Thursday, August 31, 2017

Lycoming Football Offensive Line Needs To Grow Up Fast

#53 Senior Colin Buffington (Quarryville, Pa./Solanco)
#63 Junior Brad Stubbs (Clearfield, Pa./Curwensville Area)
Offensive Line - The most under appreciated but most necessary part of a mature offense.
The Breakdown: Six seniors graduated from an offensive line that featured three all-conference selections and an Academic All-American in 2016. In their stead, the Warriors are looking for three new starters on the front lines, needing a young group to quickly mature.

Junior Dan Sipps
Junior Brad Stubbs (Clearfield, Pa./Curwensville Area) will lead the group, as the Second Team All-MAC lineman gives the team a physical and strong presence at center. A transfer from Bloomsburg University, Stubbs has started the Warriors’ last 15 games.

Senior Colin Buffington (Quarryville, Pa./Solanco) will also step into a starting role after starting five games during the last two seasons at right tackle. Junior Dan Sipps (Philadelphia, Pa./Father Judge) played in eight games as a guard as a sophomore and will be counted on to continue to develop into a starting lineman.

Much like the receivers in 2015, Clark was excited about the offensive line group that came in 2016. That group, after a season of junior varsity football, is going to get the chance to make an impact this year. Cody Botts (Millmont, Pa./Mifflinburg Area), Shahad Palmer (Philadelphia, Pa./Mastery Charter Shoemaker), Davius Bunch (Hawthorne, N.J./Hawthorne), Josh Purnell (Allentown, Pa./Emmaus) and Owen Covert (Wellsboro, Pa./Wellsboro) are all going to make their way into the two-deep this season. A freshmen class of eight linemen is also going to be counted on to contribute immediately.

#57 Sophomore Cody Botts (Millmont, Pa./Mifflinburg Area)
Who Returns: Cody Botts, So., Millmont, Pa./Mifflinburg Area; Bryce Berresford, So., Cogan Station, Pa./Montoursville Area; Colin Buffington, Sr., Quarryville, Pa./Solanco; Davius Bunch, So., Hawthorne, N.J./Hawthorne; Owen Covert, So., Wellsboro, Pa./Wellsboro; Shahad Palmer, So., Philadelphia, Pa./Mastery Charter Shoemaker Campus; Brad Stubbs, Jr., Clearfield, Pa./Curwensville Area; Josh Purnell, So., Allentown, Pa./Emmaus; Dan Sipps, Jr., Philadelphia, Pa./Father Judge.

Newcomers: Jacob Estevez, Fr., Bayonne, N.J./Bayonne; Ronny Flick, Fr., Bath, Pa./Northampton Area; Quentin Frangelli, Fr., Prospect Park, Pa./Interboro; Darin Ingram, Fr., Vandling, Pa./Forest City; Shane Kelly, Fr., Blossburg, Pa./North Penn-Mansfield; Ethan Newton, Fr., Middletown, Pa./Middletown Area; Zach Wagner, Fr., Morton, Pa./Ridley; Bayly Williams, Fr., Waymart, Pa./Western Wayne.

Coach’s Take: “Brad is really good. When we have him, it is different inside. There aren’t too many guys that are 290 or 300 pounds and bench press over 400 pounds and play with a mean streak. I can’t imagine there are many better offensive linemen in our league than him. As he improves his technique to match his strength, he can be very good. We are fortunate that we have Brad in the middle and Colin has reasonable experience. Dan Sipps is starting to come into his own. The spring trip to Canada really benefitted Cody Botts at tackle. He worked hard to change his body this offseason which is a big part of it, too. We have a solid group of guys. We just moved Josh Purnell over from defense, which is something we needed to do to create some depth and competition, but he is a willing kid with good size and maybe can be a guard or a tackle.”