John Raffel
Sports Scene
Larry Jose has had many fine football players over the years at Chippewa Hills.
But the Warrior coach is especially intrigued with senior defensive lineman Alex Barron, who is in his second varsity season.
“He’s done a good job for us,” Jose said, indicating that at times, Barron is asked to take on more than one blocker, and that opens up things for others in the Warrior defensive attack.
What has been especially impressive about Barron is that he’s 5’9″ but weighs 230 pounds, and he has been showing his strength on the defensive line as a captain.
“He definitely has more knowledge of the game this season,” Jose said, adding that Barron has also performed impressively at offensive guard.
He may get his fair share of tackles, but Barron takes pride in his vocal leadership.
“I try to take out the blocker so the linebackers can come in and make the tackle,” he said. “In our first game of the season, one of our linebackers had 28 tackles. We’re doing all right. There’s always room for improvement. We’re trying to get back to the basics instead of all the fancy stuff.”
Barron likes the strides he’s made from a season ago.
“Technique-wise we’ve improved a little bit,” Barron said. “We’re stronger now. We’ve done a lot of weight room stuff.”
As a result, Barron might be able to establish himself this season as one of the best blockers in the Central State Activities Association. But he considers defense to be his best spot.
Chippewa Hills started out 1-2, “but we’ll do better our next few games,” he said.