ne Does The Dirty WorkSports: Eagles Offensive Li

Sports

Eagles Offensive Line Does The Dirty Work

by John Unrein

There are only eight teams left in Missouri Class 5 football heading into the next playoff round on November 20th. The Grain Valley Eagles football team is among them. Each team no doubt has something special about them that has propelled them to this point in the season. The Eagles football roster boasts 23 seniors. A significant number, even by Class 5 standards. Grain Valley’s black shirt defense has limited their opponents to a paltry 129 points through 11 games. Quarterback Cole Keller is receiving NCAA Division I and II college football offers. Head football coach David Allie and his team were named the Kansas City area Hy-Vee high school team of the week at the end of October. Not to be lost in the shuffle is Grain Valley’s offensive line. Cooper Terry, Jack Bailey, Donovan McBride, Landen Hinton, and Connor Heitman make up the starting five that clear rushing lanes in the trenches for the Eagles. The quintet is coached by Gavin Grillo and Mike Tarrants. A typical Tuesday practice for the group up front consists of stretching and chute work to promote hip flexibility. The menu of drills that follow include work on hook blocks, down blocks, double team blocks, and fold blocks. This is a warmup for the group prior to hitting the 3-man sled where rolling of the hips and short choppy steps are encouraged to foster proper low leverage. The culmination of this work spills into the “spirited” inside run period where the offensive and defensive lines attempt to execute the fundamentals they have worked on so diligently to determine who is better prepared to control the line of scrimmage. This along with the team offense and defense periods that follow are all recorded under the watchful eye of a video camera, the results from which the group will view at the end of practice to find opportunities for improvement. This rigorous schedule of physical contact in close quarters is akin to a fight taking place in a phone booth. Soreness and pain become the norm for those who choose to subject themselves to this gauntlet. So is the type of strong bond that is created only

by going through this process together. Tarrants is proud of the group he coaches. One of the best compliments received by the Eagles offensive line this season came from an opponent. Greg Reynolds was the long time head football coach at Park Hill High School who now coaches the defensive line at Oak Park High School. Following a week two loss by Oak Park to Grain Valley, Reynolds shared with Allie and Tarrants that their offensive line doesn’t look like much until the football is snapped. “That was a nice compliment from Coach Reynolds,” Tarrants said. “This group puts in the work. There is some grit to this group, and they are one of the closest groups that I have ever coached. They spend a lot of time together outside of the sport and it shows.” The Eagles offensive line can quantify their success past compliments. The numbers speak for themselves. Grain Valley has gained a total of 2,926 rushing yards so far this season on 408 rushing attempts, good for a 7.1 yard per rush average. No doubt a rushing average that would be the envy of many football coaches at any level. Each member of the Eagles offensive line shared their thoughts in a series of get to know you questions as they prepare for their matchup with the Platte County Pirates on November 20th at 7:00 pm.

What is your favorite food? “I like a good Kansas City strip steak. Medium rare, it has to have some red to it,” Hinton said.

What is the hardest thing about playing football? “I try not to take the competition personal, which I fail at every game. I still hate the other guy I go against for a while after the game. It keeps me driven, but I am trying to grow in that area,” Terry said.

What is the best thing about playing offensive line? “A lot of guys don’t expect me to be able to block like I can due to my size. I surprise a few every now and then by flat backing them,” Heitman said. Left to right: Cooper Terry, Jack Bailey, Donovan McBride, Landen Hinton, and Connor Heitman. Photo credit: Valley News staff

Eagles offensive line works on hook blocking from under the chute. Photo credit: Valley News staff

If you could play football with anyone besides present company, who would it be and why? “I would choose Ray Lewis. He’s a motivational guy who could get me to run through a brick wall,” McBride said.

Do you have a prediction for the football game this Friday against Platte County? “We will take care of business. This team will be as physical as possible. We look forward to the opportunity,” Bailey said.

elated with this change in the Eagles keep our defense off the field, which we defensive game plan that permitted him didn’t do a good enough job of the first to attain 8.5 tackles, a fumble recovery, time we played them,” Allie said. and 3.5 sacks for the game. McCoy had to “We were able to get better production catch his breath and slow down his on first and second down tonight with speaking rate due to his excitement when ‘Rhino.’ (Cole) Keller did a good job tonight asked about his effort and his team’s at the line of scrimmage in getting us in victory. the right play against their 3-4 defense.” “My teammates are great. This is great. Allie continued, “Our kids have shown We were great up front tonight on tremendous resilience tonight, as they defense,” McCoy said. have all season. We are in week twelve “I was able to get to the edge faster and we didn’t know if we would get past tonight because we were slanted in our week six (with the pandemic). Every game stances. Us having an advantage after our is a big game because we are in it, and first step gave us even more energy due our kids have bought into that.” to our success. Stemming late also gave “We wanted to get (Parker) Bosserman us an edge.” touches due to him being an explosive Offensively, the Eagles under the athlete. We thought he would match up direction of head coach David Allie were well against their athleticism, and that’s successful in scheming a way to why we wanted to get him touches early neutralize the blitzes and speed they on and throughout the game.” struggled to overcome in their earlier Bosserman would make good with the season matchup against Raytown. The trust bestowed on him by his coaching result of two bye weeks for the Eagles staff in collecting 95 yards on the ground (with William Chrisman’s forfeit the week to couple with a rushing touchdown at the prior to due to COVID-19) was Allie 8 minute mark of the first quarter. Equally constructing an offensive formation that as impressive to Bosserman’s rushing would hold the Blue Jays defense at bay. would be his display of punting on special The shotgun wishbone or “Rhino” teams that permitted the Eagles to formation that Grain Valley unveiled favorably flip field position when needed. consisted of quarterback Cole Keller being “To be honest, I didn’t know how long flanked on either side by Newsom and we would be in ‘Rhino’ tonight. I was fellow running back Jaxon Wyatt along shocked early with how well we ran the with Parker Bosserman lined up at football against them,” Bosserman said. tailback directly behind Keller. “I was excited to be in the backfield The advantage gained from the though. That was fun. I was yelling at our shotgun wishbone or “Rhino” formation is offensive line in practice all week and they that the second and third levels of a definitely delivered.” defense must respect the option Equally as impressive to Bosserman on possibilities out of the look and play more the ground was Keller for the Eagles. Grain assignment oriented football in Valley’s signal caller would contribute 148 accounting for all the offensive yards and 3 rushing touchdowns on alternatives in the backfield. The result is option keeps read correctly against a defense that is more selective on when Raytown’s defensive ends. Keller would they bring pressure with the blitz. It also add a touchdown completion for 52 yards becomes easier for the offense to to junior wide receiver Logan Pratt with 14 generate “vertical push” at the line of seconds left in the first half. scrimmage by sending multiple lead Keller was pleased that the offensive blockers to a gap on isolation or “iso” game plan for the Eagles worked well in plays. securing a big playoff win for the Eagles. Allie informed his team before the “They are a big team who have some game to “be prepared” to stay in Rhino the two way players. We struggled with their whole game if it works. The Eagles did not size the first time we played them. We break from the formation until the third wanted to tire them out by playing fast quarter. The result being the Eagles and going no huddle. We had confidence rushing for 267 yards on 39 attempts, that we were well conditioned enough to good for a 6.8 yards per carry average. get it done,” Keller said. “We knew against a big and fast team Grain Valley improves to 10-1 on the like that we would need to run vertically. season. They will next travel to play the We struggled the last time we played Platte County Pirates in the state them blocking the backside ‘A gap’ in our quarterfinal round of the playoffs on one back set. Our ‘Rhino’ formation November 20th at 7:00 pm. allowed us to run the ball successfully and

Thursday, November 19, 2020 Grain Valley Historical Society Meeting 7:00pm Grain Valley Historical Society, 506 S Main

Saturday, November 21, 2020 Handgun:: Basic Pistol 8:00am—10:00am Lake City Shooting Range, 28505 E Truman Road Register: 816-249-3194

Discover Nature: Winter Tree ID 10:00am—11:00am Burr Oak Woods Conservation Nature Center Attend this hands-on workshop to learn the tips and tricks to tree identification throughout the seasons. Registration required: 816-228-3766

Monday, November 23, 2020 Virtual Holiday Lighting Armstrong Park and Mayor’s Christmas Tree 6:30pm Tune in to City of Grain Valley on Facebook Live as Mayor Johnston flips the switch to illuminate Armstrong Park and the Mayor’s Christmas tree.

Board of Aldermen Meeting 7:00pm Grain Valley City Hall, 711 S Main Tuesday, November 24, 2020 Exploring Cash Apps 2:00pm—2:30pm www.mymcpl.org/events Sending friends money to do your Black Friday shopping for you or just trying to stay a little safer on your Cyber Monday shopping spree? Explore a few cash apps that could make life easier for you.

Thursday, November 26, 2020 Thanksgiving Day City Hall Closed Grain Valley Schools closed

Saturday, November 28, 2020 Discover Nature: Nature Gratitude Hunt 1:00pm—1:30pm 1:45pm—2:15pm 2:30pm—3:00pm Burr Oak Woods Conservation Nature Center, Blue Springs Search the trails near the Nature Center to find hidden “pumpkins” of knowledge about special things only the natural world can do for us. Collect four gratitude pumpkins to redeem for a special prize. Register: 816-228-3766

Monday, December 14, 2020 Board of Aldermen Meeting 7:00pm Grain Valley City Hall, 711 S Main