Before this season started, the Meadowdale football team knew that its performance would hinge on its offensive line.
The Mavericks were planning on having two returning starting linemen, but after one had to retire due to a back injury and the other moved out of state, they were looking at the prospect of breaking in new varsity starters at all five positions.
At a preseason camp, new left tackle Bryce Chapman said to coach Matt Leonard, “Coach, if our line is OK, we’re going to have a good season.” Leonard responded, “If you guys are good, we’re going to have a great season.”
“That was in-the-moment coach-speak,” Leonard said, “but that’s exactly how things turned out. We knew they were the question mark (going into the season). Well, they answered the question. We wouldn’t have been able to do the things we’ve done this season without them.”
Meadowdale’s rebuilt line — Chapman, senior left guard Brendan Diaz, sophomore center Thomas Cheeney, junior right guard Eric Lee and sophomore right tackle Alex Maxwell — has been a big part of the Mavericks’ high-powered offense.
Meadowdale (10-2) has advanced to the 3A state tournament semifinal round; the Mavericks will take on top-ranked O’Dea on Saturday at Pop Keeney Stadium in Bothell.
“This group is more physical,” Leonard said, “and they have a bit of mean streak. They want to compete. In general they’ve grown together in (all areas). We have a multiple-(set) offense; we run different stuff and are hard to prepare for. The line’s strength is that it doesn’t have just one strength. They do everything well and are diversified.”
At the start of the season, the linemen were unsure of themselves, but used that uncertainty as a motivational tool.
“It was (hard) trying to figure out what (this) year was going to look like and how we were going to get through this,” Diaz said. “I have to be honest — I was really nervous at the beginning of the year. None of us really had that starter experience. That meant that we had something to prove. We were going to have to step it up from how we played last year.”
“We didn’t think that we were going to have the success that we did,” Chapman said. “Going into camp we knew we were the (unit) with the least experience, and that’s why we had the most to prove. All the other guys (had) success (in the past), and since we really didn’t, we made it a goal for all five of us and our backups as well that we needed to push ourselves harder than anyone else if our team was going to be successful. It was kind of cool to have that chip on our shoulder.”
The group struggled a bit at first. “We couldn’t run-block in camp; it was embarrassing to look at on film,” Chapman said. But the players quickly improved by relying on each other.
“They are all my brothers now,” Chapman said. “There is no ego. We are all one. We’re all able to talk to each other. We’re cohesive. It works out because of the chemistry. There’s a lot of trust. We like to say that we’re the personality of the team because we’re fun to talk to and whatnot, but we know that when it comes down to it, we have to do our jobs so that everyone else can get in the papers.”
One of the biggest reasons for the unit’s success has been new Mavericks offensive line coach James Harmon, who has excelled by setting realistic goals for his players and focusing on small details and repetition.
“(He’s) fantastic, maybe the best coach I’ve ever had,” Diaz said. “He is just so motivational. He knows what to say and when to say it, and does a good job of conveying what to do. He’s very patient, too, and that’s really good for us. We focus more on what exactly our plays are and how to run them rather than fundamental stuff.”
Before the season, the Mavericks’ offensive linemen had more experience on defense or at offensive skill positions. Maxwell, for instance, had thought he was going to be a tight end this year; he ended up as an all-Wesco 3A South first-team selection at right tackle.
So some of them had to not only learn how to play the offensive line at the varsity level, but learn to like the idea of becoming an offensive lineman. They had to “lose the ego at the door,” according to Chapman.
“I said to them at the start of the year that the season can’t go anywhere unless we get blocks, and they’re it,” Leonard said. “They may not have loved the idea at that time. It’s hard to play on the line — it’s an unglorified position. They may have wanted to get sacks or catch passes. But I like to think that winning tends to cure hangups. They embraced it.”
“I’m definitely proud to be a part of a line that’s gotten this many Ws,” Diaz said. “Instead of having (experienced) guys to lean on, we had to lean on each other and build our way up. We’ve been through so much together, and I wouldn’t want to do it with anybody else.”
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
