Jay winning behind fine line (11/08/07)

They don't accumulate any stats people pay attention to.

They don't often get their names called or their pictures taken.

In fact, often they are usually only noticed when they get called for holding or a false start.

But any coach will tell you that without a strong offensive line, a football team may as well not even bother walking out on the field.

And Jay County High School football coach Shane Hill will tell you, the Patriots' unknowns up front are as responsible as anyone for the first sectional championship in school history. And they will once more be key Saturday when the team travels to Zollner Stadium in Fort Wayne for the regional championship battle against Class 4A No. 1 Bishop Dwenger.

"It doesn't matter how good your skill kids are in the back, if you don't have guys up front who can open up holes for them or pass protect for them ... nothing gets done," said Hill, a former running back. "Any good running back, any good wide receiver or quarterback, that should be the first thing they do is compliment those guys, because they can't do it without them. It's huge to have that group in front of us this year."

The Patriots were expected to be a very good team this season.

They had all but one of their skill players back, a pair of big-hitting senior safeties and experienced linebackers. But if there was a question about the squad, it was how the line would play.

Then the running game struggled early on, managing just 70 yards in a season-opening loss to Delta.

Meager ground efforts of 58 yards against Blackford and 84 yards - more than half of which came on a single run by quarterback Aaron Daniels - against Franklin County followed. Both of those games still resulted in Jay County wins, but then the Patriots managed just 73 yards on the ground in a 17-0 loss at home to Anderson Highland that dropped them to 2-2.

However, starting with a 188-yard rushing effort in the team's stunning 27-25 win over Muncie Southside in mid-September, it has been a whole different story.

"They really did gel together," said Hill of seniors Kaleb Hemmelgarn and Baxter Holdcroft, juniors Andrew Lancaster and Mitchell Martyne and sophomore Colton Prescott. "They took it personal that the run game wasn't exactly what we wanted it to be at the beginning of the year. ... In crunch time and in clutch situations they've asked me to run the ball behind them and we've done that pretty successfully.

"I'm just unbelievably happy with the way they've come together."

Hemmelgarn, who has been a mainstay on the line for several seasons, said the changes he's seen in this group stand out.

"I've seen more improvement in this line, this year, than I ever have in any of my past years," said the left tackle. "An offensive line has to work as a unit. As games have progressed and we've gotten better we've been able to do that more and more.

"The game is won at the line of scrimmage - every game."

Not coincidentally, Jay County has won seven of its last eight.

Starting with that dramatic victory in Muncie, the Patriot front five has cleared the way for rushing efforts of 150 yards or more in every game. And with 251 yards on the ground in a rout of Connersville a week later, they started a stretch of five 200-plus-yard efforts in the last seven contests.

"With this group we don't really ever get down on each other," said Holdcroft, "we just always keep each other up."

"A lot of it is knowing the guy beside you is going to get his job done," added Lancaster.

Senior running back Michael Jobe has been the single greatest beneficiary of the play up front as he enters Saturday's regional game with four consecutive 100-yard efforts. His 175 yards - he also had three TDs - in the sectional championship against Southside pushed him over 1,000 yards for the season.

Rebel coach Mike Paul, following his team's 34-21 loss in that game, said it was the first time all year his players were coming off the field admitting they were being beaten up front.

"They've come along tremendously from the beginning of the season," said Jobe. "They've just started opening up holes left and right. That's why we've been able to have been running games for the past couple weeks."

The improved rushing attack has taken pressure off of the passing game, and the line has continued to improve in giving quarterback Billy Wellman time to scan the field. He has had positive rushing yards - he's not getting sacked - in each of the last six games.

"We really gelled in the middle of the season, and ever since we've been having a really good run game and giving Billy time," Prescott said. "We just came together with communication."

With the extra protection, Wellman has tossed just three interceptions in the last five games after giving the ball away nine times in the first seven.

"At the beginning of the season I was looking all over the place. As soon as I got the ball if there wasn't somebody open right away, I was looking to scramble," said Wellman, who missed a game after suffering a concussion on one of his scrambles against Blackford. "The last few games especially I've had plenty of time to stand back there and look around. ... They seem to pick up everybody."

Their play has stood out even more in the tournament, and either their quarterfinal or semifinal efforts could be pointed at as signature efforts.

In the opening round against Muncie Central, the team that knocked Jay County out 6-0 in 2006, the line led a season-best 338-yard rushing attack. Jobe, Wellman and Lance Franklin all ran for more than 100 yards and the team averaged 7.5 yards per rush.

Then in the sectional semifinal at New Castle, they were faced with a nasty night as rainy weather created a muddy mess. The Patriots were ready, shifting from their standard shotgun formation to the "Jumbo" package.

They repeatedly pounded the ball up the middle, with Franklin and Alan Brown lead-blocking for Jobe behind the five linemen. Jobe racked up 131 hard yards on the ground, 100 of which came as Jay County turned a 16-13 halftime deficit into a 23-16 victory.

All five linemen said coach Josh Gibson, a former JCHS lineman himself, has played a huge role in their success.

"He's been here every year that we've all been here," said Hemmelgarn. "He's a great guy, a great person to talk to. He won't yell at you unless you deserve it. He's a good coach."

Jobe said the group has a foreman on the field as well.

"Kaleb Hemmelgarn is the leader of the line," he said. "He does it all. He tells everybody what to do ... if there's a problem, Kaleb Hemmelgarn will get it fixed."

Perhaps the most incredible thing about Jay County's front five is its size, or lack thereof. There are no 6-foot-5-inch, 290-pounders stomping around Harold E. Schutz Memorial Stadium.

Instead, Holdcroft is the largest Patriot lineman at 6-feet and 265 pounds. Hemmelgarn (5-10, 240) follows his classmate, along with Prescott (5-9, 240), Lancaster (5-10, 225) and Martyne (5-9, 225).

By contrast Bishop Dwenger has seven linemen on its roster who stand 6-feet-2-inches or taller, including 6-foot-5-inch senior Joe Secrest. And it also has seven linemen who clear at least 250 pounds, led by 295-pound seniors Mick Mentzer and Ryan Myers.

"The one thing I think that amazes me the most is that I can look all of them in the eye - some of them I have to look down to - and they still get the job done," Hill said of the vertically-challenged group. "Their lower bodies are outstanding."

Their camaraderie helps bridge the size gap, because with football in general, and the offensive line specifically, every player must execute his assignment. If one fails, the whole group fails.

"It's just everybody coming together and doing their job," said Martyne. "I think the best thing about us is I love everybody here. We're all best friends."[[In-content Ad]]