Wranglers' new home absolute gem of Hill Country

On Aug. 3, 2019, Liberty Hill was a very different place.

So, when I arrived in my new home fresh from California on Highway 29 at around 11 p.m. and saw the old city limits sign that read “Pop. 968,” I was shocked until I realized that was just within the city and not including the outlying unincorporated areas.

Not long after, I observed a well-lit group of pristine-white buildings off to the left right before I saw another sign that read “Liberty Hill High School” and was once again blown away by the impressive nature of the school that would soon become my stomping grounds in covering local sports – and that was before I even took in the grandeur of Panther Stadium for the first time a few days later.

Why is all this relevant now?

Well, after beginning my time here during the final season of Class 4A when rivalries against the likes of Burnet and Lampasas still shown brightly before burning out forever, fast-forward to Aug. 28, 2026 and my arrival on the campus of Legacy Ranch High School for the first time for the Wranglers' first-ever varsity football game.

Despite the fact I'm not some local “back-in-my-day” old timer comparing the present landscape to one of 35 years ago, I'm still flabbergasted by the rapid changes that have occurred in such a relatively short period of time.

Forget about 4A.

How about Class 5A and not one school at that level now, but two?

People like to call all this “progress” and despite the fact I'm not from here, I feel like I've been hit as hard as anyone by the exponential growth of the local area in recent years as far as what has been lost in the process.

After all, Liberty Hill bills itself as “Small Town, Big Heart.”

Well, at least that's still half-true.

Back in the halcyon, long-ago days of 2019, one could stand out on Highway 29 at high noon and still experience a genuine sleepy feeling about the place, which for me being from San Diego was an enormous breath of fresh air after having known only large, congested urban areas for most of my life.

Try that now and hopefully you don't choke on all the car exhaust from the seemingly never-ending Southern California-style traffic.

But, perhaps now is the time to jump down off my soapbox in hoping and wishing for days and times that have long since faded into the fabric history and begin to embrace the present.

Which brings us back to the Wranglers' game against Manor New Tech (a 59-0 win that was over as soon as the teams stepped onto the field, by the way).

Sitting in the press box at cathedral-like Wrangler Stadium and looking down on a gridiron with a huge “LR” painted at midfield was a watershed moment after knowing nothing but “LH” for the past seven years.

Sure, Legacy Ranch is already in its third year of existence, but this school year marks the first time in which all Wranglers sports will be competing at the Class 5A varsity level – just like their Purple-and-Gold neighbors to the west.

Part of the experience for me was seeing familiar faces in different places.

For example, former Liberty Hill Independent School District superintendent and current Williamson County judge Steve Snell was on hand for the festivities, participating in the ceremonial coin toss before the game.

Snell was the spearhead for the splendor that surrounded everyone in attendance on the evening, as the process for making Wranglerville a reality began under his stewardship and deserves an enormous amount of credit.

Well done, Steve.

Someone else who deserves plaudits is Wranglers head coach Tim Knicky, who stood on the sidelines on this historic night just like all the proud mothers and fathers in the stands, finally seeing the seeds he sewed for the past two years down the road at what was the school's campus (now Legacy Ranch Middle School) come to fruition in the form of a varsity program.

Nobody has more outward passion for the game and his job than Knicky, who routinely fires up the crowd during games, jumping up and down, waving his arms like a madman to exhort the home fans as the world's biggest cheerleader.

Speaking of cheerleaders, we would be remiss if we also didn't add Legacy Ranch principal Mark Koller to the equation, as the school's boss has done a fine job of representing his institution from Day One (mostly as a social-media star, we might add).

Anyway, as I begin my eighth school year of Liberty Hill sports coverage, is it possible to be nostalgic about the not-so-recent past without melancholy slipping in and preventing proper enthusiasm for the present and what the future holds?

Guess we'll find out.

Here's hoping it's a “yes.”