Offensive threats like Dallas Miller and Sutton Koller added defense to their duties for the Lightning, who play Friday night in a Class 5A state football playoff semifinal against 3-time defending champ Southeast Polk
Jeff Johnson
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NORTH LIBERTY — It’s not necessarily about the X’s and O’s, so much as the Jimmys and Joes. A few wise coaches have pointed that out.
So Iowa City Liberty has its Jimmys and Joes on the field virtually all the time. On both sides of the football and some special teams.
Take Dallas Miller, for instance. He’s the Lightning’s leading receiver out of the slot, their main punt and kickoff returner.
He also is a starting cornerback.
Take Sutton Koller, for another instance. He’s Liberty’s second-leading rusher, its third-leading receiver, a dude who has accounted for 18 offensive touchdowns as a scat-back type.
He also is a starting free safety, his team’s leading tackler.
“This year our coach said we were going to play some guys both ways, so in the summer, we had a few guys playing offense and defense only. But maybe about five guys, not even 10,” Koller said. “So we knew we’d have some guys playing both ways, and I was really, really happy about that decision.”
Here’s the thing about Koller and Miller. They’d never played defense before.
That’s the way generally it is for the better programs at the Class 5A level. There are enough players for guys to platoon, be only on offense or defense.
But go back to that Jimmys and Joes thing.
Other prominent skill-position, two-way guys for the Lightning include Owen Drapeaux, their leading rusher and one of their top defensive players at linebacker. Landon Bell has three touchdown catches as a tight end and is their second-leading tackler.
“Kickoff, punt, PATs are the only time I’m not on the field,” Miller said. “I don’t mind that. I’d rather be on the field the whole time. I think we have the best chance of winning when our best players are on the field all the time.”
“I’ve always wanted to do more,” Koller said. “I’m never satisfied, really, with how I play. Of course, I love scoring touchdowns, all that stuff, but I’m always looking for more. What else can I do? Every game, every moment.”
Liberty (10-1) plays in a 5A playoff semifinal Friday night against three-time defending state champ Southeast Polk (7-4). Kickoff at the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls is at 7.
This is the seventh year of Liberty High School’s existence. It went just 4-5 last season and graduated all-state quarterback Graham Beckman.
But this first season under head coach Scott Chandler, the former University of Iowa and NFL tight end, has been special. Liberty players attended last year’s 5A championship game, watching Southeast Polk beat Ankeny.
They couldn’t have guessed they’d be playing SEP in the UNI-Dome about a year later.
“If you had told me we’d be going to the Dome and playing Southeast Polk at the beginning of the season, I’d have said I probably wouldn’t have believed it,” Koller said. “I remember my dad asked me what I thought our record was going to be in the regular season. I told him 7-2. Maybe we’d lose to Ankeny or maybe Cedar Falls. But once we got past those guys, I knew anything was possible. We’re just going to keep going.”
Liberty went into the playoffs as 5A’s top seed, averaging 40.7 points per game offensively. That ranks second in 5A only to Ottumwa, though Liberty played a much tougher schedule.
The Lightning’s lone loss was in Week 3 to Pleasant Valley, 42-28. Defense has been a struggle at times for Liberty, but it has played arguably its best games on that side of the football in the playoffs.
It beat Waukee in the first round, 35-14, holding the Warriors to 213 total yards. In a 21-13 quarterfinal win over Ankeny, Liberty’s defense limited its opponent to 238 total yards, with a 49-yard Miller pick-6 in the fourth quarter cementing the victory.
“We’ve got to do what the game plan says and make plays (Friday night). We’ve got to stop their run game and just make the plays on offense like we have been,” Miller said. “To be honest, I thought we’d be pretty good this year. A lot of people didn’t. But I didn’t think we’d make it this far.”
The other 5A semifinal Friday consists of West Des Moines Dowling (10-1) and West Des Moines Valley (9-2).
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