Canyon Eagles offensive line
On the field: Canyon’s starting offensive line unit of Bryson Baldwin (6-foot-3, 285-pounds), Jace Forney (6-2, 305-pounds), Bennett Johnson (6-0, 240-pounds), Wesley Millican (6-3, 285-pounds), and Oliver Gordon (6-3, 220-pounds) make up one of the better fronts in all of West Texas. Behind this powerhouse group, the Eagles have become a punishing run team that are wearing opponents out by rushing for 329 yards per game (1,974 total rush yards) with 26 rushing touchdowns on the year. This skilled group grades out at 85 percent through the first six games for head coach Matt Lovorn’s team and have totaled 29 pancake blocks while only allowing five sacks. Behind these lineman, running back Austin Turner has benefited rushing for a team-high 817 yards followed by quarterback Brox Hacker with 418 yards.
Coach Matt Lovorn: “This is a special group. We knew the potential was there with them in the offseason and we are seeing that potential come full circle now. We even have a couple of backups that rotate in throughout games and that’s very rare. Bringing in a good friend Jonathan Murphy (former Stratford head football coach) has been huge. Murphy is very detailed oriented and has helped the guys with their footwork and movement. These guys have been able to gain leverage and they all block together and help each other out. We rarely see man on man blocks. They use one another to move defenders and they always stay low.”
Millican: “The goal is to always get movement and beat the guy in front of you. We want to push them and create a lane for the running backs and we’re lucky to have great depth in our backfield. We’re all working together and we’re getting great pushes this year and all of the guys are driving off the ball. I think we are playing great and we’re just getting better. We have to keep striving though if we want to get better.”
Baldwin: “I was on JV last year, but I watched the guys on varsity and I saw what a dominating line they were. I learned a lot from the guys in front of me and the guys from last year. I’ve learned how to drive defenders and get that push that coach (Jonathan) Murphy is always talking about. When we end a game and I see are running backs had big nights and went for big yards, that puts a smile on my face. That means we did our job and we love working together to make it happen.”
