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Panthers are holding the lineBy KEITH NIEBUHR
© St. Petersburg Times, LECANTO -- The running backs get the fanfare. They always do. But at the least, the guys up front at Lecanto can take solace in the fact somebody has noticed their contributions. Somebody pretty important -- Coach. "They're really playing together as a unit," Panthers coach Dick Slack said. "They've improved every week and are really coming together. We've always said that we're only going to go as far as the offensive line went." Thus far, the line has done its part. Behind the group of Nate Edwards (tight end), Skyler Gronert (left guard), Chris Reeves (right tackle), Billy Simmons (right guard), Jimmy Sudlow (center) and Ron Curtis (left tackle), Lecanto is averaging 373 rushing yards a game. In Monday night's 36-14 win over Citrus, the Panthers rushed for 455 yards -- the program's best total in recent memory. Lecanto, which plays at Springstead tonight at 7:30, is 2-1 for only the fourth time in school history. "Ninety percent of the credit goes to (the offensive line)," Panthers running back Terence Hollis said. "They're really firing off the ball." The line consists of five juniors and one senior, Simmons. In 2000, the group was young, inexperienced and, well, inconsistent. As a result, it wasn't very productive. Lecanto went 0-10. "We had so many sophomores last year that, basically, we were a junior varsity team playing a varsity schedule," Slack said. "They took a lot of hard knocks, but it was a good experience for them. It helped them learn to get through adversity. And now they understand how important it is to work at practice." Inexperience wasn't the only problem in 2000. "Last year, everybody wanted to do their own thing," Simmons said. "That's the biggest difference. Last year, we didn't have good attitudes. I don't know why, but now, we all get along a lot better. It's more fun. It's fun when you make your block, look downfield and see a guy running into the end zone." The unit began to gel last winter, in particular, in the weight room. "We're about 110 percent better," Reeves said. "We all started working out and conditioning more together. That helped. Now, we're starting to work as a team." The results have been somewhat staggering. In a 13-12 opening loss to Tavares, Lecanto rushed for 331 yards. The Panthers ran for 334 yards the following week in a 26-13 win over Central, which snapped a 13-game losing streak. Then came the 455-yard effort. 'I always knew they would improve," Slack said. The line, which averages 206 pounds per man, is by no means a large group. Its strengths are cohesion, desire and work ethic, Slack said. The linemen are driven to succeed, not by the off chance they might receive some notoriety. "Every newspaper always gives the running backs all the attention when they do well," Reeves said. "But you can't have one without the other."
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
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