Oilers can't out run Tigers

11/12/2023

I watched Rod Carew meticulously find a hole in the infield for base hit after base hit. Muhammed Ali dodge about 20 punches without even trying to block one of them. Michael Jordan always there with the shot when needed. Tom Brady year after year finding a way to get to the Super Bowl and win most of them. Barry Sanders and Walter Payton.

Watching people play at the top of their game is just fun.

A few years back I watched Christian Cole and Journey Brown run. They too were fun to watch and admire. But watching Ethen Knox run was unlike any other. He's unassuming and much like Journey Brown, he's not outwardly cocky and appears to show respect to his opponents, coaches and teammates.

And he can run.

He is like the stereo in the movie "This is Spinal Tap." He doesn't just go up to ten, he has another level past the top level when needed and turns up just that little bit extra.

Knox has been written about by many others more gifted at analyzing stats than I'll ever be. But what I saw was more than his legs, he could see the field and know what speed he needed at what point in a run. He could be running at a five because he knows he'll need to be at seven when he gets this block and 9 when he gets that block and when he's clear he kicks it up to ten. And if he feels breath beating down on him that's when he turns it up eleven.

And subtle adjustments yards away from contact helped him create even more distance. And he really knows how to use his blockers.

It is always a team effort. Without the big men up front - Knox is stopped. In fact, in the two games Knox was held at or 100 yards this season, it was due to slightly more athletic and physical defenses. But there are not many of those around.

A Dan York team is about having strong, sometimes very big, kids who understand proper ways to block and push people around. Our friend Penny Weichel at yardsandpoints.com has given praise over the last few years for Ethen's army of blockers. "The Oilers’ OL of Henry Milford, Tanner Kightlinger, A.J. Bucholz, Lenny Liebold, Nico Blauser and Tim Walentoski have been particularly dominant the last three outings, allowing the team to hog the ball against the Pickers, Titusville and Conneaut," she wrote recently.

And Knox too has praised them over and over again in post game interviews.

The Oiler defense has also been stingy overall with a number of take aways and stops all season long. Coming up short against Sharon was mostly about the speed of the Tigers who also play up at ten and occasionally eleven as well.

And the coaches had the guts to no to run Knox. We joked last year that offensive coordinator had the toughest job trying to decide whether to send Ethen up the middle, to the right or to the left

But to predicate an offense so focussed on Knox's ability, and pulling it off week after week is actually something. This also goes to having a solid quarterback with good hands and other backs who can make key blocks as well as pick up other key yards when defenses thought Knox was getting the ball again.

And let's not forget the "Bossman" Dave May who might very well be the best football wrangler in all of District 10. It may seem like a small duty on a football team, but when a ref doesn't get a new ball when they want it they actually get pissed off and that is no good for the team.

Bossman does not make a referee wait.

And Dan Cartwright's Oiler Marching Band was 100 strong this year with a big sound. The band is an underrated part of the Friday night football experience. Music sends vibrations through the air adding energy to the fans and even out on the field, especially when things are going well.

This season, there was a very scary moment when Hayden Wilson was taken to the hospital by helicopter. Fortunately his injuries were not life threatening. And he showed team determination and guts when he was back on the sidelines the following week and back on the field in two weeks.

He also went out of Friday's game in Sharon in obvious pain, but again, he showed guts returning later in the game to be with his team win or lose.

It's been a fun era of Oiler football to watch and sad to see it come to an end, but soon we'll see a lot of these kids on the basketball court or donning Cranberry singlets for wrestling. Oh and the Bossman will be all around the area helping the Salvation Army raise money for those in need over the holidays.