FRIDAY NIGHT REWIND: Barbs' lines push around Hubs
By JAMES NOKES
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sports@daily-chronicle.com
DeKALB – It all starts up front.
DeKalb coach Marty Sanders said that last week. So did Batavia coach Mike Gaspari.
The difference in a 23-16 win over Rochelle on Friday at Huskie Stadium was the work the Barbs were able to do in the trenches.
“They did an amazing job on the offensive line,” said running back Spencer Blank-Jones, who had 114 yards.
Throughout the game, Donnelly was able to keep plays alive with his feet. He would reverse field, juke, jive and run with reckless abandon. But on each of his three touchdown runs (23, 35 and 60 yards), Donnelly received crushing blocks from linemen who sealed the edge and allowed him to turn his pads up field.
“We felt like we were quicker at certain positions,” DeKalb coach Marty Sanders said. “We thought we could make their spy backer miss and utilize Dylan’s speed. I thought our offensive line did a great job. They might not have owned the line of scrimmage, but they sustained their blocks, stayed in space and shadowed defensive linemen.”
The hold steady: The DeKalb defense had held the Hubs to 0-for-2 on fourth down in the second half.
When the Barbs needed their own fourth-down conversion they turned to quarterback Frank Petras. The senior was the starter at the beginning of the season but gradually ceded most of the snaps to Donnelly as the Barbs' predominant formation became the shotgun set Wild Crow.
Needing an inch for a first down inside the Hubs’ 30-yard line, Petras stepped under center, took the snap lunged ahead and was met by a massive wall of Rochelle resistance. With a spin move and a dive forward, Petras gained three yards, a first down and moved into Jake Gordon’s field-goal range.
Not again: Rochelle needed four plays to score. It looked like DeKalb was in trouble early as the Hubs’ offensive line was dominant on the game-opening drive.
“We started off slow at first but were lucky to get some turnovers,” Blank-Jones said. “Our D-Line did a good job of staying low; they were beasts.”
Offensive players of the week: The offensive Line. Quarterback Dylan Donnelly and running back Spencer Blank-Jones were a potent combo. A week after being pushed around at Batavia, the line was able to get enough push and move in space to allow the senior quarterback to stretch the edge of the field with Ferrari-like acceleration and feet more nimble than a tap dancer. Blank-Jones pushed the pile with grueling runs when necessary and also had running lanes because of the attention Donnelly commanded. DeKalb outgained Rochelle, 412-375.
Defensive players of the week: The Defensive Line. The DeKalb linebackers were able to scrape and flow to the ball as Rochelle was shut out in the second half. Troy Talaga, Bobby Russell, Dalton Watie and Blank-Jones recovered fumbles.
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