Offensive line stars in Mechanicsburg’s high-powered run game

Kaleb Romero and Dustin Knapp were standing next to the field, posing for celebratory pictures, when someone asked head coach Kurt Forrest to jump into the frame. With the coach between his quarterback and running back — arms around each other — the last picture was taken.

But the lasting image of Mechanicsburg’s 56-20 win over Delphos Jefferson in the D-VI regional semifinal will be the blocking show performed by the offensive line. The Mechanicsburg blockers mandhandled the Delphos Jefferson defense, were never flagged for holding, and cleared the way for 464 rushing yards.

“You can’t get long yardage, like 12-yard pops, without a good line,” Knapp said. “I wasn’t even touched on most of my runs until I was six yards deep.”

Romero, the fourth-year starting quarterback, rushed for a career-high 275 yards on 27 carries and scored four touchdowns. Knapp rushed for 174 yards on 28 carries and three touchdowns. The Indians scored a touchdown on each of their eight possessions.

“We know our line’s going to do their job and open holes for us to run,” Romero said.

The center is 6-foot-2, 235-pound Dylan Hartman. On what the Indians call the strong side, are 6-2, 235 senior guard Dylan Hartley, 6-2, 280 senior tackle Ethan Elliott and a tight end rotation of junior Drew Meyers and seniors Tanner Smith and Josh Kaster. On the quick side are 6-2, 210 senior guard Alex Walton and 6-0, 215 junior Cannon Propst. Forrest said they have mastered hand placement and footwoork, and bring great attitude and desire to the field.

“Those guys up front, they don’t get a whole lot of press, they don’t get a whole lot of love,” Forrest said. “They just show up and go to work every single day. And they’re extremely physical.”

Romero has rushed for 1,895 yards behind that line, but he also makes yards on his own. He did so with two escape-a-collapsing-pocket scrambles on a late first-half drive. The first play went for 41 yards. The second was a nine-yard touchdown when he was surrounded to give the Indians a 28-7 halftime lead.

Forrest doesn’t know how Romero does it.

“I’ve run out of adjectives to describe him other than I’m really glad he’s on my team,” Forrest said.

Knapp has 1,267 rushing yards, and Forrest said the 5-10, 185 junior has just begun to run with the power and determination he’s been pushing him toward.

“When you’re in playoffs you have to be a different person,” Knapp said. “You’ve got to step your game up five notches.”

The competition goes up a notch this Friday night. The Indians face powerhouse Marion Local in the regional final for the second straight year. The Flyers won 9-7 last year and reached the state final.

“They’re definitely going to come ready to play and hit us in the mouth,” Romero said. “And we’re planning to hit them right back. We know it’s going to be a dogfight, and we just have to go out there and play our best football. It’s going to be a heck of a game.”

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