LIBERTY CENTER, Ohio — Football is family for the state champion Liberty Center Tigers.
The small, rural town of a little more than 1,100 people lives for the Friday night lights. The community came out in droves once again this fall and into the winter for the 2025 Liberty Center team that captured an elusive state title.
Head coach Casey Mohler and most of his assistants grew up on Tigers football. Last Saturday, No. 1-ranked Liberty Center won the second state championship in program history with a 35-3 thrashing of No. 2 Wheelersburg in the Division V title game.
“I don’t know what it’s like in other communities. I’ve only ever lived in Liberty Center, but I know growing up all you talked about as a kid was winning a state title,” Mohler said, shortly after he and his players hoisted the trophy at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton. “Kids still do that today. I know this group of guys since they were little; they’ve been at each other’s houses, playing, and all they’ve talked about is winning a state title. We’ve been really close the last two years.
“I’m blessed just to be a part of it and to be with all the guys on our team and the coaching staff.”
Many of the players have family connections with the team’s only other state championship team in 1997, as well as the runner-up teams from 1993 and 1998.
Senior Hunter Spangler and sophomore Cole Spangler are upholding a long-standing LC family football tradition.
“It’s great having a team like [the 1997 team] where you can look up to them and want to reach that standard of them winning it. That was an excellent team, and we wanted to raise the standard even higher,” Hunter Spangler said.
The 2025 team, led by 19 seniors, authored its own remarkable chapter. The Tigers outscored foes 697-77. The balanced team forced running clocks in 13 of 15 games, including all five playoff games.
Todd Spangler was a member of the 1997 state champion team and is an assistant coach on the current team.
“Having my dad on that team really gave me someone to talk to,” Hunter Spangler said. “He’s been there, done that, and he’s helped me all my life. All the credit goes to him, and my brother is on the team, too. They’re just two tremendous people.”
Senior running back Thomas Mohler, who was named MVP of the title game, has played for his father for four years.
“Growing up here and seeing what this program is all about, I’m just happy I could continue that legacy and bring one home,” Thomas Mohler said. “It’s cool to have shared it with my dad.”
The seniors never lost a home game. Liberty Center has won 35 consecutive home games at the Black Hole.
Liberty Center has made 25 playoff appearances since 1980, including eight in a row. The Tigers have reached the final four 11 times, including five since 2018, and reached the championship game five times.
LC had made it all the way to the D-V title game the last two years, only to finish second both times. Thomas Mohler said falling just short provided more motivation.
“It was just kind of a full circle moment,” Thomas said. “I’ve seen how much work my dad’s put into this my whole life. So to be able to be a part of bringing one back for him was awesome. I felt like I owed it to him. And it was just an unbelievable feeling.”
Assistant coaches Nick and Ryan Miller also were on the 1993 state runner-up team.
Sophomore running back Drew Silveus’ dad Brett and uncle Andy were on the 1997 team. The father of brothers Bergstrom and Baxter Barrett, Scott, was an assistant coach on the 1997 team. The father of Tyce Westhoven (Troy) was on that team, while many other players had uncles on the 1997 team.
Casey Mohler’s father, Tom, also was an assistant coach on the 1997 team under legendary LC head coach Rex Lingruen. Casey was a freshman on the 1993 team that finished second in the state, losing in overtime. The Tigers then finally won the state title — one year after Casey graduated.
“It’s always been just outside of my grasp,” said Mohler, who also coached under Lingruen. “So to get this done with this group is unbelievable.”
LC fell 28-17 to Ironton in the D-V title game and to undefeated Perry 21-14 in 2023.
“Two years ago, we lost a heartbreaker, and Thomas and I shared a moment after the game, and he said, ‘I promise we’re coming back next year.’ And all I could think of was that’s the dumbest thing you could possibly say because it’s so hard to get here,” Casey said. “It’s unbelievably hard. And then at the end of the game last year, he did the same thing. I thought, there’s no way you can make that promise again and hold up to. You’ve got to have a lot of things go your way. But Thomas and all these other guys, they all bought in. It wasn’t just one guy.”
The Tigers are 43-2 over the past three seasons with three consecutive Northwest Ohio Athletic League titles.
“We’ve had so many guys step up and make plays, including guys I guess they’d be considered role players, or they don’t get a lot of limelight,” Mohler said. “They don’t care they’re not in [the news conference] talking right now. They don’t care that their name is not in the paper. They don’t care that they get league honors or state honors or whatever. All they care about is winning, and they care about winning because they want to help their teammates win.”
More than half the crowd of 4,414 in Canton trekked from Liberty Center on a cold December night, packing the visitor stands.
“We did it for the community,” said senior linebacker Max Walker. “We did it for the coaching staff. We did it for the guys behind us. It’s just a surreal feeling knowing that you were able to get the job done for them. [Last] week we talked a lot about why we do it and why we want to win this state championship, and that’s really what I’m feeling right now.”
The seniors won four straight NWOAL titles and won 19 playoff games, finishing with a 59-3 overall record.
“We’ve talked about having guys that buy in and actually do it, and these guys did it,” Mohler said. “We talked about not asking to be blessed. Ask to be a blessing. And these guys have done that. I think that’s why we had the success the last couple of years. They play for each other, and that’s what makes our program pretty good.”
First Published December 10, 2025, 2:19 p.m.
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