LOCAL LINEMEN RISE UP TO THE CHALLENGE
High school heavies test themselves in unique events at RPI
TROY, N.Y. » The Capital Region biggest men on the high school campus were out in force Saturday night, gathered at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Stadium Field to take part in the 14th annual Lineman Challenge to find out who could push, pull, throw and bench the most in the Capital Region.
More than 20 teams of football linemen took part annual test of strength, skill and stamina, looking for bragging rights and building team chemistry throughout the 11-station event.
“There was nothing fun for the offensive linemen to do as an event,” Lineman Challenge creator Steve Hladio said. “They have 7-on-7s and stuff and we were sitting around watching strongmen competitions and said ‘We can give these kids a chance to compete in these events’ and they all apply somehow to football and offensive line play.”
The RPI offensive line coach incorporates 11 different testing stations for the five-man units to take part in, stops like an 185-pound bench press, pushing a blocking sled with weights attached, a lineman agility drill to unique events like a 45-pound sand bag throw from a kneeling position, the 70-pound farmer’s weight carry and the ‘Shiver’ the rolling of an oversized ball around a coned course.
“We’ve changed the event, it used to be an individual competition, but we made it more of a team competition, it’s all relaytype stuff,” Hladio said. “We add events, change events every so often, to spice it up a little bit.”
Current Averill Park defensive coordinator and line coach Kevin Earl enjoyed his first-time at the event, returning to the RPI campus where he the RPI head coach from 1984-1988.
“Some of the kids have done it before,” Kevin Earl said. “We meet once a week for four weeks in the off-season and do crazy stuff like this just to have a little fun and that’s what this is about.
“The perimeter guys, they get 7-on-7 and that kind of stuff to take a little of the edge off of the weight room, so this is a day for these guys to blow off a little steam.”
Earl was taking notes at each station, recording how his Warriors did at each event. It was to record their successes as well as add the events for his off-season workouts.
“I went on-line and picked out different events, none of these that we did in our lineman challenge” Earl said. “We picked one drill each day and after we did our conditioning those four weeks we did one fun thing at the end and it was none of these.
“Now I have a repertoire of fun stuff to do to break things up and they can practice the event. I think some of the events there is a lot of tactics that go into it, also.”
One event that raised the eyebrows of several linemen was the long snapping station. Each lineman had the opportunity to snap a football towards an orange pail inserted in a piece of plywood with the bottom removed and a bag attached to catch the successful snaps.
More than one lineman commented that they had never snapped a football before; their only time touching the pigskin came during fumble drills. It also brought a laugh out of Earl.
“We’re a Flex Bone team, we don’t even know what shotgun is,” Earl said. “That event was a wash for us, but it’s spending a Saturday afternoon with your teammates and same thing that happens in the weight room that happens at 7-on-7s, you get a little team feeling going.”
The stations were explained and tracked by college assistant coaches and current RPI players. The recorded scores were handed to Hladio who recorded them and the top 10 teams were awarded points in descending order.
“Size doesn’t matter, any team can take home the trophy,” Hladio said. “There are enough different events that you can have Cambridge and LaSalle in the smaller schools, there is enough different events where they can be successful also. It’s not necessarily a big school event all the time.”
Hladio takes the Lineman Challenge on the road, not limiting it to his own home stadium.
“New Jersey does a good job with it and we have one on Long Island that does a good job along with Westchester County,” Hladio said. “The marquee event is right here in Section II. These coaches come every year; some teams actually train for it. We try to make Section II the marquee event.
When all 24 teams completed the 11 stations, they all gathered for the night’s marquee event, the team tug-of-war.
Set up in a 24-team bracket format with byes for the top squads all leading up to a traditional Final Four and championship final. A 20-second battle of heavyweights, testing grip, grind and strength, completed after the opposition was pulled five yards past the opening mark or the furthest during the time limit.
In the final, it was guts over glory as Averill Park’s first squad pulled Shenendehowa’s top team past the mark to take the final event of the night in front of the entire camp.
We have two in Massachusetts, in New Jersey, Long Island. If I have a friend somewhere and I pitch him the idea, we’ll get 35 teams in New Jersey in two weeks.
When the final scores were tallied, including the tug-of-war, Bethlehem claimed it’s second-ever Lineman Challenge title, winning it in 2013. The Eagles captured the top score in four stations, the ‘Root’ or sled push relay, the team tire flip, the ‘Shiver’ or ball roll and the ‘Toss’ the sand bag toss. Colonie was second, taking the top spot in the ‘Farmer’ the 70-pound barbell weight carry, the ‘Sack’ agility drill, the ‘Mt Stack’ unstacking and running six weights 10 yards and the ‘Puller’ a team event, pulling a weighted sled 30-yards attached to a heavy rope. Averill Park was third overall, winning the ‘Lcone’ event, an agility drill around three cones. Shen finished in fourth-place winning the bench-press with 134-lifts with Cambridge and Bethlehem-2 tying in the long snap station.