker (6-6, 340) and Dayquan Thornton (6-1, 300) can move over to defense as well.

“I think our defense has improved a lot,” said Matthews, who returns in the secondary along with Kendrick Harper. “We have a lot of pieces in different places and we’re very versatile, which is what I like about us.

“We can do a lot of different things.”

Veteran linebacker Naiquan Thomas is not back, but O’Neal and Matthews both said they are high on Tron Folsom, a rookie from Troy University.

Also back for another season is kicker Jimmy Allen, the CIF special teams player of the year.

Last year’s Champions Bowl, combined with a 35-29 loss to Duke City in the 2019 title game — there was no 2020 season because of COVID-19 — has the Liberty hoping that in 2022 the third time is a charm.

“Honestly, every year we’re going to be contenders just because of who runs the show,” Brooks said, referring to O’Neal. “As long as we do what we’re supposed to do, we’ll have a great season.”

This article originally appeared on Salina Journal: Salina Liberty have designs on Champions Indoor Football crown