They are the often overlooked unsung heroes of football, but for the Caledonia High School Confederates (2-0), its offensive line was one of its best weapons in a 66-12 mauling of the West Lowndes High School Panthers (1-1). The hard work of the line allowed the Confederates to put up 393 yards in total offense, 48 of the yards coming from passing.
“The line allows me time to set up and make the plays,” junior quarterback Ben Marchbanks said. “I’ve grown to trust those guys a lot. We’re like a family now.”
The Confederates held a strong offensive movement all night, scoring on all drives but one.
“I’m proud of my guys,” assistant coach Mark Hysaw said. “We just try to get them to do their jobs and they did a good job of making their blocking assignments and running the right routes. I was pleased with a lot of individual performances that contributed to the team. The offensive line did a good job of blocking and doing their individual assignments. They were just doing what they were supposed to do and not worrying about what the next guy was supposed to be doing. We also got some god performances from our fullback Cole Bruce. He normally does a lot of blocking but he got a lot of yards in the West Lowndes Game.
Senior lineman Garret Wester said the relatively new line seemed to be clicking.
“I’m the only returning senior on the line,” Wester said. “But we are starting to play together really well. We just work hard in practice and play together as a team. Even though we’ve only played two games, we are playing like we are a family.”
With 393 yards in rushing, Panthers Coach Anthony King also noticed the hard work of the Confederates offense and its line.
“They just outplayed us in every way,”King said. “Their offensive line did a great job of blocking and blocking for the quarterback.”
With West Lowndes under their belt, the Confederates will host Heritage Academy Friday night. In their first match, the Patriots beat the Confederates 48-45. Hysaw said he hopes for an explosive offensive showing next week as well.
“Some of our backs have been playing together for years,” said Hysaw. “It has taken them a while but they are starting to play better as a team. We made some mistakes Friday night and we are going to have to work on those this week. We definitely have some things to clean up. We are just taking it week by week and this week we have Heritage. We were over confident last year and they came to play hard. Hopefully, we will play better this time.”
Jeff Clark was previously a reporter for The Dispatch.
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