John Raffel
Sports Scene
It was another 9-0 regular season for the Ithaca Yellowjackets, and the offensive line played a key role in the offense’s success, as far as coach Terry Hessbrook was concerned.
Hessbrook refers to seniors Tyler Scott at offensive right tackle and Travis Wetzel at guard and junior Bradley Martyn at guard as “the mainstays of our offensive line.”
Scott is in his second year as a starter, and the improvement since last year has been noticeable.
“I’d say I’m a lot smarter than last year,” he said. “Physically, I’m where I was last year. It took me awhile to get into it. I’m a lot smarter than I was.”
When it comes to being a lineman, “quickness with my feet and my footwork is probably the strongest,” Scott said. “I’m picking up blitzes and am able to maintain my blocks.”
Scott said the line “might be even a little better off than we were last year. We lost two really talented, really smart seniors. We have three returning starters this year. Our other starters are physically capable and really smart. The three returning starters, me, Wetzel, and Martin have been able to pull it together. We’ve done some quality blocking so far.”
Travis Wetzel is an offensive and defensive guard who likewise was a key member of the 14-0 state championship team.
“I think I have improved a lot from last year,” he said. “I’ve definitely gotten a lot stronger and quicker. We worked hard during the off-season.”
“Our quarterbacks and receivers have been working well together,” Scott said. “With Garrett Miniard running the ball and others…on practice we’ve been able to get a lot of reps.”
“They have done everything we’ve asked them to do,” Hessbrook said. “We haven’t thrown the ball a lot. But on pass protection, we’ve asked them to provide it, and they’ve done that. They have jelled nicely together.”
Hessbrook also gave credit to two other Ithaca linemen. He noted that “Mike Mallory stepped in and has played well, and Josh Capen, another junior, has been doing a nice job.”
Coming off the 14-0 state championship season from 2010, Hessbrook himself was wondering how the Yellowjackets would come out against an excellent Williamston team in the season opener. He knew his offensive line needed to come through.
“We had quite a lot of experience there,” he said. “We needed them right off the bat; when we played Williamston, we ran effectively against them.”