Football 2016: They’re the big kids on the block

When Northwest’s Joey Gilbertson was in the third grade, he wanted to be a quarterback.

Trinity Academy’s Ben Adler, Newton’s Aidan Mills, Hutchinson’s Josh Rivas, and Maize’s Konner Swenson all had similar dreams of throwing stiff arms and scoring touchdowns some day. Then they grew, literally, up.

The group weighs close to a combined 1,450 pounds. They are all senior linemen from area high schools with aspirations of playing major-college football — Adler, Mills, and Rivas have orally committed to Kansas State, Gilbertson with Kansas, and Swenson hopes to garner interest soon.

Their dreams of clutching a football soaring across the goal line are still just that — dreams.

“I think we’ve all come to peace with it,” Gilbertson said. “Everybody wants to be the one scoring the touchdowns, but somebody has to block for them too.”

They have come to the realization the glory they once sought will likely never come. That’s just in the job description when you’re chasing pancakes, not touchdowns.

“We don’t really have outstanding plays,” Adler said. “We don’t have the one-handed catch and we’re not going to hurdle or jump over anybody. We don’t break anyone’s ankles. We just knock somebody down and call it good.”

But just because they grew up doesn’t mean they outgrew their dreams. They still plead with their coaches to allow them to show off their athleticism. If they could just sneak out one time for a pass or take a handoff at the goal line, just once, that’s all they want.

This is the story of growing up big.

‘I was stronger than everyone else’

Ben Adler and Konner Swenson came closest to living their dream.

Adler was a fullback and linebacker when he began playing in the third grade, while Swenson was actually a running back when he started in the fourth grade. But the bigger they grew, the harder it was to keep one of the biggest kids on the team off the line. Before each reached high school, the transition to the line had begun.

“I was still pretty quick and I thought I could still play the position, but the coaches told me if I wanted to play then I was going to be an offensive lineman,” Swenson said. “I kind of got thrown in there at left tackle and I’ve been there ever since.”

Gilbertson has always been big for his age and has never played anything but on the line.

“Right off the bat, I was just so much stronger than everyone else and it just kind of came natural to me,” Gilbertson said. “It was pretty fun for me to just throw people around.”

Being big growing up also had its benefits to Adler, who says he was constantly picked on by his older brother, Will, when they were growing up.

“He would want to fight me all the time, so I was just naturally good with my hands and my wrestling takedown moves,” Ben Adler said. “But the bigger and bigger I got, he stopped messing with me. He doesn’t want no part of me anymore. He tries to take credit for me being a good offensive lineman. I’m just like, ‘Shut up.’ ”

“I definitely try to stay clear of full-on fights now,” Will admitted. “I’ll still mess with him, you know, smack him in the head when he’s not looking. But ever since he hit that 300 mark, I kind of gave up trying to wrestle him.”

While the others have all grown up and orally committed to colleges, Swenson is still searching for his first major-college offer.

He feels even more pressure considering his sister, Keiryn, committed to run track at Arkansas, and his brother, Kameron, committed to Pittsburg State football before their senior years were finished.

“It’s always in the back of my head because I know they already had their college situations figured out,” Konner said. “I really want to follow in their footsteps. I know I’m going to be thinking about it during the season, making sure I did this and that so I’ll have good tapes for my highlight films. It’s definitely a lot of pressure.”

‘Without us, they would be nothing’

Unless something goes terribly wrong, it’s not likely the casual football fan is going to notice what goes on with the offensive line.

They see the quarterback step up in the pocket and deliver the touchdown pass. They see the running back shoot through the line, untouched, and sprint toward the end zone. What they don’t see is the left tackle protect the quarterback’s blind side or the right guard pulling and setting the lead block that sprung the running back.

“Without the line, the quarterback would be nothing and the running back would be nothing,” Adler said. “I don’t think people understand that. Yeah, the quarterback is a beast. Well, the quarterback couldn’t be a beast without the linemen.”

They appreciate coaches pointing out their importance of big plays during film study and always take note when their quarterbacks and running backs show them love in the media. They’re used to not being asked for interviews.

They’ve come to accept most people want to hear from the player scoring the touchdowns, not the one clearing the path for them.

“You get satisfaction when your offense scores touchdowns because you feel like you played a part in it,” Gilbertson said. “Pulling and lead blocking or making the final block, that’s a pretty big deal for us.”

They enjoy when coaches trust them in crucial situations. Need three yards on third down? Sure, there might be someone who wants the ball in their hands, but there’s also a blocker who wants to clear the way.

“I get the most fired up when it’s third down and we need three, four, five yards and they run behind me,” Adler said. “It’s either we get this or punt the ball, so I put it on myself to go knock down the guy in front of me and make sure we get six yards.”

Their athleticism goes unnoticed. Being a left tackle requires excellent footwork in order to back pedal and move side-to-side to protect the quarterback without any help to one side. Guards that pull have to have a burst of speed and be able to hit the hole before the running back arrives.

It’s the same type of pressure the skill positions face; it just goes overlooked.

“It is a lot of responsibility and you have to have speed and talent to play this position,” Swenson said. “I’ve really been working on my technique over the last year because the advantage on every play happens in that first half-second of every play. Whoever gets their hands up first and whoever is lower is going to win the battle.”

‘He’s going to get the job done every single time’

While outsiders may not understand the worth of what offensive linemen do, coaches and the beneficiaries of those that block love to rave about them.

“I know whenever we run to the left, it’s going to be open,” said Sam Schroeder, who will run behind Adler this year at Trinity. “And if I ever need a cutback lane, the left side is going to be open.”

“I love Joey because I know he’s going to get the job done every single time,” said Northwest running back Jahlyl Rounds. “Anytime I know I’m running behind him, I get excited because I know it’s going for a long run.”

Maize coach Gary Guzman loves to talk about Swenson’s athleticism. He could imagine Swenson playing tight end or fullback for the Eagles if they had the luxury of enough size they could replace him with on the line.

“He’s got these great feet and this great quickness for a big guy,” Guzman said. “We’ve timed him in the 40 and he’s under five seconds, which is pretty impressive for a kid his size. We like to pull him a lot where he’s either kicking out or he’s our lead blocker. He can be a skill guy if necessary.”

Adler is pushing 300 pounds, but also displays the athleticism that makes his coach also think he could play other positions.

“He’s not the fastest kid out there, but when you look at his size and you watch his feet and just the way he moves it’s very impressive,” Trinity coach Jared McDaniel said. “He’s a kid that can punt, throw a pass, run the ball, catch it, he can just about do all of it. He doesn’t have the body type to be a quarterback or a running back or else he could do a lot of it. He’s the total package.”

But what sets them all apart is their work ethic.

They go to camps, hone their technique, live in the weight room, and crave the pressure of being the guy to run behind. They take pride in their work, just like any other position.

“When it’s fourth-and-inches and there is a championship on the line, I don’t think it’s any secret we might run behind the guy who is 6-foot-4 and 295 pounds and going Division I,” Northwest coach Steve Martin said. “It’s pretty evident who we need to run behind.”

‘Happy to work in the background’

At least once a week, before a practice gets underway, Adler will try to reason with McDaniel on the potential for a pass play involving him.

“Catching the ball is fun,” Adler said. “I’ve talked to him so many times about putting in a tackle pass play or something like that. Don’t get me wrong, I like firing off the ball and hitting people every single play, but I think it would be kind of cool to catch a couple of balls every now and then.”

Swenson has made similar requests to his coach before his senior season.

“It’s fun to joke around with Coach Guzman and mess around with him about letting me play fullback for a play or tight end,” Swenson said. “I think it would be worth trying out.”

While they still are holding out hope they can score the touchdown of their dreams this fall, they all know they are where they belong.

On the line.

“We might not get the recognition we deserve,” Gilbertson said. “But at the end of the day, we’re more than happy to work in the background and get the job done.”

This story was originally published August 22, 2016 at 5:17 PM with the headline "Football 2016: They’re the big kids on the block."