The Hernando High football squad is in the second year of its rebuild under head coach Bill Vonada, and the veteran mentor will assuredly need to lean on his upperclassmen. That’s where players such as senior defensive end Tyson Libengood come into the equation. “His experience on the defense and in the heat of battle makes him a natural leader,” Vonada said. “He has some of the best physical potential on our defensive front… He works extremely hard in the weight room, and is willing to do the extra things. He is one of our best cover guys on punt.”
For the 6-foot-3, 245-pound Libengood, work hardy seems like an issue. During the Leopards’ season-opening 41-40 overtime loss to Fivay last Friday, he recorded four tackles and half a sack. Yet he won’t stand pat after that performance. “The early part of the season we’re doing pretty good,” Libengood said. “I wish we were a little more into the game, but practices are going pretty well. There’s a lot of intensity. I feel like we’re heading in the right direction.
“Every week I notice something I need to work on. Last week, it was getting to the quarterback. I’ve been working on it and hopefully next week I’ll do a better job and hopefully get a lot of tackles.” A third-year varsity player, Libengood recorded 57 tackles, two sacks, two caused fumbles and an interception a year ago. Wanting to improve upon those numbers, Libengood took a hard look at his strengths and weaknesses. “I wanted to get off the ball hard. I wanted to stay low and get a little bit more intense,” Libengood said. “I’m getting off the ball real quick. I’m still working on staying low. But the intensity is definitely getting better.”
His desire to grow as a player is part of the way he leads by example. “I don’t goof around in practice or at school,” Libengood said. “I don’t talk back to the coaches. I do what I have to do and what they tell me. “Coach Vonada is a fantastic coach. He knows what he’s talking about. Definitely with Coach coming in for his second year, I’m looking forward to our offense. We’ve had a year with the offense we run. I feel like our second year under Coach Vonada will be a great one.”
Hernando went 3-6 in 2014, following a 3-7 campaign during Libengood’s sophomore season. “We’re definitely going through a rebuilding process,” Libengood said. “We lost a lot of kids to Nature Coast and Central, but the kids we have out there now are all we need. The people we have are hard-working and want to win. “I take a lot of pride in (rebuilding the program). I love Hernando and I want Hernando football to be great next year and the year after. I want to make a legacy.” He’d also like to average 8-9 tackles plus two sacks per game, and “stop every play in the middle. I don’t want to let anyone outside.”
Another goal is to play in college, though he doesn’t have a specific choice in mind. For now, he’ll focus on finishing out his prep career. Despite such a tough defeat to start off the season, considering the Leopards once led Fivay by three touchdowns, Libengood hopes the bitter feelings it created will serve as a motivator.
“Having a close game like that, we lost focus during the game,” Libengood said. “But I honestly think it was better for us. We wanted to start the season off great. But it’s something to drive us. It gave us something that makes us want to be better, to push ourselves in practice and be more intense, so that doesn’t happen again.”