Long, Carter, Pitchford all back to lead No. 6 Liberty Hill's vaunted rushing attack
LIBERTY HILL — If the sport of football is slowly devaluing the running back position, Liberty Hill is unequivocally bucking the trend.
Spurred by their notable slot-T offense, the Panthers — the No. 6 team in the American-Statesman's annual Central Texas top 10 preseason poll — return three running backs who each surpassed the 1,000-yard mark last fall, an incredible feat no matter the offensive era.
Seniors Noah Long (2,074 yards, 22 touchdowns), Ben Carter (1,933 yards, 31 TDs) and Joe Pitchford (1,078 yards, eight TDs) combined for more than 5,000 yards rushing and reached the end zone 61 times as Liberty Hill went 13-2, won District 13-5A Division II and advanced to the state semifinals.
And they seem primed to terrorize defenses once again.
“It's obviously awesome to have those three guys back,” said Liberty Hill coach Kent Walker, who enters his third season leading the Panthers. “They’re all three extremely talented and extremely hard workers, and they'll be the first ones to give credit to their offensive line. … They're as good as any of the backs we've had here. To have all three of them in the backfield together, it’s nothing short of amazing.”
Three running backs, one goal
The three running backs each offer a different style.
Long, who has rushed for more than 2,000 yards in each of the last two seasons, can do it all and is the hardest to tackle. Carter is a north-south runner. And Pitchford is the typical bigger back who will punish defenders and get the tough yards.
“You've got the elusiveness and cat-like quickness with Noah, and I really can’t say enough about his abilities,” Walker said. “Ben has just phenomenal balance and vision, and then you have Joe that can run people over. Joe’s more of our thunder, Noah is our lightning and then Ben's kind of a balance of the both of them.”
The trio combined for 26 100-yard games a year ago, and that was with Pitchford missing seven contests due to injury, and all three averaged more than 100 yards a contest. Carter averaged slightly less than 13 yards a carry while Long was at 11.4 and Pitchford just less than 10.
The Panthers almost never pass the ball — they had 22 attempts last year, with six completions for 182 yards — so that leads to at least two of the three backs having a big game every week.
“We trust in each other and the game plan,” Long said. “If it’s just not working out for one of us, we help pick each other up because we’re good friends off the field, too. And that really translates to making it better on the field.”
Carter said a typical hangout for the trio would be at another teammate’s house, the pool or grabbing breakfast tacos at a local Mexican restaurant after preseason practices. The immediate nourishment is needed following the Panthers’ grueling workouts, something all three players attributed as the key to Liberty Hill’s perennial deep playoff runs.
The Panthers have made the state semifinals or championship game the last three years and have made it to at least the regional final every year since 2016.
“A lot of teams don't lift like we do,” Pitchford said, “so we're stronger. They’re not as conditioned as us, because it's not easy in the weight room.”
Long noted Liberty Hill usually rules the fourth quarter.
“To do that, you’ve got to never run out of energy and never run out of stamina,” he said. “We train that consistently. … Like when you’re already dead tired and you're done, it's like, ‘OK, we got one more thing.’ And that’s like the fourth quarter. And that's where we beat a lot of teams.”
It’s also a knowledge of and perfection running the slot-T. Carter, Long and Pitchford have been in the offense so long, their movement and timing is flawless.
But this year, the Panthers are breaking in several new offensive lineman and a new quarterback, so jelling will be the main focus early in the season.
“We’ve got some really good kids coming up and we’re going to ask them to step it up,” Walker said. “And I think our offensive line is excited because they know what they have in the backfield behind them. And they know if they get in somebody's way and block well, it's going to be a lot of fun.”
Liberty Hill’s new quarterback is Pitchford’s younger brother, sophomore Jack Pitchford, and the older Pitchford said the goal now is to have four guys hit 1,000 yards.
It’s an ambitious task, but whether or not it’s achieved, Liberty Hill’s running backs will still shine.
“Jack is a good athlete as well, so you throw him back there and it goes from a three-headed monster to a four-headed monster,” Walker said. “We’ve obviously got a long way to go, but it’s going to be exciting. The sky is the limit for those three seniors, and all three of them have the ability to play at the next level.”
Inside
Liberty Hill: A closer look, XC
Our preseason Top 10 so far
No. 10 Rouse
No. 9 Wimberley
No. 8 LBJ
No. 7: Georgetown
No. 6: Liberty Hill
No. 5: Wednesday
No. 4: Thursday
No. 3: Friday
No. 2: Saturday
No. 1: Aug. 20
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Running backs hope to spur No. 6 Liberty Hill to another special year
