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Offensive line has huge role to play for Saint Mary's in Vanier Cup game |
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Written by Neil Stevens, THE CANADIAN PRESS
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Wednesday, 21 November 2007 |
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TORONTO - The battles in the trenches will go a long way towards determining who'll win the Vanier Cup on Friday night.
With all-star Saint Mary's quarterback Erik Glavic out with a torn knee ligament, the offensive line must protect seldom-used backup Ted Abraham and create holes to spring the running backs if the Huskies are to prevail.
"If we can win that battle, then we'll have a chance," says head coach Steve Sumarah. "It's going to be a big test, for sure."
While Sumarah's players worked out in pouring rain on the University of Toronto field Wednesday, Manitoba Bisons coach Brian Dobie shifted his team's workout to an indoor facility. The title game will be indoors at the Rogers Centre.
The Huskies, 9-1, have an offensive line composed of guards Derek Weber and Thomas Elineski, tackles Bryan Jordan and Isaac Robinson and centre Kyle McNeil.
A change in quarterbacks doesn't change their approach to university football's championship game.
"It's not really a matter of providing extra protection," says the six-foot-three, 260-pound Weber, who is from Whitby, Ont. "We always have to protect the quarterback no matter who's back there.
"We're just going to do what we always do, what we did to get here, and that's play hard-nosed football."
Robinson echoes Weber's comments.
"It doesn't really change anything for us," says the six-foot-six, 290-pound native of Halifax. "We don't have eyes in the back of our head.
"All I do is block the guy in front of me. We have confidence in everybody on the team. Missing one guy, obviously, it's huge. Let's not downplay it. It's Erik Glavic. He was a big part of our team this year. But everyone makes the offence run. I don't think it matters too much who we have in there. We're going to go out and give it our all and hopefully we come out on top."
Robinson is in his final year of eligibility.
"I'm lovin' it," he says of making it to the Vanier Cup in his fifth year. "I'm taking it all in.
"I want to go out with a bang, go out on top."
Bryan (Big Show) Jordan of London, Ont., is a six-foot-eight, 365-pound force, and he's well aware of what he'll be facing a mere one yard in front of him.
"They're probably the best D-line we've faced all year so we're going to have to get ready for that," says Jordan. "They're big guys with motors on them so we have our work cut out for us."
Abraham can get the job done, he chimes in.
"He's been in the system a long time," says Jordan. "He knows what's going on.
"He's a smart guy with nerves of steel so we should be good."
Elineski, a six-foot-two, 315-pound guard from Halifax, admits the onus is on the O-line more now that Glavic is out.
"We've got to be able to run the ball," he says. "We've been watching a lot of tape on their D-line and they don't bring much pressure.
"Their four D-linemen are good athletes so it's going to be a battle in the trenches for sure."
Jordan, Elineski, McNeil, Weber and Robinson are a team within a team.
"They are the tightest-knit guys on our team," says Abraham. "They're the biggest bruisers I've ever met."
Manitoba's formidable defensive line is comprised of ends Justin Shaw and Justin Cooper and tackles Don Oramasionwu and Simon Patrick. Cooper and Patrick are first-team all-Canadian.
"We have pride in our line, for sure," says the six-foot-four, 235-pound Shaw, who is from Victoria.
There is no mystery about their first priority.
"First of all, stop the run," says Shaw. "We're the first line of defence and we stop the run and work to go get the quarterback if it's a pass, and maybe hit him as hard as we possibly can."
He won't be intimdated by the size of Jordan and Co.
"I guarantee you, I'm a lot faster than he is," says Shaw. "He might have a size advantage, but I've got the speed advantage."
The Bisons are 11-0.
"We've been sort of a team of destiny, we've thought, this year," says Shaw. "If everything goes the way it has and we play to the best of our abilities, then I think we come out on top."
Cooper, a six-foot-one, 250-pound native of Red Deer, Alta., says defensive linemen have as strong a bond as the men on the other side of the line of scrimmage.
"There is a healthy competition within
our group, too," says Cooper. "That's why I think you'll see on Friday a D-line on a mission.
"That's kind of how we've been all year and we're definitely going to bring that Friday."
He doesn't mind that he doesn't play a more glamorous position.
"I've never been a media hog or a glory guy," says Cooper. "I like the job I do in the trenches.
"It's a perfect fit for me. I'm an aggressive kind of guy and it's an aggressive position to play. All the other guys would agree with me, that they wouldn't want to play any position other than defensive line. I'm perfectly happy with where I'm at."
The Bisons' defence has been practising on stopping the shovel passes and the bootleg plays they expect from the Huskies.
Oramasionwu says he doesn't care who takes the St. Mary's snaps.
"Regardless of who it is, we need to get pressure on him," says the six-foot-three, 255-pound native of Winnipeg. "Any quarterback with a D-line in his face isn't going to play that well."
Completing the season undefeated isn't a burning issue with the Bisons.
"We don't really care about being undefeated," says Oramasionwu. "We just wanted to be here at the end of the year playing for the Vanier Cup."
Patrick, a six-foot-three, 285-pounder from Calahoo, Alta., played junior football with Cooper in Edmonton.
"We'll get good contain on the outside with Shaw and Coop and me and Donnie in the middle will clean it up," says Patrick.
Quarterback John Makie calls the Bisons' defensive line "absolutely phenomenal."
"I consider myself to be a lucky man to be on this team because I don't have to face these guys," says Makie. "St. Mary's is going to have their hands full with these guys.
"They're a tough group and very aggressive. I love watching them."
When the two lines collide, sparks are bound to fly.
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 08 October 2008 )
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