By DOUG IRELAND, Journal Sports
You’ve heard all about the mind-boggling offensive production by the undefeated Airline football team.
One of Louisiana’s most prolific high school passers of all-time, Ben Taylor, throws to sensational wide outs Kenny Darby and Jarvis Davis Jr., along with Micah Johnson, DJ Allen and Ayden Baker among others. Allen and Darrian Milligan head an explosive running game along with Davis and Johnson contributing.
Those names are well known.
Just as vital to the Vikings’ 54-point scoring average are names you haven’t heard much, if at all: Jayson Burch, Cameron Stuman, JD Yates and Josh White, Josh Allen and Kaleb Williams. That’s the Airline offensive line.
The O-line’s season-long performance – really, the last two seasons, because that’s how long the group has been together, in a stretch where Airline has won 21 of 23 times while piling up points and yards – was again remarkable last Friday when the Vikings dispatched Westgate 42-16 in a second-round Non-Select Division I playoff game.
Getting into the state quarterfinals for a second straight year, in range of the program’s first semifinal berth since 1972, is reason enough for 11-0 Airline to finally receive Shreveport-Bossier Journal Team of the Week honors in the 12th week of this season.
The Vikings have made the exceptional routine. Their much-maligned defense made its own statement against Westgate by keeping the Tigers off the scoreboard until late in the game, and got due credit afterward.
Although the spotlight doesn’t shine on his unsung big guys up front on offense, they have the full appreciation of coach Justin Scogin.
“They make people nervous by how hard they play,” he said. “We’re not the biggest group, but the way they know what’s going on, the effort they give and the way they all do it together, it’s very impressive.
“They know exactly what to do. They’ve played together for two years, and most of them started as sophomores on jayvee. They’re always at summer workouts. Just a good group of kids,” said Scogin.
By nature of their position, O-linemen don’t get noticed much when they do great work – the ball is racing downfield. The job up front comes without advantages other positions take for granted, said Scogin.
“The other (offensive) players have a cheat sheet on their wristband. There’s no way to cheat for the offensive line. They have to know exactly what’s going on at all time,” he said. “There’s definitely a level of intelligence that goes into it from them.
“They have to be the most in-tune group, because if one goes the wrong way, Ben’s gonna get killed or something bad is going to happen. Ben hasn’t been sacked but a handful of times (on 397 pass attempts) all year, which tells you what a great job this group does.”
The Vikings’ offensive scheme, based in what Scogin worked with as offensive coordinator for David Feaster at Parkway a decade ago, stresses defenses to the max. Some of the design helps make offensive line play less complex.
“We try to help them out by getting the ball out fast,” Scogin said. “Ben very rarely gets hit.
“We don’t do a whole lot of running plays, our pass protection is pretty simple. But to be at the point where we are now, getting 7-8 yards a carry, we start out very simple and we get pretty complicated. These guys have taken it to the next level.”
Leading the pack: Brian Garrett, Airline’s O-line coach for 12 years.
Another subtle asset for Airline: kicker Ben Jump, whose powerful right leg provides a scoring threat and a reliable point after (68-78) touchdowns. What really makes Scogin smile are Jump’s kickoffs.
“This is only year in 16 years I’ve coached where our kicker has consistently kicked it in the end zone, nine times out of 10. Ooooo, it’s nice,” said the coach. “Then we can catch a team off guard with an onside kick or a pooch and we might get another possession. He did a great job this past Friday kicking it in the right spot and one of our freshmen recovered.”
The offensive line and the kickoff team are bigger factors as the Vikings advance in postseason. So is the team’s overall approach.
“They like to compete and push themselves, and at the same time, they like to have a lot of fun. They understand when it’s time to work, and that’s the biggest thing,” said Scogin. “The group is extremely loose until it’s time for business.”
That comes at 7 p.m. Friday night, when Airline and Destrehan collide at M.D. Ray Stadium with a semifinal berth at stake.
Contact Doug at sbjdoug@gmail.com