Shady Spring head coach Vince Culicerto was optimistic about his offensive line coming into the season and for good reason as he returned most of his starters on the front.
Friday the experience was on display as the Tigers piled up a season-high 302 rushing yards and over 400 yards of total offense in a 40-12 win over PikeView.
For their efforts the Tigers linemen have earned Lootpress Offensive Line of the Week honors.
Bralaen Holstein (Left tackle), Jon Cantley (LG), Nathan Hill (C), Joey Cowger (RG), John Hinkle (RT) were the hogs leading the way Friday night. They paved the way for Shady senior Gavin Davis who posted a career high 240 yards, scoring four touchdowns.
The Tigers have had to move some players around the front due to injuries but its worked out for them. Holstein was one of those players who was provided an opportunity Friday.
“Bralaen did a great job,” Culicerto said. “He’s our starting defensive end and super there and he’s played tight end up to this year. We moved him inside because he’s strong. He said he’d do it so he’d get a chance to play offense with some injuries and a couple of other kids we’ve had to spot in there too. Nathan Hill’s moved to center and we had Joey Cowger there. Cowger moved to guard.”
The plan going in was to run the ball and as the game unfolded the call proved correct.
“It was part of the game plan too,” Cuclierto said. “There have been a few games where I’ve looked at Gavin and told him we’d have to use him as a decoy and we faced a lot of teams playing man. Each week is different and with PikeView we felt we could run. We had good success the last couple of years running on them and that’s what we did. (QB) Brady (Green) got a little dinged up running too so we really relied on Gavin and the boys opened up the holes.”
It’s been a rewarding experience for Culicerto who’s acknowledged his line took its lumps last season but has grown and become more confident this season.
“They understand,” Culicerto said. “Sometimes when you’re a little undermanned, underweight against a bigger kid you might be more worried about that than who you’re supposed to block. You kind of make more mistakes when you’re younger and they’re more comfortable and bigger and stronger and they’re more comfortable and confident. They’ve reduced the amount of mistakes and they’re doing a better job and a lot of these guys are back next year which we’re happy about.”
Offensive Line of the Week winners
Week 1: James MonroeÂ
Week 2: Greenbrier West
Week 3: Nicholas County
Week 4: Summers County
Week 5: Shady SpringÂ
