Polo’s success comes from strong play in the trenches

When running backs put up gaudy offensive numbers, naturally the attention turns to them.

But when you talk to the two 1,300-yard rushers from Polo, they can’t stop giving credit to their offensive line.

“Our offensive line does an amazing job,” junior Avery Grenoble said after he ran for 277 yards and Brock Soltow rushed for 176 in a 50-14 semifinal win over West Central last Saturday. “We adjusted when we needed to – which we didn’t really have to do too much of, because they just did a really good job, as usual. I’m just really proud of those guys up front.”

The same holds true for the rest of the Marcos players and coaching staff. Head coach Ted Alston points to the O-line’s steady improvement throughout the season as the reason why Polo is playing for its second straight Illinois 8-Man Football Association state title Friday night at Monmouth College.

“Everything starts up front for us,” Alston said. “Probably one of the things I’m most proud of this year is how our line has come together and performed.”

Center Cooper Blake, guards Blake Diehl and Waylon Harris, and ends Kahlil Sankey and Wyatt Queckboerner have paved the way for Soltow (1,388 rush yards, 23 TDs), Grenoble (1,358 yards, 23 TDs) and quarterback Tyler Merdian (250 rush yards, 5 TDs; 729 passing yards, 11 TDs) to run roughshod over opponents all season long.

“We take a lot of pride in it, and it’s really cool to see,” Blake said. “Obviously we usually don’t get the recognition, and they get all the interviews, but they give us a lot of credit, and I love that from them. But it’s always nice to see they’re doing a lot behind us, It shows us that we’re actually doing our job right, which is good.”

The Marcos have averaged 53 points per game this season, and it’s been even more impressive of late: Polo has scored 66, 50, 64, 38, 66, 62 and 50 points in its games since missing Weeks 4 and 5 due to COVID concerns with their opponents.

That’s about the time Alston said he started seeing the improvement up front manifest itself on Friday nights.

“I think just as the year’s gone on, one of the most important things is they’ve gotten better. If you look at the beginning of the year, we were a good line, but by Week 5 and Week 6, we really got good,” Alston said. “I know it sounds weird, but they just started meshing. They just started coming together, and the communication was getting better, and they just weren’t missing blocks.”

The linemen themselves have felt that deeper connection as the season has gone on, which is saying something considering how long they’ve been playing together already.

“It helps that our seniors have been playing all together starting our freshman year. The team chemistry is already there,” Sankey said.

“On the line, we really have to always be in sync, knowing when we have to down block and things like that. We really have to depend on the person next to us,” Diehl said. “The backs have to depend on each other too, but being on the line, you have to be on top of things all the time; you can’t hesitate for even a second, otherwise you’re going to miss that block.”

Diehl says there’s no better feeling that making a key block and seeing the running back break through the hole that he just opened up. He also completely trusts Polo’s backs to make the right reads and make his job easier by going to the right spots.

“There’s nothing better than feeling the back cut right off your blocking, feeling him coming right through the hole that you just made,” Diehl said. “That’s something really nice about our backs: they find that hole and they’re really good at cutting back and finding those lanes. It’s really nice blocking for them.”

“Our backs are good enough to get through the holes,” Blake added. “Even if it’s a tiny hole, they’ll find a way through it, and they do a great job with that.”

To a man, the linemen love the offense they get to play in. While some 8-man teams spread out the field and try to open up the offense, Polo has stuck with the tried-and-true ground-and-pound offense through the move to the new style of play.

“That’s how we do things at Polo, and I love that we still do that and didn’t change just because we lose a few guys from the line in 8-man,” Blake said. “I think it’s really cool that we get to do that still.”

“My favorite thing about being in Polo football is still being able just to run the ball straight ahead,” Diehl added. “I love that we haven’t tried to switch it to passing, I love that we still run it the same way we ran it in 11-man – right down their throats. That’s all we do.”

The most impressive feat is that the Marcos run the ball so well with what could be considered an undersized line. Blake is 240 pounds, Diehl and Harris are both listed at 210 pounds, and Sankey and Queckboerner are both 195 pounds.

But that’s a source of pride for the Marcos, who use their quickness and athleticism to make of for the lack of size – and play with a bit of a chip on their shoulder, as well.

“It’s nice having linemen who are quicker than most linemen, since we’re not the biggest team,” Sankey said. “Like Coach [Cliff] Bardell says, you don’t have to be the fastest team on the field, just be the quickest. If you can get off the ball quicker than your opponent, you should be able to run whatever you need.

“Being able to do a variety of things on offense because of the way we can move, and having people that can do it all, that’s the best part about our team.”

But it’s not just on the offensive side of the ball where the Marcos have been dominating the line of scrimmage.

Polo has allowed an average of 18.2 points per game this season, and other than a blip in a 62-52 win over Milford-Cissna Park in the second round of the playoffs, haven’t given up more than 20 points in a game since the two-week break in the schedule.

The defensive line is a big part of that. Queckboerner, Daniel Engel (250 pounds) and Wayde Reimer (200 pounds) clog up the middle, while ends Tyler Merdian (175 pounds) and Cayden Webster (145 pounds) funnel any outside runs back to the middle for Grenoble and the linebackers to clean up.

“Our defensive ends do a nice job stringing plays out, taking on traps, and sniffing things out, and our defensive tackles, they’re athletic and able to move pretty well,” Alston said. “And the cool thing is three of those kids don’t even play offense, and none of them play on the offensive line. We’re getting some kids only playing one way, so they stay fresh longer, and that’s a huge advantage that’s helped us tremendously.”

Queckboerner is one of those guys who plays both ways, and he says he enjoys both sides of the ball and the difference that make them unique and fun in their own way.

“I like the offense better, just getting to block the other guys and push them around, that helps the team make plays,” Queckboerner said. “But on defense, unless you’re not going against any big, big boys, I like that a lot too.

“It’s just a different technique and goal on each side, pretty much. On defense, you’re going to try and get the ball; on offense, you’re trying to protect the ball.”

Polo’s players also feel a camaraderie and kinship on the defensive line. It comes from working together from Day 1 in the program.

“It just comes naturally,” Engel said. “We’ve been working together for the last few years, because we’ve all been on the same team, and as we started doing our jobs sophomore and junior years, we just come to trust each other a lot more.”

Merdian says the success in the trenches on defense is pretty simple.

“The key is just to win the line of scrimmage,” he said. “That’s all it is, there’s really nothing to it. You just beat your guy, and if the other guys can do it, you stop the other team.”