Food for thought fuels success for Crescenta Valley offensive line

Learning a second language can be tricky.

On the campus of Crescenta Valley High, there are both ESL and FSL instructors.

ESL, or English as a Second Language, is a program that provides training and instruction for non-English speakers in order to familiarize students with both the local language and customs.

FSL, on the other hand, converts common cuisine into an uncommon terminology used to mask a language and make it unrecognizable or foreign to native English speakers.

It’s FSL, or Food as a Second Language, that has been a successful secret sauce of sorts for the offensive line of the Crescenta Valley High football team.

On any given Friday night, terms such as “mustard” or “enchiladas” or “cheese” are heard on the field, specifically in trenches, and aren’t in reference to a postgame meal.

“We speak a different language,” quipped Falcons senior guard Byeongho “BK” Kim. “This is my first year on varsity, but I know it started last year. I remember hearing ‘tacos’ at practice and not knowing what it meant. Now I do.”

As Crescenta Valley marches into its first CIF Southern Section championship game since 1973 at Glendale High’s Moyse Field on Friday at 7:30 p.m. versus visiting Downey, praise has been heaped on the team.

Whether it’s been quarterback Brian Gadsby’s prolific passing (3,562 yards with 39 touchdowns), or a wide receiving corps that’s produced 39 touchdowns, or Jonathan Jun’s hard-running (1,351 rushing yards and 16 touchdowns), or Jordan Lobianco’s pass coverage (nine interceptions), or a defense that’s held eight of 13 opponents under 20 points, it seems every unit has received its fare share of attention.

Well, almost every unit.

In the postseason, the Falcons offensive line has perhaps been the squad’s most dominant group, allowing only two sacks through three victories over Harvard-Westlake (42-14), Paramount (35-14) and La Serna (41-36).

During that span, Crescenta Valley has thrown for 874 yards and six touchdowns and rushed for 402 yards and 11 scores.

Yet, outside of tackle of Davo Hakobyan, an offensive line made up of tackle Bryan Wong, center Nizar Abou-Chakra and guards Ben Lizer and Kim haven’t received the same amount of attention as many of their teammates.

“Unfortunately, that’s just the nature of the game,” Crescenta Valley Coach Paul Schilling said. “The offensive line is the quiet group entrusted with the important job of blocking and keeping your quarterback off the ground. Yet, they just don’t get the attention they deserve.”

Despite the lack of a spotlight, there isn’t a hint of bitterness.

“It’s just natural that the offensive line doesn’t get the recognition or praise, but we’re fine with that,” Lizer said. “To be honest, this is an amazing feeling being part of a team that’s going to its first championship game in 41 years.

“A lot of our success on the line has been due to the amount of time we spend together. We’ve had time to bond and connect and we’ve got each other’s back. We speak the same language.”

It was last season when one member of the line, the 6-foot-2, 245-pound Hakobyan, expanded on an already existing vernacular.

“I remember my sophomore year when my brother (Gev) was on the team and they used to use ‘donut’ to signal a double team,” Hakobyan said. “I remember when I first heard it. I just figured it was a bunch of fat guys talking about donuts. It wasn’t until later that I understood.”

In his junior year, Davo Hakobyan was part of an offensive line, along with Wong, who added to the language.

“We started using different terms like ‘mustard’ to mean one thing and ‘cheese’ to mean another,” Wong said. “And we added some more words this year to differentiate blocking schemes and opposing players.”

While Wong and Hakobyan had a junior year to perfect their dietary dialect, there was some concern heading into their senior season when the team’s three interior lineman graduated and were replaced by Lizer, Abou-Chakra and Kim.

“You think it’s easy to pick up because you picked it up fast,” Hakobyan said of the culinary code, “but we weren’t sure until practice.”

Within a couple of weeks, however, Hakobyan and Wong had made foodies out of Lizer, Abou-Chakra and Kim thanks to a heavy immersion program.

“I loved it, to be honest,” Abou-Chakra said. “We were practicing during practice and after and even walking down the street. It just made sense quickly.

“We’re all big guys, we all love food, so it was a perfect fit.”

Not only was Abou-Chakra a believer in the system, but he even helped add new phrases.

“We have ‘queso’ and ‘cheese to bacon’ or ‘queso to bacon’ as part of the assignments,” Abou-Chakra said. “One of my favorites is ‘enchiladas.’ We really stepped it up this year and made it a real second language.”

Lizer has noticed that while the offensive line is entirely on the same page, opposing defenses are sometimes lost in translation.

“I forget which league game it was, but you could hear the guys on the other side of the ball,” Lizer said.”Nizar called out ‘mustard’ before a play and the other guys are screaming ‘what’ and ‘why’. It was pure and utter confusion.”

Kim, a New York native who only picked up a football a year ago, found the food terminology refreshingly helpful.

“When I started playing football my junior year, I didn’t even know what an offensive lineman was or anything about football,” Kim said. “When the guys starting talking about food in practice, it made learning easier. I didn’t always know every position, but I knew what an enchilada was.”

Whether or not Crescenta Valley is successful Friday will largely center around the offensive line, which is intent on securing a title and perhaps a legacy.

“I know this sounds stupid, but I really hope that next year’s offensive line will carry on this tradition after I graduate,” Hakobyan said. “I feel like this is my mark for the team. Hopefully, they’ll be talking about cheese and a championship next year.”