These aren?t the dimensions of running backs on the Mishawaka High School football team.
It?s the Cavemen offensive line.In this case, big pops come in small packages.
Trey Stoops (6-0, 230) and Zach Lytle (6-4, 235) are the only Cavemen who even remotely resemble a prototype of a high school offensive linemen.
It must be something else.
Mishawaka?s ?Crazed Dogs,? as they are affectionately called, played a significant role in paving the way for 480 rushing yards ? more than a quarter-mile ? and 57 points in last Friday?s win at Portage.
Give quarterback Sam Schrader and running backs Matt Carver and Tyler McDonald their due. They carried the load. But open lanes make for big gains.
?We?ve got a lot of blue collar-type of linemen,? said Cavemen line coach Mike Buchmann. ?Some of them (Schmatz and Hixenbaugh) had to play last year before they were really ready (because of injuries). They got blown up pretty good. Now, they?re reaping the rewards of experience.?
?I had no business playing on a varsity field last year,? said Hixenbaugh, who was 30 pounds lighter. ?Every week I was really sore. It was bad.?
That little pit bull of a center is the one dishing out the pain this season.
?We?re not very big, but we?ve got a lot of heart,? Hixenbaugh said. ?This line is built for the kind of offense we run ? low to the ground.?
?We own that 18 inches,? Schmatz said of the neutral zone between the offensive and defensive linemen. ?That?s the way we approach it.
?The way we move, we try to avoid the guy directly across from us and hit somebody else.?
Cavemen head coach Bart Curtis has courted the evolution of the option offense from a science to an art.
When done in the symphony of precision, it?s an offense that can fluster and frustrate.
?We learned a lot (against Portage),? said Stoops. ?We got up 14-0 (in the first quarter) and started celebrating. We thought the game was over. Next thing we know, we?re down at halftime (28-21). We learned that when you?ve got your foot on (the opponent?s) throat, you?ve gotta keep it there.?
Those feet will have a pretty big challenge Friday night when the Cavemen put their dynamic attack up against Penn, which allowed Valparaiso just 147 rushing yards in a 35-28 victory last week.
?Just another game,? said tackle Nick Shide.
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