REFORM, Ala. — Tempo doesn’t bother Zev Finch.
Typically, shouts like the ones heard from the Pickens County High School football coach Patrick Plott — “Get on the ball. Get on the ball.” — would drive an offensive lineman to exhaustion.
But Finch and his linemates have learned something about training for marathons ever since Plott came back to the school in 2011 for his second stint as football coach. When Plott returned, he re-installed a high-octane, take-no-prisoners attack that relies on speed and the Tornadoes’ depth at the skill positions to keep defenses on their heels.
While some offensive lines would struggle to keep up with speedsters like quarterback Devonte Simon and running back Jermarcus Brown, Finch and his linemates are doing just fine. Granted, they likely wouldn’t win many 40-yard dashes, but they have found their niche when it comes to pushing the Tornadoes across the goal line.
“It really started in the summer,” Finch said. “We conditioned a lot every day. It ain’t so much trying to get into that rhythm, it is just trying to remember to stay there and to keep it going.”
Top-ranked Pickens County (14-0) will try to complete an undefeated season at 3 p.m. Thursday when it takes on No. 2 Maplesville in the Alabama High School Athletic Association Class 1A state title game at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, Ala. Pickens County enters the matchup averaging 45 points per game (630 points). Maplesville, which has scored 734 points (52.4 ppg.), is one of the few teams in the state that can match Pickens County’s firepower. According to the AHSAA web site, Maplesville could break Demopolis’ state record for points in a season (761, 2004).
Pickens County has eclipsed its scoring output of 588 points in 2012 thanks to the running of Brown, who has rushed for more than 2,300 yards and 35 touchdowns, and Simon, who has rushed for more than 1,000 yards and 17 touchdowns and has thrown for more than 1,600 yards and 19 touchdowns.
Plott credits the offensive line of Finch, Chris Hill, Malek Steele, Dontae Hughes, Delvin Spruill, and Chris Cobb for paving the way for a lot of the Tornadoes’ success.
“We always know that it starts up front, and those guys have played well all year,” Plott said. “They have done a good job of getting better as the season has progressed, and coach (Jermel) Bell does a great job with them and stays on them about communicating with each other, and they have gotten better doing that as well.”
Bell played offensive line at Midfield High in Birmingham, Ala., and then went on to play at Miles (Ala.) College. In his second season as offensive/defensive line coach, Bell said the players invested in their conditioning in the offseason, so Plott’s down-hill style of offense wasn’t a fatiguing proposition.
“We have kept the same tempo, and we just want to increase the tempo every time we run,” Bell said. “If we can move it a little faster, we are going to move it a little faster, but the tempo stays the same. The guys know it, and that is the way it has been since day one.”
Bell said communication and staying on blocks until the whistle blows are keys for the offensive line. He said maintaining consistent aggressiveness is another important aspect that prevents the offensive lineman for taking Brown, Simon, or any of the other Tornadoes for granted. He agrees it could be easy for any offensive line to let up a little bit knowing they have skill position players behind them who can make defenders miss. But he has been pleased that the offensive linemen have been consistent no matter who is running or who is throwing the ball.
“They don’t look at the running back and they’re doing, but that is motivation to know that if I make a key block, my guy has a chance to score every time he touches the ball,” Bell said. “If they have that mind-set, we’re going in the right direction.”
With the offensive line leading the way, more often than not the Tornadoes are going downhill with only the end zone in their sights. Finch is eager to take that final step and show he and his linemates can keep up the tempo on one of the state’s biggest stages.
“We try to get on the ball, do our assignments, and let the backs do what they do,” Finch said. “It is just smash-mouth (football). … Coach Plott has us every day going until to the whistle blows. When the whistle blows, the play is done and we get up and get ready for the next one.”
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor.
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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