LEXINGTON – Freshman backup quarterback Keyshaun Elliott and firstyear football coach Nick Persell started off a rebuilding year for the Spartans in 2018 with a 61-19 loss to Liberty Mountain View at Bolivar. The season never got better. But attitude made a difference. “As a team, we all need to do better,” then-senior Nathan McGill said after the Bolivar debacle. “We’ve just got to work harder and practice. That’s all it comes down to.” “Our kids have bought into that attitude,” Persell said moments after that game. “They’re going to come back ready to fight.” Despite dark prospects for that season, Persell focused on his team’s bright spots. “Freshmen also did a good job out there – Layne Cavanah and Keyshaun Elliott. We threw them into the fire pretty early and they didn’t shy away from competing.” The Spartans went 0-10 in 2018. They fell to every Missouri River Valley Conference East Division rival – to Carrollton, 22-16; to Holden, 33-26; to Knob Noster, 40-28; to…