Thanksgiving practice open to community
NORTHEAST JACKSON, Tenn. – Thanksgiving is the one holiday football teams want to practice. Undefeated Liberty Tech is grateful, but they want more. The Crusaders received a rare applause before Thursday’s practice. “They’re a big part of what we got going on here,” senior Corey Newble said about the community. “If it wasn’t for them cheering us on, I don’t think we could of made it this far.” Opening practice up to the community wasn’t the only unusual thing about this Thanksgiving. “He said donuts and I said yeah,” senior Dantae Wilkes laughed. Those that attended Liberty’s practice were treated to dozens of donuts, muffins and bagels. Newble didn’t hesitate about his love for donuts. The only problem is him and teammate Chris Johnson both like glazed donuts. “We probably going to be fighting over the donuts,” Johnson smiled. The Crusaders have only practiced on Thanksgiving a handful of times in school history. Never, has Tech played for a state title. “We knew how it felt to lose last year in the first round,” Wilkes said. “Keeping that in the back of our mind, we gotta go hard in practice.” Getting to Cookeville won’t be easy. Liberty has to go through Nashville against the defending Class 3A State Champions CPA. “Not many teams get a chance to come out this time of the year,” Wilkes explained. “We just going harder and harder each day because we know what it takes to get there.”
