{"id":266844,"date":"2026-08-17T12:54:12","date_gmt":"2026-08-17T12:54:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/266844\/"},"modified":"2026-08-17T12:54:12","modified_gmt":"2026-08-17T12:54:12","slug":"liberty-football-preview-a-look-at-the-2026-hurricanes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/266844\/","title":{"rendered":"Liberty football preview: A look at the 2026 Hurricanes"},"content":{"rendered":"

Easton was the primary story in Eastern Pennsylvania Conference football in 2025, with the Red Rovers going 13-0 through the regular season and District 11 6A tournament before losing to La Salle College High School in the state quarterfinals. Easton then bounced back with a win over Phillipsburg on Thursday.<\/p>\n

But if there was a compelling subplot to last year, it may have been at Liberty, where the Hurricanes won eight games for the first time since 2015.<\/p>\n

They beat rival Freedom twice in a row, won the Christmas City championship and advanced to the district semifinals.<\/p>\n

Along the way, they had the league\u2019s leading passer in Antonio Fontanez, who threw for 2,827 yards and 38 touchdowns and set school records. They also had a record-breaking receiver in Jake Pukszyn, who caught 55 passes for 906 yards and 15 touchdowns. Zyaire Davis, another receiver, notched 50 receptions for 1,085 yards and 15 scores.<\/p>\n

With Fontanez and Pukszyn having graduated along with top defensive players such as JJ Pujals and Adriaan Deleon, the Hurricanes might appear to be in for a rebuilding process in 2026. However, those expecting the program to go back to the struggles of 2021-23 when Liberty was a combined 5-25 are likely going to be wrong.<\/p>\n

\u201cEach year is its own thing, but when you\u2019re building a program you also try to build foundation where you can withstand the ebbs and flows of the talent in the program,\u201d said coach Shawn Daignault, who is in his fifth season in charge. \u201cWe had a lot of talented kids in the program last year and even the year before and I think we do now as well. But we graduated so much production that we\u2019ll learn a lot about our program. Have we built that foundation? I feel good about where we\u2019re at, but it\u2019s going to be a revealing year.\u201d<\/p>\n

Daignault said that 2026 will provide an opportunity for many kids who have been waiting in the wings, players like running back Mekkhi McKenzie.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe has been starting at linebacker for us the last couple of years and he\u2019s going to continue to play defense for us, but I have been wanting to get the ball in his hands the whole time on offense,\u201d Daignault said. \u201cBut we had Gabe Green and Adriaan Deleon who were talented kids and there just wasn\u2019t enough footballs to go around in the running game. So, now it\u2019s Mekkhi\u2019s time to shine. He\u2019s a tough, downhill runner and I am excited to see what he does. And there\u2019s another kid like Jayvion White, who will be a junior this year who didn\u2019t get a chance to play last year. He did a score a touchdown for us against Easton in the playoffs, but I am excited to see what he does.\u201d<\/p>\n

Daignault said that along with the offensive production, the team will miss the leadership of the graduated standouts.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had amazing leaders all over the field last year, so to lose those guys we\u2019ve had to step in as coaches a little bit and give the younger players some very intentional opportunities to develop as leaders,\u201d Daignault said \u201cThat\u2019s been a really big challenge for us as coaches to replace those guys from a leadership standpoint and not just a production standpoint.\u201d<\/p>\n

Davis, for one, is excited about the challenge.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe lost a lot of players that were great, and we have a lot of new players.\u201d Davis said. \u201cWe\u2019ve been working hard, and I\u2019m excited to see how we do.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Liberty'sLiberty\u2019s coach Shawn Daignault talks to his players as they run drills Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026, during Liberty high school football practice in Bethlehem (April Gamiz\/The Morning Call)
\n3 tidbits on the Hurricanes<\/p>\n

Welcome aboard:\u00a0Daignault\u2019s staff has gone through a variety of changes, starting with the resignations of both offensive coordinator Frank Lane and defensive coordinator Joe Bottiglieri at the end of last season.<\/p>\n

Chad Gruver, who had been on the staff even before Daignault was hired, is the new offensive coordinator. He had been the quarterbacks coach.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s an Easton guy,\u201d Daignault said. \u201cWe\u2019ve kept the same system, but Chad has his own twist on things, and I am excited for him. He\u2019s ready and he relates really well to the kids.\u201d<\/p>\n

Daignault will be his own defensive coordinator, serving in a role he has done before including at Northampton and in college at Stony Brook and at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy.<\/p>\n

\u201cI missed it and I am having a blast doing it again,\u201d Daignault said. \u201cDefense is my background. I am glad I had someone with great experience and was so good at it like Coach Bott do it the last few years, and I could say \u2018it\u2019s yours,\u201d and just be the head coach. But even last year I felt like I was ready to do more. And now I realized how much I missed it. I am having a lot of fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

Larry Russell, a Liberty product, is the new linebackers coach. Tony Davis, who played at Liberty but last coached the freshmen at Freedom, is the new running backs coach.<\/p>\n

\u201cFive or six guys on the staff are Liberty guys who still bleed blue and red,\u201d Daignault said. \u201cI\u2019ve surrounded myself with good people and I can step away and know it\u2019s not going to be chaos.\u201d<\/p>\n

Numbers game:\u00a0Daignault said there were 80 players on the team in grades 10-12 and that comes after cuts. There\u2019s an additional 55 kids on the freshman team.<\/p>\n

\"Liberty'sLiberty\u2019s Mekkhi McKenzie and Zyaire Davis on Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026, during Liberty high school football practice in Bethlehem (April Gamiz\/The Morning Call)<\/p>\n

\u201cTwo years in a row we\u2019ve had to make cuts and that\u2019s my least favorite activity,\u201d Daignault said. \u201cIt\u2019s difficult at times to get them all in the same room, but it\u2019s a good problem to have. We feel we\u2019ve built a program that people want to be a part of. We\u2019ve got 80 great kids, and I don\u2019t have complaints about who they are as people. I enjoy coaching them. They have been a blast.\u201d<\/p>\n

Daignault said there\u2019s a different feel to this year\u2019s team.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t have as many college prospects and there are no egos and it\u2019s just about winning games and the team comes first,\u201d Daignault said. \u201cEven the college prospects we have like Zyaire Davis and [running back\/linebacker] Mekkhi McKenzie are both low-key guys.\u201d<\/p>\n

On schedule:\u00a0While high school football is traditionally a Friday night thing, Liberty will be playing a pair of Thursday nights and its city rivalry games against Bethlehem Catholic and Freedom are both on Saturdays.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s kind of a crazy schedule with games all over the place,\u201d Daignault said. \u201cAt one we had games scheduled for Thursdays and then one [Northampton] got moved back to a Friday. The league is always a challenge. There are no easy weeks, especially in the Northampton County division. But the other two divisions aren\u2019t easy either and then we play two tough cross-division games against Whitehall and Pocono Mountain West and those teams are as well-coached as anyone we play. Those two are going to be challenges. And then the Bucks County teams we play are really good teams. Pennridge, our opener, is coming off a 12-4 season. It\u2019s tough but we kind of like it that way because it keeps us to where we have to get better every week and hopefully peak in weeks 9 and 10 in the city series games.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"FootballFootball players run drills Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026, during Liberty high school football practice in Bethlehem (April Gamiz\/The Morning Call)
\nThe schedule<\/p>\n

Scrimmage<\/p>\n

Saturday: host Delaware Valley, 11 a.m.<\/p>\n

Regular season<\/p>\n

(All games 7 p.m. starts, unless noted)<\/p>\n

Aug. 28: at Pennridge<\/p>\n

Sept. 4: at Central Bucks East<\/p>\n

Sept. 10: host Stroudsburg<\/p>\n

Sept. 18: host Northampton<\/p>\n

Sept. 24: at Whitehall<\/p>\n

Oct. 2: at Pocono Mt. West<\/p>\n

Oct. 9: at Nazareth<\/p>\n

Oct. 16: host Easton<\/p>\n

Oct. 24: at Bethlehem Catholic<\/p>\n

Oct. 31: host Freedom 1 p.m.<\/p>\n

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