Loggers ready to drop the ax on opposition

Opener set for Saturday at Libby HS

The Libby High School football team is used to participating in the playoffs. In fact, the Loggers have reached the Class A semifinals three of the last four years.

Now, sixth-year head coach Neil Fuller hopes to see his team reach the next level. But there is work to be done with a degree of inexperience in key positions on both sides of the ball.

“It’s real similar to last year. We lost some good kids two years ago but had a couple linemen coming back,” Fuller said. “It’s a good nucleus to build around because we have some young players around those kids.”

Four starters return from last year’s 10-1 squad, including two linemen. Justin Graham – an all-state pick on the defensive side a year ago – returns for his senior season and is joined by Brandin Mills. Another senior, Justin Brickey, saw significant time last year to gain valuable experience. Sophomore James Nash also figures into the mix.

“We have some younger kids that have the athleticism and it’s just a matter of getting them some game experience,” Fuller said. “The quicker they step up and fill those shoes, the better we’ll be off as a team.”

Tight end Seth Wright and quarterback Joel Fuller are also revved up for their final seasons. Both have all-conference honors under their belt and Fuller was an all-state pick following his sophomore season.

The Loggers look to be fairly deep at the skill positions. T.J. Benson, junior, is looking good out of the backfield with Conner Benson heading into the season as the No. 1 receiver. Colton Cannon, Kelly May, Charlie White and Alex Cislo are all rotating in as receivers.

Joel Fuller heads into his third season as Libby’s starting QB and his receiving corps have impressed the head coach in preseason drills.

“Since I’ve been here, across the board, this is one of the more athletic groups we’ve had,” Coach Fuller said. “We have speed and quickness, just pure athleticism.”

On defense, the Loggers return five starters. Typical for smaller schools, Libby will play some players both ways.

On the line, Graham looks exceptionally strong along with Mills and Nash. Joel Fuller and Benson give the Loggers a strong presence at linebacker and Wright and Cislo will join them. In the defensive backfield, Conner Benson leads a crew that also includes Cannon, May, White and Kody Berget.

The Loggers have a few question marks heading into the season on special teams.

“That’s something we have to work on,” Fuller said. “We have some kids that can kick and punt but we’ve been working quite a bit on that. That’s a work in progress. It may take a few games to get things figured out.”

Libby opens the season with back-to-back home games. First up will be Timberlake on Aug. 30 and then Frenchtown pays a visit on Sept. 5. The Polson game is set for Libby on Sept. 26.

Again, Fuller knows that the Loggers will need to develop depth to make a valid run out of the Northwest Conference. And it appears that the schedule favors those intentions.

“We have some ability in the depth situation but we have some inexperience there and that’s where it helps to play four non-league games before hosting Polson for the first league game,” Fuller said. “It gives us some time to give them some playing time. The biggest thing to overcome is the inexperience level.”