Linemen find a source of praise, pride
Unnoticed on game day, big guys up front form bond in sledgehammer
Somebody needs to name this thing.
By all appearances it’s just a nondescript sledgehammer, the kind you’d find in any home improvement store. Black handle, black grip; your basic tool of destruction.
Following Thursday’s football practice at Capital High School, Cesar Granados carried that thing with him as if it were the Stanley Cup.
“It’s a pride thing,” he said, laying it on the ground next to him as he stopped for an interview. “It’s our thing, a lineman thing.”
For now, it’s simply a black sledgehammer. It’s existence is the brainchild of Capital assistant football coach Joe Jiron.
A big ugly at heart, he came up with the idea of rewarding the team’s strongest blocker during a contest known simply as the Lineman Boards. It pits each lineman against one another in a blocking drill.
The winner is the player who drives his opponent back the furthest. He then advances through the bracket-style format to the finals where the final two go head to head.
Eli Miramontes won the first four contests. Granados has it this week.
Together, the pair form the core of Capital’s offensive line that features three seniors, a junior and a sophomore. Granados and Miramontes are seniors, as is Antonio Ibarra. Clay Rhinehart is the junior while Roger Cruz is the 10th-grader.
They have paved the way for freshman running back sensation Luke Padilla to post consecutive 100-yard games, helping the Jaguars bounce back from a 1-3 start to reach .500 with two games left in the regular season.
A win Saturday at Albuquerque Academy would ensure a fourth straight non-losing regular season for Capital (4-4, 2-0 in District 2-5A). It would also be another step closer to the program’s second state playoff berth in three years, the last coming in 2015 when the Jaguars nearly pulled off a major upset in the first round at Roswell Goddard.
Many of the upperclassmen on this team were sophomores or freshmen that year, including Miramontes, Granados and Ibarra.
“For me, it really started freshman year when they had us practice with the varsity,” Miramontes said. “Doing that every day, it just stayed. It stayed. We developed that feeling of wanting to do better for the team and doing what we had to if we were going to win.”
If anyone loves a strong line that clears the path for a strong running game it’s Capital head coach Bill Moon. In his sixth season of his second tour of duty with the Jaguars, he has surrounded himself with likeminded assistants such as offensive line coach Justin Fuller.
He’s been on staff for five years, coaching the linemen the entire time.
“My favorite games are when we have 200-plus yards rushing and don’t throw the ball,” Fuller said. “I mean, yeah, pass protection is important and of course we want to do that, but I like having the line do its job and they only way we can run it is if they do what they have to do.”
Echoing Moon’s thoughts about the responsiveness of the players up front, Fuller said the easiest part of his gig is getting this group to pay attention and react to each circumstance.
“They listen,” he said. “They’re coachable and they do their job. It’s that simple. They don’t look for the praise. They just want to win.”
“It’s just our culture here,” Granados said. “Capital has always had a bunch of hardworking kids. Maybe not the best seasons, but we’ve always had a good group of working kids.”
Being part of the line means accepting the cold, hard fact that not everyone who pays to watch the Jaguars is going to notice much of the work they put in. When the cheers rise for a long run or completed pass, it’s the guy with the ball who gets the attention, not them.
“We usually don’t get any credit at all,” Miramontes said. “It’s usually the ball carriers, so coach just wanted to reward us and make everybody see what we can do. That’s why we have the hammer. They other guys get the cheers and we get this from the coaches. Yeah, it’s a pride thing.”
PREP NOTES
Capital: Jiron is the Jaguars’ offensive coordinator. Just hours before last week’s game against Española Valley, he learned that his father had passed away.
“I haven’t been sleeping much,” Jiron said. “My dad, he was my best friend. It hasn’t been easy.”
Late kickoffs: Saturday’s Meadow City Bowl between Robertson and West Las Vegas will get started at 2 p.m. at Cardinals Stadium. It’s a rivalry that has always been big in Las Vegas, N.M., but this year’s tilt is particularly large given that both teams are near the top of the latest Class 4A polls.
It’s also a huge game in the District 2/5-4A race as West Las Vegas (6-2, 4-0, ranked sixth) is tied for the district lead with St. Michael’s (7-1, 4-0, ranked second), just ahead of Robertson (7-1, 3-1, ranked fourth).
St. Michael’s has pushed its start time against Santa Fe Indian (4-5, 0-5) to 2:30 to accommodate student-athletes taking college entrance exams earlier in the day.
Being part of the line means accepting the cold, hard fact that not everyone who pays to watch the Jaguars is going to notice much of the work they put in.