By TYLER HENRY
Salina Post contributor
After years of adversity on their ascent to the mountaintop, the Salina Liberty finally reached the peak in 2022, knocking off the Omaha Beef to claim their first-ever national title.
To defend their crown, the Liberty will have to stand tall against a familiar foe, as the finale to the Salina vs. Omaha trilogy takes center stage in Champions Bowl VIII.
The Liberty advanced to their fourth-straight CIF title game with a 37-30 win over the Gillette Mustangs last week, capped off by a fourth-quarter comeback that saw Salina take their first lead of the game late and never look back.
“Last week I saw a team that fought hard all the way through,” Salina head coach Heron O’Neal said. “We were able to make adjustments and execute our gameplan well on defense and offensively I saw some of the new things we put in work.”
On the other side of the bracket, the Beef battered Billings 42-6, continuing to assert their dominance as part of an 11-0 season thus far.
“Omaha has their guys coached up so well from game to game and series to series and they have excellent personnel,” O’Neal said. “They did a great job of recruiting these stud football players to Omaha and we’re looking forward to an opportunity to battle them again.”
The Beef efficiently blew out all but two of their 2023 opponents by double digits, with Salina putting up the best fight in a narrow 36-31 loss back in April.
Since then, the Liberty roster has undergone major improvements, which should lead to yet another instant classic come kickoff on Saturday evening.
“This team has gotten better and better each week and we’re still learning to play together as one,” O’Neal said. “Our motto is to always be 2% better than we were yesterday and that’s kept us grounded and focused on the task at hand.”
While these two opponents meeting in a third straight championship game may imply familiarity, both rosters look completely different from the ones that battled it out a season ago, and a slew of newcomers on both sides will be eager to secure themselves a ring and a slice of CIF history.
“Last year is last year so we don’t put any credence into the history,” he said. “These are two entirely new teams this year and there will be a totally different dynamic.”
Salina may enter this game as the reigning champs, but many have rightfully chosen to view Omaha as the favorites this week, as the Beef rank first in the league in scoring offense (51.8 PPG), scoring defense (19.9 PPGA), and total defense (135 Y/GA).
“I don’t see any weaknesses when I look at this Omaha team and we’re going to have to bring our A-game just to have a chance,” O’Neal said. “This team is supremely talented and as soon as we step off that bus we’ve gotta be ready to work.”
While the path to another title will be treacherous, and the environment of this battle will be hostile, the Liberty know that the only way to overcome is to look within and keep the focus on the things they can control.
“Atmosphere doesn’t bother us at all,” he said. “Everywhere you go you’ve got a field that’s 50 yards long and about 30 yards wide, and everything outside of the 16 players on that field is irrelevant.”
Kickoff of Champions Bowl VIII is scheduled for 6:30 at Ralston Arena in Omaha, and as always the game can be heard on KINA (910 AM or 107.5 FM) courtesy of Eagle Radio.