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11/05/2009
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Staff photo by David Leamingfrom the Kennebec Journal
Burglars hit Route 27 store
READFIELD 3 injured when car hits bus
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from the Morning Sentinel
Minutes after Messalonskee High School's 14-6 win against Lewiston in the Pine Tree Conference quarterfinals last Friday, 240-pound fullback Desmond Nutter praised his offensive line, most of whom he's bigger than.
"The linemen opened up holes all night," Nutter said. "I just kept my hat low, my eyes up and the hoggies did the rest."
On many high school football teams, Nutter would be one those "hoggies," not the beneficiary of their grunt work. At Messalonskee, though, Nutter is running behind one of the top offensive lines in the PTC A division.
The Eagles (6-3) will face their toughest opponent of the season Friday, when they play at undefeated Bangor (9-0) in the conference semifinals. Bangor won the regular season meeting 13-12.
The Eagles' offensive line consists of center Jared McLean (5-foot-10, 220 pounds), guards Dylan Shorty (5-9, 205) and Josh Hall (6-0, 200), tackles Levi Mason (6-1, 230) and Brock Garten (5-11, 220) and tight ends Ryan Bender (6-2, 145) and Cody Ziegenfus (6-2, 260). With those seven players making a path, the Eagles have run for 2,287 yards in nine games, an average of 254 yards per game.
"That's pretty much a two-year line there," Messalonskee coach Wes Littlefield said. "They were starting when they were sophomores and juniors, now they're juniors and seniors."
Five Messalonskee backs average at least 4.7 yards per carry running behind the Eagles' line. Nutter averages 6.2 yards per carry. Wingback Bryan Boyce leads the Eagles with 622 yards and gains an average of 5.4 yards a carry. Before he was lost for the season with a concussion, wingback Keenan Knox averaged nearly 7.5 yards per carry.
Messalonskee runs the tight, double-wing offense, which means the linemen's splits are barely splits at all. One of the foundations of double wing blocking is get as many blockers to the point of attack as you can.
"The whole line is coming at you," Bender said.
The Messalonskee line considers itself one big road grading player, and it's obvious they think alike. When asked what their favorite play is, seven voices said it in unison. "Wedge."
The wedge is exactly what it sounds like. The entire line fires at one spot, and when it works, it can be like mugging the defense.
"We're all bunched up," Shorty said. "The whole line is one unit."
Added Halls: "We've got a lot of communication between us."
The Messalonskee line is versatile. Shorty has played center and guard. Ziegenfus played tackle before moving to tight end. Garten has filled in at guard and tackle.
"In the double wing, you've got to know every position," Shorty said.
Added Littlefield: "With the double wing, you kind of always want guys to know two spots, sometimes three. If somebody goes down and gets injured, you're still clicking."
While the Eagles are predominately a running team (Messalonskee ran 52 rushing plays against Lewiston and just 11 passing plays), Messalonskee's front seven has proven itself capable of pass blocking, too. Foster led the PTC A division in completion percentage in the regular season, connecting on 60 percent of his passes. His favorite target became Bender, who has 24 catches for 298 yards and five touchdowns.
"They've played well all year," Littlefield said. "Teams have hunkered down on us and forced us to throw the football, and we've been able to do that."
Travis Lazarczyk -- 861-9242
tlazarczyk@centralmaine.com
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