GHS looks to bounce back

A week after their most heartbreaking defeat of the season, the Graceville Tigers look to bounce back on the road Friday night against a powerful Liberty County squad.

Graceville (1-4, 0-1 in district play) will travel to Bristol to take on the 4-1 Bulldogs, who are coming off of dominant performances in victories over
Marianna and Wewahitchka.

The only defeat for the Bulldogs this year came on the road against Port St. Joe by just eight points.

Liberty County defeated Marianna 37-15 on Oct. 2, then blanked Wewa 33-0 last week.

The talented and experienced Bulldogs have done more than enough to impress Graceville coach Todd Wertenberger.

“They’re good, they’re real good,” the coach said. “They’re pretty sporty.  (Liberty County coach Grant Grantham) definitely does a great job with them. We knew he would have a big group of seniors this year.”

The Bulldogs are led by the three-headed monster of quarterback Terrance Evans, fullback Keith McCray and tailback Kevin McCray.

All are seniors, and all are capable of doing damage for the Bulldogs’ offense.

“They can all play,” Wertenberger said. “(Kevin McCray) may be the best all-around player I’ve seen this year. He’s a complete football player.

“They run the option, and when you’ve got a good fullback, a good quarterback and a good pitch man, that makes the offense go. Thank God they’re seniors, finally.”

The Tigers are coming off of an 18-16 loss to FAMU in the district-opener in Tallahassee.

Graceville was an onside kick away from having a chance to win the game. Despite the loss, Wertenberger said he was very happy with the effort of his team.

“We played our best game all year against FAMU,” the coach said. “I finally felt like our team really got ready for the game and played with some emotion.

“I’m just hoping that regardless of the outcome (against Liberty County), that we’ll do that again. I want us to give everything we’ve got to it and see what happens. If we play like that and don’t leave anything out there on the field, we’ll be winners regardless.”

Wertenberger said that FAMU probably had better athletes top to bottom than Liberty County, but the Bulldogs are a more physical and experienced team.

“Liberty County is a little more like us. They’re more of a running team,” the coach said. “FAMU will spread you out and throw it, but Liberty County wants to run right over you.”

The Bulldogs will have payback on their minds tonight after suffering a 36-16 loss to the Tigers last year in the season opener in Graceville.

Wertenberger said he knows the Bulldogs will be highly motivated for his team.

“Well, they’ve got us coming over for Homecoming, if that tells you how they’re looking at the game,” the coach said. “They’re a very tough team, but we’ve got tough teams throughout our schedule. Hopefully, we’ll keep getting better each week because of it.”