Pick and Choose #2/See Grant Dickey

[50's PONY]

APACHE'S RELYING ON 'O' LINE




By: JOE BUIE, Staff Writer November 06, 2003





TJC OFFENSIVE LINE: Tyler Junior College's offensive linemen include (front row, from left) Grant Dickey, Brett McGehee, Donald Manning, (second row) Jerry Little, Ross Lewis, Josh Elmore and Richard Collier. (Staff Photo By: Joe Buie)


You know your offensive line has had an exceptional game when your quarterback is able to complete 18 passes and never get sacked.

In the case of Tyler Junior College quarterback Tony Eckert, who is more of a pocket passer, the fact that he had no rushing attempts last Saturday means he didn't have to scramble out of trouble.

Add to that Vincent Brown's 206 yards rushing and three touchdowns, and the Apaches' offensive line played a huge role in TJC's 31-30 overtime victory at Northeastern Oklahoma A&M.

"I was pretty happy about it," said TJC sophomore center Brett McGehee. "That's what we're supposed to do and I'm glad we were able to accomplish our goal."

TJC earned the regular-season conference championship and the top seed for the Southwest Junior College Football Conference playoffs with the win.

The Apaches also clinched home-field advantage for the postseason and will face No. 4 seed Kilgore in semifinal action Saturday at Rose Stadium.

Third-seeded Blinn will play at second-seeded NEO in the other conference semifinal. The winners will meet Nov. 15 for the right to advance to the Third Annual Heart of Texas Bowl Dec. 6 in Copperas Cove.

Blocking for a rushing attack that entered the NEO game struggling, the TJC offensive line paved the way for two impressive grind-it-out drives in the third quarter, as the Apaches outscored the Golden Norsemen 10-0 in the period.

The big play, a staple of TJC's offense all season, keyed the Apaches in the fourth quarter when Brown ran a counter play to the right side and scored from 73 yards out.

"That felt real good," said sophomore strong guard Ross Lewis. "All year we've been struggling and now all of the sudden we just bust one out on a rival of ours."

The Apaches averaged 8.2 yards per rushing attempt.

"You get a lot of confidence, too, going into the playoffs," added sophomore quick tackle Richard Collier, who's listed at 6-7, 351 pounds.

The rest of the offensive line comprises redshirt freshman Josh Elmore at quick guard; 6-7, 330-pound sophomore Jerry Little at strong tackle; Robert E. Lee graduate Grant Dickey rotating at strong guard and strong tackle; and sophomore Donald Manning backing up Collier.

The O-line is gearing up for its toughest matchup of any of the conference foes when it goes up against Kilgore's stellar defensive line and linebackers.

The Apaches managed just 80 yards rushing against Kilgore in a 20-10 non-conference victory, then produced just 2 yards rushing and 101 total yards in a 22-7 loss at Kilgore. That setback is TJC's only loss of the season.

"Obviously, it's frustrating. We know we can do better than that," said Dickey, a redshirt freshman who transferred from Alabama. "I don't feel like we should have had as much difficulty as we did. We've got a good group of guys."

The TJC linemen say Kilgore's starting defensive linemen and linebackers are the best in the conference as a whole - very athletic and sound in their technique.

"They swarm to the football and there's always more than one guy there to make the play," Dickey said.

Elmore is glad to be at Rose Stadium for the playoffs, instead of traveling back to Miami, Okla., to play NEO. That's where the Apaches would have ended up had they lost last week.

"It's always easier to play at home than it is to pack up and go somewhere else," Elmore said.

Joe Buie covers sports. He can be reached at 903.596.6293. e-mail: [email protected]


©Tyler Morning Telegraph 2003




Reader Opinions

[gostangs]

Given Bennett's use of JC's at Kansas St., its got to kill him that he can't really grab many for us - especially when you look at need. I betcha we see a few for next year - Turner and Copeland have got to get this done NOW.

[HorsePower]

I'm really in favor of improving with HS kids, but I be flexible on that issue