Scary fast
Published 12:12 am Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Speed has quite a reputation.
Some say it thrills and others claim it kills.
In football, speed is a highly coveted asset, especially at the high school level. A particularly fast prep player can completely change the flow of a game, and a team blessed with several sturdy speedsters can often overcome a significant size disadvantage.
Speed is valuable for skill players – quarterbacks, ball carriers and receivers – but it also can be devastatingly effective at other positions.
Here’s a look at some of the area’s top returning high school gridiron players who dominate all over the field by mixing uncommon speed with other key skills. This season they, and others like them, will prove that local sports fans with a need for speed don’t have to travel to Evergreen Speedway to get their fix.
Speed + fearlessness = dangerous
Lorne Bridgford doesn’t hesitate. When he sees an opening, he attacks it. Defenders try to stop him. Some end up wishing they hadn’t.
“Once I see the hole, I just run as hard as I can and then if there’s someone in the way, I just try to plow through them,” said Bridgford, a senior running back from Cascade High School.
Last season Bridgford used a potent combination of speed and power to rush for 1,035 yards and 11 touchdowns. This fall, Bridgford, who has been timed at 4.59 seconds in the 40-yard dash, aims to pick up where he left off for Cascade.
“Speed is one thing, but he runs aggressively,” Bruins head coach Jake Huizinga said of the 6-foot-1, 185-pound fullback/safety. “That is perhaps the one thing that separates him from most guys. He’s not afraid of contact — to take it or deliver it.”
When Bridgford breaks free on offense, it’s all over in a blur. Last season he had two TD runs of 50-plus yards, including a 95-yard scoring eruption against Shorewood.
Bridgford “blows through them and blows by them,” said Huizinga.
Double threat
It’s a mind-boggling stat that seems more likely to occur in a video game than in reality: 11.1. That’s the average number of yards the Edmonds-Woodway High football team gained in 2006 every time quarterback Kyle McCartney threw a pass.
To put it in perspective, Marshall Lobbestael, the QB who last season led Oak Harbor High to the Class 4A state championship and received a football scholarship from Washington State University, averaged 8.6 yards per attempt, impressive but considerably less than McCartney.
Now a senior, E-W’s McCartney is back after passing for 28 TDs and 2,095 yards a year ago. The scariest part for opponents is that the 6-foot, 185-pounder has big-time wheels. Clocked at 4.51 in the 40, he’s the fastest guy on yet another talented Warriors team.
“He’ll be able to do more (as a QB) just because it’s his second year playing the position,” E-W coach John Gradwohl said. “The door’s open a little more. The game will be slower and clearer.”
McCartney, who rushed for more than 200 yards in ‘06, said he looks forward to using his legs more often this season: “Our team does a lot of sprint-out passes. It’s a threat not only to throw but also to run the ball.”
On defense, McCartney and Cascade’s Bridgford both excel as defensive backs, both at safety. Speed helps them break up pass attempts and get to the ball ultra-fast. Even if they misjudge something, speed helps them recover quickly.
Bomb squad
Hut, hut, hike … Boom!
A strong, fast group of defensive linemen can blow up an offense’s plans in a few blinks. Mariner High coach John Ondriezek, whose team might possess the most overall speed in the Western Conference, thinks his physical yet mobile D-line has what it takes to constantly harass opponents. The Marauders return six defensive starters and are picked by coaches to contend for the Wesco South Division championship. One of those returners is senior linebacker Matt Jones, who ranks No. 1 on The Herald’s list of the county’s fastest players (4.43 in the 40).
“One of our goals is to really be a top defensive team this year,” said Ondriezek. “Speed at the defensive line is very devastating to offenses. You get in the backfield and disrupt the entire offense.”
With a quick, stunting 5-3 system (five linemen and three linebackers), Mariner plans to dismantle opposing offenses and improve on its 2006 performance, when it allowed an average of 20 points per game, including an average of 32 in its three losses.
Speed when it matters
Running fast is impressive, but it’s not enough. To truly make an impact in football, a speedy player must have enough endurance to win four quarter’s worth of races.
And just because a player is fast in shorts and a T-shirt, there’s no guarantee it will translate the same in a game.
“The flat speed and football speed are different,” Snohomish coach Mark Perry said. “Sometimes you put your helmet and your shoulder pads on and you’re still running a 4.9 (40-yard dash), and that trackster, now he’s running 5.1 because he’s carrying that extra weight.”
Most important of all, a stopwatch doesn’t measure heart and desire. It can’t account for the adrenaline spike a player gets when he runs on the field before a game on Friday night.
In the end, speed definitely thrills, but those other qualities often win the game.
