#59 Sam Kachanuk - Senior from Havana, IL
#63 Ryan Ricketts - Junior from Galesburg, IL
#67 Brandon De La Cruz - Junior from West Palm Beach, FL
#68 Sean Sullivan - Junior from Park Ridge, IL
#70 Tyler Bode - Junior from Fountain Hills, AZ
#79 Nick Ziegenbein - Junior from Phoenix, AZ
#61 Eddie Atkinson - Sophomore from Crystal Lake, IL
#73 Matt Zobrist - Sophomore from Troy, IL
#55 Josh Baldus - R-Freshman from Palatine, IL
#58 Mitchell Wallin - R-Freshman from Normal, IL
#66 Jacob Judd - R-Freshman from Clinton, IA
#77 Jordan Detweiler - R-Freshman from Williamsburg, IA
#75 Joe Pyszka - R-Freshman from Peru, IL
#77 James Torgerson - R-Freshman from Springfield, IL
#64 Thomas Kirsch - Freshman from Hartland, WI
#65 Robert Young, Jr - Freshman from St. Louis, MO
#74 Brenden Jostes - Freshman from Farmington, IL
Brody Carls - Freshman from Pana, IL
A great O-line can make a HUGE difference in the output of a team’s offense. A good O-line can give the QB time to find open receivers and connect with solid passes, and can open up huge gaps for the RBs to charge through and gain yardage. A bad O-line means the QB spends a lot of time getting hurried or sacked and the RBs just run into a wall of defense and get nowhere. Good NFL QBs frequently recognize this fact and are known to buy presents and dinners for their O-Line.
It’s not easy to look at stats directly for the offensive line, since they’re not the ones running, catching (outside of the rare tipped ball), passing, kicking, etc. What you can look at, however, is some of the stats that the other offensive players are able to put up that can closely relate to the O-line performance.
Here’s a few comparisons between 2012 (the first number) and 2013 (the second number)
Rushing 1st Downs - 67 -> 115
Rushing TDs - 6 -> 13
3rd Down conversion - 25% -> 35.23%
Sacks against (and yardage lost) - 26 (170) -> 21 (124)
A large part of the improvement in all of those numbers (and many more) is due to the improvement in the O-Line.
Here’s a breakdown of what each of the players did last year:
Kachanuk - Guard (started 8 games, played in 10)
Ricketts - Center (started 10 games, played in 11)
De La Cruz - Guard (started 11 games, played all 12)
Sullivan - Guard (started 4 games, played all 12)
Bode - Played at Scottsdale CC in AZ, enrolled in January w/ 2 years eligibility remaining
Ziegenbein - Played at Glendale CC in AZ, 2 years eligibility remaining
Atkinson - played 2 games
Zobrist - no game action
Baldus, Wallin, Judd, Detweiler, Pyszka, Torgerson - all redshirted last season
Kirsch - Lettered in football, track, and wrestling; Second Team All-Conference in HS
Young - First Team All-District, Second Team All-State in HS
Jostes - Lettered in football, track/field, and wrestling; twice All-Conference, twice First Team Center, named All-State captain in HS
Carls - Lettered in football, basketball, and track/field; All-Conference in HS
Something else of note: at 6’9”, Ziegenbein is the tallest player in the entire MVFC. Indiana State, South Dakota State, and Southern Illinois have players listed at 6’8”.
No photo currently available for Brody Carls.
Scott Lawson - Board Admin