Reps Add Up To Summer Success For New ETHS Offensive Line

How do you build an offensive line from scratch?

That’s the challenge that confronted the Evanston Township High School football staff during their just-concluded summer training camp.

Official preseason practice won’t begin until August 7th but the Wildkit staff has already started building a foundation they hope will lead to success on the ground --- and in the air --- when the hitting really begins next month.

Only one player who saw any varsity action at all during the 2022 campaign, senior Declan Boutross, is back for another season. And Boutross will be changing positions.

The short list of candidates to start in the trenches on offense includes a player who was a soccer player when he first began at ETHS, and a sophomore with almost no experience under his belt.

Assistant coach Josh Mensch is charged with the responsibility of making something out of --- well, you get the idea.

But Mensch, who started at center himself for the Wildkits before graduating in 2008, is eager to take on the task. And don’t tell him he has nothing to work with, either, unless you want to feel up close and personal just what a “pancake” block feels like.

“It is a smaller, more athletic line than we had last year (when the Kits finished with a 3-6 won-loss record),” Mensch said. “But I really think there’s a lot of potential in this group. We just have to bring it out of them.

“All of them are potentially good movers in space. They’re good athletes for offensive linemen and all of them were very, very committed to getting into the weight room, working on their strength and their speed. We didn’t get pushed around this week and it doesn’t look like we have a deficiency when it comes to our strength anymore. We’re still a work in progress, but I really like what I’ve seen when it comes to our ability to get to the second level (of the defense) to make blocks.”

Evanston finished off the July portion of practice matched up against two elite high school programs, Illinois Class 5A state champion Nazareth Academy and Indiana champ Valparaiso in a 3-day stay at Olivet Nazarene University in Kankakee.

And the Kits, despite the inexperience and youth in the offensive line, were able to hold their own against Division I college prospects from both schools and in general were able to match their physicality while blocking and tackling. The Illinois High School Association, for the first time this summer, allowed limited 11-on-11 scrimmage opportunities for all member schools and head coach Mike Burzawa pounced on the opportunity.

The timing couldn’t have better for Evanston when you consider all the new faces up front.

“In the past, all we had was 7-on-7 (basically touch football for quarterbacks, receivers and defenders) and 2-on-2 for line drills,” Burzawa noted. “This turned out to be a huge benefit for us. We got to see them compete against someone besides themselves, we got plenty of film on the camp at Olivet, and they were able to get a lot of reps (practice repetitions) in. When we went up against Naz and Valparaiso we saw every (defensive) front you could see --- and some blitzes we weren’t prepared for yet.

“Working with the offensive line has been a process, and we’re not finished yet. But those are the guys who led the way for us in the off-season --- they put in a lot of time in the weight room --- and they’re the heart and soul of any high school football team.”

Leading candidates to line up as starters coming into preseason camp include Boutross, a 6-foot-3, 295-pound senior who started at center last season but will shift to left tackle in 2023. Another senior, Will Gatchell (6-4, 240), is at the other tackle and junior Christian Fargo (6-1, 240) will probably take Boutross’ place at center.

Guards are two relative rookies, sophomore Ian Sims (5-11, 225) and junior Owen McElhatton (6-2, 230). Also in the mix will be two seniors who figure to start in the defensive line, Destiny Ekwebelan (5-11, 255) and Jake Broy (6-1, 220), along with senior Camden Ey (6-3, 215).

Boutross’ move to an outside slot on the line marks an effort by the Evanston staff to counter the speed rushers now prevalent in many programs in the high school and college ranks. Defensive coordinators in the Central Suburban League South division are placing their fastest defenders at end spots in an effort to disrupt enemy running and passing games.

“Declan started every game at center for us last year, and I’d project that he’ll probably play in the interior when he gets to college,” said Mensch. “But it’s good to have a guy with experience, and a good technician, on the edge. It’s an important position because nowadays the defenses like to widen out as much as possible.

“You need experience to match up out there, and Declan is a very good player. I expect him to play at an all-conference level this year.”

Sims was promoted to the varsity ranks just as another healthy body for a scrimmage against DePaul Prep, and showed in limited snaps --- the two teams were pretty much rained out of that date --- that he had promise.

And McElhatton never played organized football prior to last season, when he quit soccer --- disgruntled over being relegated to the B team as a freshman --- at the urging of a couple of his classmates, Fargo and the likely starting quarterback, Colin Livatino.

“I never thought I’d ever play football. I just decided to try something new,” McElhatton explained. “I started lifting during COVID but I’m definitely still light for the O-line. It’s hard to drive people off the ball when they have 100 pounds on you. But I think I’m getting better.

“If I hadn’t started lifting --- with help from my Dad --- during COVID, I don’t know what I would have turned into. It’s a better hobby than playing video games. I did start 3 games for the JV (junior varsity) last year before they moved someone else down from the varsity and he took that spot. And at first it seemed like I was always getting hurt. I had ankle problems and I had a problem with my wrist, too.

“Like a lot of people, I thought playing in the line was just running into people who bumped you back. But there’s really so much technique to it. And how big you are doesn’t matter as much as people think it does. Still, it is kinda scary going up against such big dudes. I still have a lot to learn, but I’m finding that when I get on that field, that’s when the adrenaline takes over.”

For Mensch, who coached on the lower levels for 5 years before moving up to the varsity last season, the chance to develop raw talent is a coach’s dream.

“I’ve always loved offensive line play because it’s so fundamentally based,” he said. “I’m into martial arts, and just like martial arts you need the same movements over and over and over again. Playing in the line is about leverage, and movement, and countering movements.

“You need to make the same movements over and over again until they come second nature to you. You have to do it thousands of times, you can’t get bored with fundamentals and technique.

“Offensive line coaches are part of what we call the ‘mushroom society’ because we do a lot of work in the dark --- watching film --- and we expect to make something grow out of it. I look for players who have certain attributes. It starts with the right attitude, intelligence and work ethic. It’s mentally demanding and I like guys who go out there thinking about what are the best ways to win when they’re in between the chalk.”

The group Mensch is currently working with has already learned the coach’s mantra when it comes to the right approach.

“Ask any one of them what they block with first? And they’ll tell you their eyes,” the coach added. “When you get up to the line we want them eyes front, to take a mental snapshot of everything in front of you. The picture can change in a heartbeat once the ball is snapped, so you have to stay schematically sound and know what concepts we’re trying to run against the defense.

“Except for the quarterback, I don’t think there’s another position on the field where you have to process information as quickly as the offensive linemen do. There’s a lot of potential here. All they need is more reps.”