Julian Duran is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Liberty High School for AZPreps365.com

PHOENIX — Practice. Practice. Practice. That is the backbone and reason for the Liberty flag football team’s success.

Monday night’s “field work” practice at Liberty consisted of working on offensive plays, defensive schematics, special teams work and a conditioning drill all under the wing of head coach Josh Ahlvin and assistant coach Jeff Johnson.

“What we’re trying to accomplish is working through our progressions offensively, adding things in, perfecting our stuff, working our 2-minute drills, short yardage, that kind of stuff,” Ahlvin said. 

Liberty did that for roughly the final hour of practice.

“Perfect practice makes perfect, not practice makes perfect,” Ahlvin said. “So just keep doing it until you do it right.”

Coaches were spotting mistakes, correcting them immediately, in an effort to make the players better by nitpicking the offense and defense, but it starts before the beginning of practice time. 

Liberty started with a 10-minute warmup before practice so once the clock struck 6:30 everyone would be ready to go.

The conditioning drill consisted of running in place and completing burpees without stopping.

Since the start of the program four years ago, coach Johnson has been in charge of warmups, stretching, game preparation, offense and defense and special teams. 

Special teams were a huge part of the Liberty practice as well with the team working on some trick plays to gain some extra yards on returns.

Pass and catch plays before the Oct. 20 game played a huge role by keeping the players in rhythm during the beginning of practice as well.

Senior wide receiver MaKenna Johnson who averages 69.7 receiving yards per game is a prime example.

Marlie Phillips, a junior transfer student and former starting quarterback from Hamilton, will make her debut due to Arizona transfer rules on Oct. 20 as she steps onto the field for the first time for Liberty.

“I’m lucky enough to have a coach that trusts in me fully to do whatever I need to do on the field,” Phillips said.

The relationship between Phillips and Ahlvin is flourishing and ready to grow more according to Phillips.

“It’s been great connecting with coach Josh and the girls,” said Phillips, who added she meets with her coach everyday after school at 3. “Honestly [learning a new offense and plays] hasn’t been much of a challenge in the playbook because my playbook comes with me,” Phillips said.

As Liberty looks to finish the season strong while adding three new transfers to the lineup after waiting half a season due to Arizona transfer rules and more practice, players and coaches are looking locked in and on the same page.

“I’m constantly practicing on my own, whether it’s mental reps, physical reps or practice reps because I want to be as prepared as possible,” Phillips said. “I feel that fear and anxiety before a game only comes from underpreparation.”