JEFFREY REINHART jreinhart@LNPnews.com
WARWICK’S OFFENSIVE LINE IS ONE OF THE BEST IN THE L-L LEAGUE. AND A FORMER NFL LINEMAN HAS HELPED GET THEM THERE
There was a lull in practice, instructions were barked, a whistle was blown, and off tore a pack of linemen, chasing a coach up a hill toward the blocking sleds the other day at Warwick.
“Same thing every day,” Warriors’ veteran line coach Jerry McKonly said. “Those guys chase Coach Rucci up the hill to see if any of them can beat him up there.”
Coach Rucci is Todd Rucci, the former Penn State standout and New England Patriots offensive guard. Rucci’s father-in-law is former Franklin & Marshall football coach Tom Gilburg. And when Rucci and his bride, Stacy, landed in Lititz, he wandered over to Warwick three years ago and asked coach Bob Locker if he could help out with the linemen.
“Why not?” Locker said Tuesday. “He brings a wealth of knowledge as a former NFL player. The guy knows what he’s talking about.”
So Rucci, an Upper Darby native who played eight seasons with the Patriots from 1993-2000, teamed up with McKonly, who is in his 20th season with the program and sixth as the line coach, to develop Warwick’s offensive linemen for the Warriors’ stretch attack.
And what a season that crew is having.
Center Tom Greenfield (5-11,232 Sr.), guards Jason Snavely (5-10, 196 Sr.) and Jon Cunningham (6-2, 202 Sr.) and tackles Jon Weidler (6-2, 227 Sr.) and Jason Griffith (6-1, 246 Sr.) have helped the Warriors go 5-1 in Section 1 and 8-1 overall heading into Friday’s regular-season finale at home against McCaskey (Blue Ridge Cable, 7 p.m.).
Warwick has already locked up a spot in the District 3 Quad-A playoffs, and will get a home game if it beats McCaskey. A lot of this season’s success has a lot to do with the guys in the trenches doing the grunt work and the heavy lifting.
Want to know how well that group has played the last nine weeks? Check out Warwick’s offensive output, which is jaw-dropping.
The Warriors have rushed for 1,443 yards and passed for 1,768 yards, and are averaging 356.8 yards a game – tops in Section 1 and fourth-best in the league. And Warwick has scored 284 points (31.6 per game), most in the section. The Warriors also lead Section 1 with 142 first downs, so they’re moving the chains.
Quarterback Jon Resch is the top-ranked passer in the section, and his brother, Eric, is second in the section in rushing with 918 yards. So the Warriors’ linemen are doing two things: Blowing open huge holes for Eric, and keeping Jon off his backside.
“Stats don’t mean much to us,” said Griffith, the lone returning starter in the bunch. “It comes down to getting the win, and then we look at the quality of our play and the areas we can improve. Our goal is always to get a lot of rushing yards, and to keep Jon’s uniform nice and clean.”
How is this for clean: Resch said he’s been sacked just five times this year – three times by Manheim Township in Warwick’s lone loss this season, a 38-0 setback in Week 5.
“They all trust each other,” Resch said. “And knowing they all trust each other, that makes me feel more comfortable back there. Those guys give me an extra second – or more – to stand in there. I get time to make three reads. I can look off one guy and off a second guy, and still have faith that I can look at my third guy without anybody blitzing me in the backfield.”
End result: Resch has completed 64 percent of his passes – 109-of-170 – for 1,753 yards and 22 touchdowns against just five picks. He has the third-best passing efficiency rating in the league, and he’s tossed seven touchdowns apiece to Zach Snyder, Matt Fitzpatrick and Randy Yost, who have become quite the trio this season.
“That has everything to do with the line,” Resch said. “It’s a reflection of the work those guys put in during the off-season.”
As well as the coaching they’re receiving from McKonly and Rucci.
“They get after it every day,” McKonly noted. “There is no bellyaching about this, that or the other thing. They know the drill and they know what they need to get accomplished. This team is going to go as far as the line will take it. That was established when Todd came on board, and we keep saying that week after week. And the kids believe it.”
They also believe in Rucci, a technique and fundamental junkie. He was an undersized guard in the NFL, and he said he got by on his smarts and his willingness to just out-work other guys.
“The kids worship him,” McKonly said of Rucci, who was Drew Bledsoe’s best man. “Todd has forgotten more football than I’ll ever know. You’d be a fool not to listen to what he has to say.”
Warwick’s linemen have.
“Coach Rucci teaches us the technique stuff that we wouldn’t get otherwise,” Griffith said. “And we take his criticisms to heart.”
Then practice until they get it right.
How dedicated is this group? Weidler hired a personal trainer last summer to prep for this season. And every day in practice, after that first lull, when the whistle blows, they go tearing after Rucci up that hill to see if they can beat him.
“You don’t have to be a huge guy to play on the offensive line,” Rucci said. “A lot of it is just heart and being a good athlete and staying determined. The guys who are willing to stick with technique and fundamentals usually wins.
“Like the guys here – they’re not really big, but they’re smart. They’ve embraced what we’re teaching them, and they have good technique and they work well together.”
Hence Warwick’s offensive output – not to mention the Warriors’ 8-1 record and impending trip to Districts for the second year in a row.
“Without those guys on the line,” Resch said. “we’d be a two-or-three-win team.”
