20 GAMES TO WATCH: Maclay at Liberty County

20 Games To Watch – Week 1
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WHO: Maclay Marauders at Liberty County Bulldogs
WHEN: Friday, 7:30 P.M.
WHERE: Bulldog Stadium, Bristol
RECORDS (FROM 2012): Maclay, 9-2; Liberty County 10-3

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Maclay: RB Chase Schaum, Sr., LB Gage Howard, Sr., DL Matt Deal, Jr.
Liberty County: QB Micah McCaskill, So., LB/RB Chance Peterson, Jr., WR/RB Ben Beckwith, Sr.

QUICK HITS

Maclay – Maclay is entering district play for the first time this season and Maclay has been a winner the last two seasons under head coach Kyler Hall. The Marauders played the last two seasons in the North Florida Football Conference and have some talent that could earn them their first trip to the playoffs in school history this season.

Liberty County – The Bulldogs were a state semifinalist just a year ago before they fell to eventual Class 1A state champion Northview. Now the Bulldogs have to fill in the shoes of QB Alex Marlowe and the believe they have the Micah McCaskill who is only a sophomore. This will be a key area to watch in this game.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

112.9 – The amount of yards Maclay running back Chase Schaum averaged per game last season. We would not be surprising for him to have this amount against Liberty County.

36 – The combine number of games Liberty County and Maclay have won over the last two years.

1  – The number of state championship trophies Liberty County houses in the trophy case, but would like to aim for another this year starting with this game.

THE RANKINGS

Maclay is unranked in the Class 3A Super 6 rankings while Liberty County is ranked #3 in the Class 1A Super 6 rankings. Both teams received votes in the Florida HS Football Media Poll – Small Schools Division section.

WHAT COULD HAPPEN

With both teams looking to be pretty evenly matched on talent, this game could go either way. Liberty County has a tradition of being a winning program, while Maclay continues to build what it has done under Kyler Hall. If anything this game comes right down to the final play and we would not be surprised if either team wins to start the season. The only key question is to see how Liberty County handles the quarterback position and if that position develops quickly during the game.

ADVANTAGE: Maclay