Two-way players fuel Mechanicsburg

DOUBLE DUTY

Nine Mechanicsburg players start on both offense and defense. They are:

Seniors

Dylan Hartley (OG/NG)

Alex Rhine (SE/CB/PK)

Kaleb Romero (QB/SS)

Tanner Smith (WB/OLB)

Alex Walton (OG/DE)

Tyler Wetzel (FL/CB)

Juniors

Dustin Knapp (TB/ILB)

Drew Meyers (TE/ILB)

Cannon Propst (OT/DT)

HOW TO GO

What: Mechanicsburg (11-0) vs. Marion Local (10-1) in the Division VI, Region 23 Championship

When: Friday, 7:30 p.m.

Where: Sidney High School

When sizing up the Mechanicsburg football team’s starting lineups heading into Friday night’s Division VI, Region 24 championship showdown with top-ranked Marion Local, don’t be surprised if you come away with a case of double vision.

That’s because the fifth-ranked, unbeaten Indians have nine players starting on both offense and defense. That’s nine two-way players filling 18 of the 22 offensive and defensive positions. Not a problem, says ’Burg coach Kurt Forrest.

“Without question, it’s a matter of pride and a matter of necessity,” said Forrest, in his fifth year at the Indians’ helm. “There’s a level of toughness knowing ‘I am not going to leave this field. It’s a 48-minute ballgame and I am going play all 48 of them.’ ”

Such is the plight of most small-school football programs. Having a smaller pool of students means fewer players to choose from in most cases.

“When you have 35-40 kids on a roster, including freshmen, and you are trying to play at a state-championship level, you know that there are going to be challenges,” said Forrest. “There just is a difference between a 15-year-old freshman boy and 18-year-old senior. It takes years to get ready to play at that level.

“If you want to compete at the highest level, and you only have a limited number of upperclassmen, your best players have to be out on the field.”

The Indians list 40 on their roster, 10 of whom are freshmen. Compare that to Marion Local’s 77, and you can understand the challenges that face Forrest.

“In a perfect world, you’d have a varsity, junior varsity and freshman team,” he said. “At our size of school, to do varsity and junior varsity is doing pretty well.”

Mechanicsburg’s players take the challenge in stride.

“Growing up in a small school, you know you are going to have to (play two ways),” said senior split end, cornerback and placekicker Alex Rhine. “Since we were little, it has been normal for us. Your adrenaline is going the entire game, so you feel very comfortable playing all the time.”

Obviously, success depends on the quality of conditioning.

“When people say the word conditioning, they automatically think of a lot of running. But it is more than that,” said Forrest. “It’s the way we practice. It’s the amount of plays we run. We lift for about 35 minutes after every practice. Our kids are stronger at the end of the season than at the beginning. You get in shape to play football by playing football.

“The amount of time put into conditioning also helps us stay healthy,” he added. “We’ve been fortunate in that regard. It’s your commitment to the weight room, taking care of your body and knowing you will take some bumps and bruises along the way that makes the difference.”

Junior tailback and inside linebacker Dustin Knapp spoke of that toughness.

“You have to be constantly practicing,” he said. “You have got to stay conditioned and play hard. Against Jefferson (last Friday‘s 56-20 win over Delphos), it was kind of tiring. It can take its toll on you. But you love it, being out there with your brothers.”

It takes more than just good conditioning, said senior star quarterback and strong safety Kaleb Romero.

“It requires a lot of dedication and hard work and intelligence,” he said. “You have to learn both of those jobs and do it the best that you can. There’s a lot of things that come into play.”

One of those is the increased contact.

“You are taking those hits twice as much.” Romero said. “It comes down to being mentally strong, knowing you have to do double of everything.”

Forrest is proud of his team’s attitude and work ethic.

“There’s a special toughness in a young man who understands, ‘I don’t have a position, I have multiple positions,’ ” said Forrest. “We have to coach our kids to be offensive, defensive and special team players. We ask a lot of them, and a lot of our coaches. You can’t let your lack of depth limit the potential of your kids.”

In fact, Mechanicsburg’s game plan seems counter-intuitive: Don’t worry about wearing down, but wear opponents down instead.

“When you play the style of football we do, we try to wear our opponents out,” Forrest said. “When you pound Kaleb (Romero) and Dustin (Knapp) at them consistently behind our big guys, that can wear a team out.”

Added Rhine: “When you take a step back, you don’t know how you do it, but you get satisfaction from wearing the other team down.”