Linemen Join the Summer Fun With a Five-Event Competition

Some linemen from Huntington Beach High School were huddled on the Fountain Valley athletic field when two players in street clothes walked up to them. The two also were members of the Oiler football teams, running backs, in fact.

“What are you guys doing here? This is for football players,” one lineman said.

Big football players.

The Oilers and six other teams were competing in the third annual linemen of the year competition at Fountain Valley, one of the few summer football events exclusively for linemen.

While the quarterbacks, running backs and receivers have a numerous passing leagues and tournaments, linemen were left with little to do but swelter in the weight rooms.

That is, until Fountain Valley line coach Jim O’Connell came up with an event for the linemen.

“(Huntington Beach) Coach George Pascoe and I were trying to think of something for our linemen to do during the summer,” O’Connell said. “Weightlifting is good, but it can get boring. We wanted something that was serious, but was also fun.”

So, O’Connell and Pascoe came up with a five-event team competition strictly for linemen.

The competition consists of bench pressing, a tire relay, a truck push, a hurdle relay and a tug-of-war. Each school is allowed to bring 10 linemen.

“This is great, we finally get to have some fun,” said Brian Pearsall, a lineman for Villa Park, which finished second to El Toro in this year’s event. “The backs and receivers usually get all the glory, but this is our chance. Only linemen here today.”

Except for the bench press, which is the total number of pounds lifted by seven linemen, all the events are a little offbeat.

--The tire relay: eight linemen roll two tires 20 yards, pick up the tires and run through an obstacle course of tires on the ground, then sprint the final 20 yards.

--The truck push: nine linemen push a truck 50 yards while one drives.

--The hurdle relay: eight linemen leap a hurdle, then zig-zag around five hurdles and leap the last hurdle. Ever see a lineman jump?

--The tug-of-war: All 10 linemen compete in this event.

“We wanted events that would not only require strength, but agility,” O’Connell said. “We also wanted them to be entertaining.”

At one point during the tire relay, a La Quinta lineman tripped over the tires, falling face-first. After getting to the finish line, he turned to his teammates and said, “I guess that’s why they call us linemen stupid.”

Coaches said that while there’s plenty of frolic, there also are benefits. Besides breaking up the monotony of weight lifting, they said it builds teamwork and develops leadership.

“I don’t think you get any physical benefits out of this,” Foothill Coach Marty McWhinney said. “But the kids learn to work as a team. They also get to size up some of the opposition.”

The event has been so successful that other linemen competitions have started. At the Rancho Santiago passing tournament last weekend, linemen competed in weight lifting, a truck push, agility maze and an 880 relay. There will also be linemen competition at next summer’s Saddleback passing tournament.

“Usually everything is geared toward the backs and receivers during the summer,” El Toro line coach Marty Spalding said. “It’s nice to see some things for the linemen. Our kids love it. They’ve been talking about it for three months. Of course, I’ve seen our linemen drive cars, so I’m a little worried about the truck push.”