Moorpark’s fabulous five

BILL SPARKES/Acorn Newspapers THE MEN IN THE TRENCHES—From left, offensive linemen David Johnson, John Martinez, Pat Carter, Brandon Sofley and George Halamandaris have helped the Moorpark offense average 254 yards per game on the ground this season. And for the first time in school history, the Musketeers are Marmonte League football champions, in part, because of the play of these five young men. David “Brick Wall” Johnson, Pat “Patty Mayonnaise” Carter, John “Ducky” Martinez, George “Holla” Halamandaris and Brandon “So Fly” Sofley.

No, this isn’t the cast of the next Dick Tracy movie. These are the five young men that make up the Moorpark offensive line, a unit that helped Musketeer ball carriers gain 2,540 yards on the ground during the 10-game regular season.

“It’s a unique mix of two seniors and three juniors,” offensive coordinator Jon Kidder said. “The two seniors (Johnson and Sofley) are what you want. They’re nasty guys. They’re going to play to the whistle and they want to win.

“The juniors (Carter, Halamandaris and Martinez) are still a dear in the headlights sometimes,” Kidder said. “So the two seniors are helping the juniors, and the juniors are helping the seniors calm down when they need to calm down.”

So what’s been the secret to the Musketeers’ success?

Besides the four days each week the linemen spend working out in the gym together, and separate from the almost year-around on-field training sessions they’ve been through since the end of last season, the starting five credit one particular aspect of their existence for helping them come together to form one of the finest lines in all of Ventura County—99-cent Taco Tuesdays at Del Taco.

“Every week we go for Taco Tuesdays where we can get three tacos for 99 cents,” Martinez said. “We usually get a minimum of 12 tacos each. We just go there to eat and talk about football.”

It’s a bonding thing, and though it might seem silly, cohesiveness is often the key ingredient that separates a good offensive line from a great one.

It also doesn’t hurt that the unit has been relatively healthy all season long, something that didn’t happen last year when injuries forced the MHS coaching staff to shuffle players in and out of the starting lineup on a game-by-game basis.

“We take the weight room seriously,” Sofley said. “We push in the weight room as hard as we can. For 11 weeks now we’ve had the same guys in there. We know the ups and downs and we all know the guy next to us is going to get the job done.”

The players credited Kidder’s coaching style with helping them develop the proper technique they need to be successful.

“Coach Kidder really helps us, he’s a good coach,” Halamandaris said. “He helps with our footwork and positioning. We’re a very physical line. It’s not just that we’re big. We’re a pretty solid offensive line.”

Several aspects about the way the unit plays together have impressed Kidder and head coach Tim Lins.

The way in which each of the linemen has adjusted to having a pair of sophomores starting in the offensive backfield—quarterback Adam Berry and running back Darrell Scott—has been a big help. Young guys make mistakes, the coaches said, it’s part of learning to play at the varsity level.

Also making a positive impact in the minds of the coaching staff is the way the linemen consistently get off the line of scrimmage and get down the field to make blocks in the defensive secondary.

“It’s impressive to watch when you see a running back 20 or 30 yards downfield and the guy next to him is an offensive linemen trying to get out in front of him,” Kidder said. “You don’t see that in high school too often.”

Each of the five linemen said they prefer the physical aspect of run-blocking over the techniqueoriented skill need to pass block, although all insisted they can and will do both if called upon (Moorpark had only 160 passing attempts this year compared to 379 rushing attempts).

“We like to go out and be physical and hit the other team instead of receiving the blows,” Johnson said.

According to Kidder, Johnson, a tackle, is the shy type who continues to grind away and perfect his craft. Sofley, meanwhile, is a vocal leader who isn’t afraid to trash-talk to fire up his fellow linemen.

Sofley is also the hardest worker on the team, said Kidder.

“They’re completely different,” Kidder said. “Johnson is a quiet guy but everyone knows that he’s our guy. And Sofley’s a nasty guy who’s going to get everyone fired up. He says some crazy things to the defense. Sofley leads by being physical. Johnson leads by being the old guy that’s been here.”

Johnson was a starter last season and was back in the starting lineup at the onset of the 2005 campaign. Sofley, however, had to earn a spot in the starting lineup, something that didn’t happen until after the first game of the regular season.

As for the juniors, Halamandaris, a 6-foot-7, 270pound tackle, is the biggest lineman in the league and is rapidly developing into a Division Icaliber player.

“He’s the type of guy that the improvement from one year to the next is unbelievable,” Kidder said. “We’re looking at next year as being a year where a lot of (colleges) are going to be knocking at our door.”

Carter, the Musketeer center, is also a workout warrior who still has a lot to learn but continues to improve on a weekly basis.

“He’s a testament to the weight room and desire,” Kidder said.

At 6-foot-3 and 270 pounds, Martinez is considered huge for a guard at the high school level. Because of his stature and physical strength, Martinez often overpowers defensive linemen and linebackers who aren’t well equipped to take on pulling guards built in the mode of a tackle.

Yet, despite all of their positive attributes, Lins said the group still has much to learn about the game of football.

“It’s a long process,” Lins said. “Learning the offensive line is a complicated thing. It takes a long time and they’ve worked hard to get where they are, but they still have a ways to go. They’re a good group and they’re willing to improve.”

The learning process will continue tonight when the Marmonte League champion Musketeers host San Marcos in the first round of the Division IV playoffs.

Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.