Washington County Enterprise-Leader
Lincoln Linemen Pave Way For Monster Game
LINCOLN RUNNING BACK SALUTES OFFENSIVE LINE
LINCOLN — Tyler Cummings was voted Outstanding back of the 4A-1 Conference and with the honor named an Arkansas Coaches Association football West All-Star.
Lincoln’s go to guy on offense looked back on a season of prolific production in which he amassed a school record 2,058 rushing yards and 29 touchdowns knowing those feats were not accomplished entirely on his own athleticism.
Give therefore to everyone what you owe; … respect to whom respect, honor to whom honor. — Romans 3:17
After the season Cummings spoke about his linemen with a twist of irony involving right tackle Jake Davenport. The boys met in third grade when both attended Prairie Grove schools but when Cummings moved to Lincoln for seventh grade Davenport scoffed. The Wolves were pushovers on the football field at the time but Davenport began to take notice of improvement with the Class of 2014 making their mark in Lincoln athletics.
“He made fun of me,” Cummings said. “Then, in his junior year, he came over [ to Lincoln]. He fit in real well. Coach [ Brad] Harris worked him real hard and he obviously became a dominant lineman for us. He’s one of my best friends.”
Cummings’ habit of being on good terms with his blockers added additional motivation for the guys manning the trenches. He calls right guard Austin Thorpe another one of his best friends at Lincoln.
“He’s a great guy to be around. He can make you laugh at any time,” Cummings said. “He’s not the strongest or the biggest but the thing with Thorpe is he plays with his heart.”
Thorpe led the 2013 team in pancakes or knockdown blocks and Cummings noticed. “He’s one of our main pulling guards. He has good feet and good vision, just a good lineman. He definitely will be missed.”
Cummings also enjoyed a good relationship with center Ryan Riable, saying the snapper was probably one of the funniest linemen Lincoln had.
“He’s not the biggest, at 6-foot-1, 190 pounds, but he gets in there and he battles with his heart. He doesn’t let size limit what he can do. He’s one of those tough kids that loves contact.”
Cummings was impressed by left guard David Adams, who won a starting job as a sophomore coming back from an injury.
“You could tell it was bothering him a little bit in the summer,” Cummings said. “He’s one of the strongest guys we have.”
Adams played junior high football the previous year and dedicated himself to learning responsibilities of a varsity lineman.
“There’s a difference in the playbook between junior high and high school,” Cummings said. “He did a good job of knowing the plays and knowing where he needed to be. He did a real good job of putting his body out there and sacrificing that for the team.”
Cummings offered a very candid assessment of left tackle George Avenallenda.
“Oh he’s crazy, he’s a loose cannon. You never know if he’s going to knock the kid on his butt or forget what he’s supposed to do.”
Cummings said Avenallenda developed his technique so well the runningback could take a cue as to which way to run by following Avenallenda’s block.
“As the year progressed, he became a dominant lineman. He has good vision and good feet and that enables him to get between the defensive linemen and get to the linebackers. He would get his hips worked, which would tell me which way I needed to go. He did a real good job of battling.”
It was no secret Lincoln’s offense was fueled by Cummings’ running, yet opponents still couldn’t contain him and former Lincoln coach Brad Harris took advantage of defensive focus trying to disrupt the rhythm of Lincoln’s running game by mixing in play calls to burn them with passes. Equally importantly, he gave his son Drew, the starting quarterback, freedom to change plays at the line of scrimmage with often devastating results to a defensive pysche.
Against Dover with nine men stacked in the box, Drew completed a short, lateral pass to Alec Pitts matched up against one-on-one coverage on the left sideline. One quick juke and 90 yards later Pitts reached the end zone stunning the Pirates.
A similar strike occurred against U.S. 62 rival Farmington when Pitts was photographed making a touchdown catch. He was so wide open that in a sequence of photos it took four frames before any defender appeared and that was way too late.
Still the majority of plays involved five blockers up front paving the way for Cummings’s runs to daylight and Lincoln fans will long remember success powering Cummings to 415 yards and six touchdowns earning Lincoln their first ever road playoff victory at Malvern (41-21) and a home win vs. Nashville (27-14) to reach the state 4A quarterfinals with an 11-2 season record.