| All Hail. . . the Unheralded |
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Mike Menozzi JolietCatholicFootball.com
There are certain things in life that must come before the other.
Build a house, you need a foundation.
Build a car, you need a frame.
In each case, your finished product is only as good as what supports it.
It’s no different with a football team. Show me a successful football team at any level, and I’ll show you a solid, efficient offensive line.
Yet, when the accolades are tossed around all year it’s not the most important part of the team that gets credit. It’s easy to identify the wide outs that make spectacular catches.
Or, running backs that burst though the line of scrimmage and bring the crowd to its feet in anticipation of a long TD run.
All the while, the offensive line opens the holes the running backs run though, and protects the quarterback allowing the time for a route to open up.
Without accolades, the offensive line does the dirty work that makes everything else possible on a football field offensively.
Back on August 26th 2007, we all witnessed the culmination of something great. We just didn’t know it then.
After going toe to toe with Mt. Carmel at Soldier Field in the first half, something amazing happened. The cohesiveness of the offensive line was formed in the second half of that game. Joliet Catholic totally dominated Mt. Carmel in every phase of the game, beginning with the total domination at the line of scrimmage by the o-line.
At the snap of the ball, the Caravan defensive line found themselves 2 yards deep in their own backfield. Any play JCA ran was successful, moving the ball at will on their 8A opponent.
What we didn’t know at the time was the o-line had become one. Rather than work several games into the season to get it right, this group were all on the same page of the playbook now.
From the second half of game one, to the completion of game 13, the offensive line hasn’t just been good, or solid, or efficient.
They’ve dominated their opponents, from the opening snap to the end of the game. There is not another team in the state that has an offensive line like this Hilltopper team has. I say that not as a fan of JCA, but as an analyst of football in general.
Saturday, between watching long passes, and great runs. Watch the offensive line, work like a silent assassin. With no fanfare, they are as reliable as they are dominant.
C 73 Nate Fonck 5-8 280 18 Sr.
RG 62 Joe Minor 6-2 265 18 Sr.
LG 57 Zak Pedersen 6-2 252 18 Sr.
RT 72 Pat Kielian 6-4 245 18 Sr.
LT 55 John Kaminski 6-3 305 17 Sr.
RE 4 Tim Bennett 5-10 175 18 Sr.
LE 99 Sean Sheppard 6-3 220 17 Sr.
Following the game at Normal Community I talked to Coach Sharp. I asked him about the offensive line toiling in relative obscurity.
“It’s as good a line as we’ve ever had at Joliet Catholic, and we’ve had some great ones. We’ve had some great individuals, but as a unit, I don’t know if we’ve ever had 7 guys counting the two ends, that block as well as these guys do,” coach Sharp said.
“Everything starts with Nate Fonck at center, who’s really intelligent (an it doesn’t hurt that Nate can squat 800 pounds either) . Zak Pederson who worked his way into that position with his lifting and dedication. Joe Minor we knew was an all-American type player, he’s a three year starter for us now. Kaminski, he’s a big time player, he can go D1 I think, he has the body, and the quickness. Finally, Kielian at right tackle who we moved over from defense, and has been unbelievable.”
“You know Dave Douglas has done an incredible jobs with these guys. Year in and year out, the only thing that stays the same is Dave Douglas. So every time we say the line play is great – it’s because of Dave.”
“We stayed injury free, and that’s a credit to their off season conditioning. We (the coaches) really knew we had something special in the second half of the Mt. Carmel game. The Caravan has one of the best defenses in the state of Illinois, and so, yea . . . they are as good as we’ve ever had no doubt.”
Give ‘em a big round of applause on Saturday, being mentioned as one of the best ever, if not the best ever . . . they certainly deserve it.
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