L-S Offensive Line Up To Any Challenge

In the beginning of the year Lincoln-Sudbury football coach Thomas Lopez left a challenge for his offensive line.

After six games of uncertainty, the coach has settled on a group of players who continually meet his challenges.

"Coach told us at the beginning of the year that he did not know what to expect from us," said junior lineman Chris Whitehouse. "He told us that we were nice kids off the field, but he wanted us to be more mean and aggressive on the field."

The Warriors' line, which lacked a returning starter, began the season with some uncertainty. After rotating through players in their pre-Dual County Large schedule, Lopez settled on a starting line that includes guards Ryan Swoyer and Patrick Mullin, tackles Tim Krumsiek and Whitehouse, center Kyle Ashley, and tight end Ben Forman.

This line has led the Warriors to three straight victories over their top three division opponents.

"With different people in there all the time it has been hard to establish a kind of continuity," said offensive line coach Joe Cileno. "The fact that they have been able to establish that continuity has really allowed us to move the ball."

This "continuity" has also allowed an expansion of the offensive game plan that includes more running both from the running backs and junior quarterback Matt Cahill. The Warriors have averaged 354 yards of total offense and 21 points in their past three games.

"Our offensive line has always been there, but after (Waltham) we kind of came together," said Krumsiek. "The backfield has really stepped up and come through in the last two or three weeks."

Despite only starting three games together, there is a ingrained sense of familiarity between the linemen that allows this offensive cohesion. The six starters grew up together, grouped in two neighborhoods.

Ashley, Forman and Swoyer (northern Sudbury) and Mullin, Krumsiek and Whitehouse (southern Sudbury) have their fair share of memories playing "street" football together before high school.

"We have been playing backyard ball for years now," said Swoyer.

Once a cohesion was built, prepping the players took some fairly basic blocking drills. The football staples used included shoots, sleds, bags, boards drills, and cut drills. They were combined with learning plays for an hour a day.

This combination has proved a perfect formula for what Cileno refers to as a "gelling" line.

"We all trust each other, listen to each other, and respect each other," said Mullin.

"It is about mental preparation and doing our job," added Swoyer.

The most complicated coaching adjustment Cileno has had to make is teaching his players to block out of the shotgun formation. However, his ability to prepare players for both the traditional Delaware and spread shotgun offenses has allowed the threat of a dual quarterback.

In a 17-14 victory over Westford Academy, Cahill passed for 129 yards and rushed for 122 yards.

"We have been using shotgun a lot more, so we have had to work on that type of pass blocking," said Cileno. "It is a completely different type of pass blocking than we do in the Delaware (offense)."

It is this balance of offense that Lopez expected in his early season challenge. With expectations now rising, so has Lopez's challenge.

While a challenge to be the best offensive line in the league may not be so easy, the Warriors just might have met this new task in their last three games .

"Football is a sport where you can do something that you can not do off the field," said Whitehouse. "Coach said to just take advantage of that and have fun with it."