SULLIVAN COUNTY – The school year is set to begin in just a few short days for students in Sullivan County. Fall sports have already begun practice for the upcoming season. The Democrat checked in with a few football coaches from around the county to get their thoughts on the upcoming season. 

Coach Justin Diehl from the Sullivan West School District shared his thoughts on the incoming class and the loss of key seniors to graduation. Diehl said, “The bar is set high, we’ve won back-to-back sectional titles, but we’ve also lost a lot of leadership. But we’re re-loading, not re-building, we have the players to get it done. Alec Hubert is going to be our work horse, he was first team all sectional and all-state honorable mention at running back, he led the team in rushing yards and rushing TD’s. I know he’s going to have a great season because our offensive line is solid.”

Over in Rockland School District (the combined Manor/Roscoe schools) Coach Mike Hill likes his numbers this year. “Last year we only played two games because of a lack of players, but this season our numbers are looking better and we’re hoping to get more once school starts. There’s a lot of excitement with the district merging and the team getting a new name, new mascot and new team colors, the school renovations, there’s positive movement happening. These kids have a lot of raw talent; we have some real athletes here. They just have to be taught the fundamentals.

“We want to try to get to the sectional tournament, we haven’t been there for a while, but we’re going to take it one game at a time, and we tell our kids it all starts with that first win,” said Liberty Central School District’s football Coach Adam Lake. “We’re also hoping to be able to play one home game here. Our field renovations are expected to be finished toward the end of the season, so yeah, we’re hoping for a home game. Liberty graduated a large part of their roster in June. 

“There are some big shoes to fill, we graduated 11 seniors last year, half our roster, including the entire offensive line. So, this year half the roster are sophomores.

We’re going to be leaning heavily on our seniors, we don’t have many, but Taylor Schwartz, Sean Bickham and Josh Decker Jr., they’re going to be the leaders of this team. We also feel good about our young skill players coming up, receivers etc., they have a lot of speed and talent.”

The Liberty Redhawks will face Walton on Saturday, September 6 at 12 noon in an away game.

Sullivan West Bulldogs are set to play Cairo-Durham High School on Friday, September 12 at 7pm and the Rockland Wolves will play in Onteora on Saturday, September 13 at 7pm.

For school sports across the county check for our weekly sports calendar coming soon.