By Zack Cunningham/sportsreporter@trcle.com

The three remaining Johnson County playoff football teams each have a propensity for running the football.

While Grandview, Godley and Alvarado will throw the ball when the need presents itself, the identity of each of the three squads is cemented in a run-based offensive attack.

The coaches for each squad will tell you that the backs, quarterbacks and receivers of the Zebras, Wildcats and Indians would be going nowhere fast if it wasn’t for the diligent pounding of each unit’s offensive line.

For the Alvarado Indians, four seniors and a sophomore are the anchors up front for running backs Broam Hart (senior), Zach Ripley (junior) and Wayne Onderdonk (sophomore).

With speedy Tyler Bates also available, the linemen know the Indian backfield is loaded with talent, and that makes the job in the trenches a bit more enjoyable.

“It’s been great,” Alvarado senior lineman Brandon Garfias said. “We’ve been working hard and it makes it easy because we have backs that can run.”

At 5-9 and 260 pounds, Garfias is an example of the lack of height the Indians possess.

Fellow seniors Britton Moss (5-10, 195 pounds) and Nathan Donovan (5-10, 240 pounds) are in the same neighborhood while sophomore Jake Glasscock (6-0, 250 pounds) and senior Dustin Johnson (6-2, 245 pounds) represent the only faces over six feet tall on the front lines.

Moss said what Alvarado lacks in height, they make up for in technique.

“Most of us are a little bit smaller,” Moss said. “But we’re a lot quicker. It’s all mental and sometimes it’s pretty difficult [to block] because most of the time, they’re bigger and faster than us.

“We have a better technique than them. We try to get up under their pads.”

Donovan attributes the Indians’ success in the trenches to good coaching.

“We’re smart and we’re quick in short sprints,” Donovan said. “We have agility and our coaches always talk good on us. The way we were taught, if you want something bad enough then anything can happen.”

As another senior and the tallest one on the line, Johnson said the leadership mantle falls on him.

“I’m always looking out for people with me being the big guy on the line” Johnson said. “I’m always on the bottom of the pile. We’re all real quick, but our experience is the advantage.”

Experience is something Glasscock says he’s gained by being around his senior teammates this season, and it’s something that has helped provide the protection needed for Alvarado to churn out 3,210 rushing yards so far this season.

Hart has 1,768 of those and 15 touchdowns, while Onderdonk is averaging 10.1 yards per carry.

Ripley is averaging 9.3 yards per carry.

“The guys have helped me step up,” Glasscock said. “They’ve helped me correct a lot of stuff I didn’t know I’d been doing wrong.”

In the realm of Class 2A football, speedy teams such as Godley need stellar blocking from the hogs up front if the skill players are to utilize their quickness.

While the Godley offensive line will agree that they are undersized most of the time in games, they too possess a quickness off the ball that helps them clear holes for quarterback Riley Good and running back Landry Martinez.

“It’s a lot of fun, to be honest,” senior David Hultin, who checks in a 5-10, 225 pounds, said. “Blocking for those guys, you don’t have to give them a lot of time. If we can fit up for a couple of seconds, they can bust through.”

Trevor Hamilton is the tallest Wildcat on the line at 6-2 and 245 pounds.

Hamilton credits the line’s cohesiveness and communication for the success this season.

“We’ve been together forever,” Hamilton said. “We just know what to do. We get off the ball and hit them in the face.”

Fellow senior Taylor Williams, who comes in at 5-8, 215 pounds, said Godley’s quickness is more lethal when combined with a feisty attitude up front.

“The offensive line is all one person,” Williams said. “We’re all the same entity. We breathe and move and know what the other is thinking.

“We’re scrappy and it’s a dogfight every time we block.”

The lack of height clearly doesn’t bother Williams.

“We like to get up under their pads and use our shortness,” Williams said, smiling.

Senior Ryan Lidster had four words to describe the experience blocking for Godley in his final season.

“Amazing, awesome, great and awesome,” Lidster said.

And not necessarily in that order.

“I’m the biggest one that we have,” Lidster said. “We communicate with each other now. It’s a lot different than the past couple years.”

Junior Ryan Clewis, who is 5-8, 200 pounds, agrees that Godley supplements its lack of size with speed and technique.

“We’ve made a lot of improvements,” Clewis said. “I really like our program and what we’re doing.

“I think we’re doing good and helping our backs out a lot.”

The Grandview offensive line is anchored by a junior (Rodney Bosher) and a senior (Cal Knowles).

The two Zebras agree that the strength of the offensive line is just that; pure strength.

“We’re more oversized, if anything,” Knowles said. “Our advantage is definitely our strength. We’ve been up here during the summer and every morning working out and getting a lot better.

“We’re all pretty good sized boys up front.”

Knowles, who is 6-3 and 245 pounds, said having shifty runners like Daniel Spencer and quarterback Derek Jarrell in the backfield makes the blocking assignments easier.

Bosher, who is 5-10, 180 pounds, agrees.

“They’re incredible,” Bosher said. “Daniel has a lot of talent and he’s shifty.

“He can make anything out of nothing.”

All three teams are in action at 7:30 p.m. Friday.