KUTZTOWN, PA (September 3, 2010) – Saturday afternoon when the Kutztown University football team makes its 2010 season debut, the “Island of Beef” will be doing their best secret service imitation of protecting sophomore quarterback Kevin Morton and opening sizable holes for the running backs.
The Kutztown offensive line, known as the “Island of Beef” or “Muscle Beach”, holds the key to a successful season. They are the underappreciated, often unrecognizable big men on the field toiling in the trenches. Most of the time, they’re only noticed when a penalty flag liters the field and an infraction negates a great offensive play.
“It’s a lot of hard work,” senior lineman Aaron McGlynn said. “There’s contact on every play. A lot of playing this position has to do with mental focus and in order to be a good offensive lineman, you have to be crisp with your assignments and finish them to the end on every play. Another thing is; it’s fun to be able to move somebody against their will.”
The Golden Bears will get plenty of chances to move around an opposing team when they begin their 95th season Saturday afternoon against Saint Anselm College at University Field. Kickoff is at 1:05 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on WEEU with coverage starting at 12:50 p.m.
“Saint Anselm presents a lot of challenges for us as an offensive front compared to most teams because of the scheme that they run with the 3-3-5 stack, blitzing and moving the guys all around,” senior center Jared Haas said. “It’s going to be tough mentally, but I believe we’ll be ready once the game begins. We’ve been working hard against their schemes.”
The Kutztown University offensive line is a close-knit group with colorful personalities, a strong work-ethic, displaying leadership and a knack for playing practical jokes. They helped Morton ease into the quarterback position. Even though they got Morton with one of their classic pranks during summer camp, the offensive line made his transition easy once he became a permanent fixture in the KU lineup.
“My biggest thing last year was I didn’t want to let them down,” Morton said. “They made me feel comfortable as soon as I stepped in the huddle and made my job easy. I wanted to make their hard work pay off by completing passes and getting us into the end zone. We have a great relationship on and off the field, which is great to have. They’re down to earth guys and great friends.”
The members of the Kutztown offensive line are McGlynn, Josh Alger, Jared Haas, Nick Maloney, Rob Kee, Nick DiSandro, Zack Yankiewicz, Neil Maloney, John Zavorski, Chase Fraley, Steve Holdsworth and Chris Oliver. In addition, Kyle Ueberroth and Ryan Bailey provide meaningful contributions as snappers on punts and field goals.
“We are big guys protecting our quarterback on our island,” Haas said. “It’s definitely something we take personal. You can’t look at yourself as an individual on the offensive line because when one person messes up, we all mess up. When one does well; we all do well especially if it ends up being a big play. You really have to have to be a tight knit unit and I think we definitely have that this year.”
The bond that began immediately after last year’s 3-8 season became stronger during the heat of training camp. While they were spending time during practice going through drills and learning plays, they had movie nights, told plenty of stories and joked with each other.
“I think that helped us become a better and stronger offensive line,” Alger said of the bonding. “We have to click together on every play. Even though we spend a lot of time together on the field, I think the unity comes with enjoying each other’s presence, making each other laugh and liking the same things.”
Once the season starts, the offensive line knows they will be under plenty of pressure. The depth of the offensive line is spaghetti-thin. The Golden Bears lost one of their best players in Chris Oliver when he was hurt during the opening week of camp. That has forced the Golden Bears to scramble to replace the affable Oliver. While they are sad for Oliver, the offensive line knows that they must continue forward.
“That was tough,” Haas said of losing Oliver. “Not only was he one of our best players, but he really loved to play the game of football. I really feel like at times that I wish it could’ve been me instead of him just because of how much I know he wanted to be out there. But we have no choice but to keep playing and play with the guys we have. He’s a part of this group and we love him.”
Even without Oliver, the Golden Bears are confident in their ability to get the job done. Kutztown was picked sixth in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) East Division. However, the Golden Bears know that they have what it takes to make some moves this season. Kutztown lost four games by four points or less last season, so all of those close defeats have steeled their resolve.
“We have the talent around us to have a great season,” McGlynn said. “Coach Ray Yannuzzi always says it doesn’t take the best athletes, but it takes the right ones. No matter what happens, we can count on each other to make the right decisions and be playmakers on the offensive line.”
--KU--