Question answered: Seneca’s offensive line hasn’t missed a beat, kept things running

Seneca entered this fall coming off two seasons with 21 combined wins. Those two teams had rushed for an eye-popping 6,823 yards out of a power-T offense behind a strong offensive line.

However, the Fighting Irish returned just three starters on offense and none on the line.

So the question was how well would senior tight end Sam Finch, junior right tackle Zeb Maxwell, junior right guard Landen Venecia, senior center Kellen Arnold, junior guard Memphis Echeverria, junior left tackle Landyn Ramsey and junior tight end Brady Sheedy be able to carry the torch?

Answer: Seneca has rushed 327 times for 3,127 yards (9.6 per carry) this season with 40 touchdowns and is 9-1 as the team prepares for Saturday’s second-round Class 2A playoff game at Bismarck-Henning-Rossville-Alvin.

“I feel like as we’ve gone through the season our power as a line is getting a lot more downhill,” Ramsey said. “We all know what we have to do on every single play, and we have a bond. With every game this season I feel we’ve improved. I think we all just wanted to pick up where the guys that graduated last year left off.”

In last week’s 39-23 win over El-Paso-Gridley, Seneca exploded after trailing by four points at halftime, rushing for 211 of 336 yards in the final two quarters.

“The game is made up of two halves, so you can’t let, if you’re trailing at halftime like we were, get into your head,” Echeverria said. “You just have to keep going, which we did. We weren’t playing terrible, but it wasn’t up to our standards. We came out in the second half with more passion and more energy which helped us play much better after halftime.”

In the game, Brody Rademacher ran for 124 yards and Nick Grant 106, the 10th time this season an Irish back eclipsed 100-plus yards. In a postgame interview, Rademacher praised his line for their efforts.

“I feel like that’s our backs having and showing respect for what we do as linemen,” Venecia said. “It’s always great to get a shout-out like that because also respect what they do. My job is to block, theirs is to run and ours is to win. They are the guys that are going to get the touchdowns, headlines and stuff, but as a team we all know that we all have to work together to make the offense work.

But is just a quote after a running back’s big game in an article enough?

“Not really,” Arnold said with a laugh. “Maybe they could buy us a slice of Casey’s pizza. Maybe a drink, too.”

The power-T offense that Seneca runs relies on deception and everyone doing their job on every play to make it work.

So what plays or jobs are the toughest?

“We have a play called Power Right and the back with the ball is going to be running off my right hip,” Finch said. “There is normally a defender lined up to my outside, so on that play one of the blocking backs gets him and my job is to seal the inside guy. If I don’t do my job I’m going to get run over, so it’s important for me to not miss my block.”

Or ...

“Fire blocking is tough,” Maxwell said. “It’s when the play is going away from you, and you have to try and get in front of the defensive nose tackle for a block and then up to the linebackers. The defensive guys are moving towards the ball, and the other side of the o-line is pulling, so you’re trying to cover for them. You have to be fast.”

Or maybe ...

“For me the outside runs can be tough because my job is to not only seal the defensive end, but then work to get to the linebacker,” Sheedy said. “I know if I can do those two things well that there is a good chance one of our backs is going for a long run.

“There is nothing better when that happens.”

The “that” has happened a lot and answered all of the preseason questions.

Seneca hopes “that” can continue to happen this Saturday and for a few more weeks after.