FAYETTEVILLE -- The same running joke has been tossed around the Harmon football fieldhouse for years.
While Fayetteville competes at the top of the 7A-West Conference on the consistent basis, Bulldogs coaches have often noted the success has come despite a lack of bulk on the offensive line. Season after season Fayetteville wins, and yet the offensive linemen have usually remained undersized compared to the rest of the league.
The Skinny
Offensive Line
Biggest Strength: Experience and chemistry. … Three full-time starters return from last year’s offensive line and the entire starting five has valuable playing time under their belts.
Biggest Question Mark: Depth. … Not really a concern, but some of a reserves are inexperienced sophomores who could be pushed into action if injuries were to occur.
But this year, the old knock on the Bulldogs in the trenches appears to be no more.
"Last year when I hired coach Bryant Davis to coach the offensive line, we were replacing five new starters on the line and we weren't real big and weren't real strong," Fayetteville coach Daryl Patton said. "That's not a good combination to have.
"Coach Davis came in a did a great job, but we had a lot of struggles. But through the offseason, the kids have gotten better and stronger and now we're reaping the benefits."
The majority of that young line from 2013 now returns. And Davis can see a complete difference.
"It's been exponential," Davis said. "Being here a full year and having the terminology in place now, where last year I was just trying to learn everybody's name.
"So it's been a night a day difference from a year ago."
Senior Jackson McNeal (6-foot-2, 250 pounds) leads the group. McNeal plays right tackle and is one of the most intelligent players on Fayetteville team, both on and off the field.
"Jackson is really our anchor," Patton said. "He really leads us with his experience."
Junior Noah Johnson (6-4, 320) has a chance to be one of the best linemen to ever play at Fayetteville, Patton said. Johnson will start at right guard. Other returning letterman include Jonathan Betancourt (6-0, 260) at center and two-year starter Sam Threlkeld (5-10, 260) at left guard.
Senior Braxton Bradley (6-3, 280) moved in from Springdale High and will compete with senior Cooper Sone (6-2, 240) for the left tackle position.
"That was a position we didn't know about going into the spring," Patton said. "But with Braxton in there now, we feel like we have some depth now at that position."
Fayetteville hopes to use its experience and size up front to establish a strong running game this season. But just being bigger on the offensive line doesn't necessarily make for better run blockers, Patton believes.
"We've had some big kids who weren't very good at run blocking and we've had smaller guys who knew how to get into you," Patton said. "But what we have now is big kids who have good feet.
"They work hard on and off the field and they're very intelligent. So this is a night and day difference from where we were a year ago, and I think potentially it has a chance to be one of our best offensive lines."
While the experience in the starting group is a plus, the offensive line also features depth. And Davis feels comfortable with not just his starters, but several backups who will also play a significant role.
"My goal is to always have about eight or nine guys, in a worst-case scenario, that can be ready to play," Davis said. "It's always good to have a couple of sophomore that can learn the system and be ready to play and Ty Clary and Spencer Stone are those guys right now. And we've got some other guys who have been in the system for a full year and they have the right mindset.
"So we feel like we have those eight or nine guys who we can rotate in."
Sports on 08/21/2014