Down by 14 points against Grant on Sept. 6, senior Cray Paich knew the offensive line would have to fight back in the second half.
“I remember I was blocking [a] defensive end, and I ended up pancaking him, just putting him on his [back], and then [junior] Trey [Gottschild] ran for a touchdown,” Paich said.
According to head coach Matt Purdy, despite the loss, the offensive line had a great game.
The final score of the game was 35-28.
The starting linemen have come far from last season, Purdy said.
“They were all very strong in previous years,” said Purdy. “But just watching [Paich] and [senior Mathew Gasior], and how they’ve grown, and their ability just to use their hips and use the power that they’ve learned in [sports performance class].”
Strength and agility work are important aspects of training for linemen.
The nine months of off-season training prior to the season have the greatest impact on building strength, Purdy said.
“Being an offensive lineman, you have to have great lower trunk strength in your glutes, hamstrings and quads,” said Purdy. “That’s where so much of the power is generated, really, to push somebody off the line of scrimmage.”
Having great squat form and hang cleans are imperative for success in the football world, Purdy said.
Over the summer, the team participated in the Central Suburban League Lineman Challenge. The competition tests the strength and agility of linemen throughout the league. The Spartans tied Maine South for first place.
“[The competition is] kind of weird because it works in stations, so you never really know what other people are doing,” said Gasior. “So you put [in] everything you have knowing other teams can match it or do better.”
According to Purdy, participating in the competition is a reward for the training done over the summer.
“It’s a chance for them to take everything they’ve done in the weight room and put it on the field,” Purdy said.
Offensive linemen have an important role in getting the ball to the skills players.
“[The linemen are] the ones who allow our quarter back to stand there and to pass the ball successfully,” said Purdy. “They’re the ones who allow our tailback to get downhill and do great things.”
According to Paich, there is a lot of correlation between the rushing and passing yards in a game and how the offensive line plays.
“Especially at the end of the game [against Grant], we were trying to drive downfield,” said Paich. “It was a lot of one-on-one pass rush situations where it was really dependent on the offensive line’s ability to block the defenders.”
As of Sept. 30, Paich leads the team (2-3, 0-1 Central Suburban League South Division) in blocking with an 88 percent blocking efficiency.
Sitting on Purdy’s desk in his office is a homemade coffee mug gifted by some of his former offensive linemen. It says, “First to blame, last to fame.”
This quote defines what it means to be an offensive lineman, Purdy said.
“I always joke with the offensive lineman that the only people in the crowd that cares about them is their mom, watching them as the player they are, and me,” said Purdy. “So it’s an important position, but it’s a position where there’s just not a whole lot of limelight put on you in most cases.”