Block party

When Jason Long lines up at defensive tackle, he likely doesn't strike fear into the offensive linemen across from him. When the ball is snapped, things change a bit. Listed at 5 feet 10 inches tall, 205 pounds, Long is on the small side for a Class 5A tackle, but he's productive. He's second on the Golden Warriors with 32 tackles (behind Blake Grimm's 45) and has a team-high three sacks. Beating bigger foes is something Long relishes, as do fellow defensive linemates Alex Hughes (5-11, 205) and Chris Helfrich (5-10, 195). "They look at us, then they kind of look at each other and smile because they think it's going to be an easy task," Long said. "We just out-quick them, and they have a lot harder time because they're not used to that." "I haven't heard them say they're going to run us over," Helfrich said, "but I believe they think they can because we're a lot smaller. We've got speed and strength against them." Sterling (5-1, 3-0 NCIC Reagan) needed to go small across the defensive front after jumbo linemen Zach Gallentine, Tyler Loos and Luke Hermes were injured in Week 2 against Lemont. Long already was a starter, Hughes went from part-time starter to full-time starter, and Helfrich, after an impressive showing against Rock Island in a JV game, won over head coach Greg King. "You want to get your 11 best athletes and people that can run on the field," King said. "That's the way the game of football has turned now is speed. There are some defenses where you'll have a big plugger in there, for goal-line situations where teams are just trying to wedge you out, but for the most part teams put their athletes out there and use speed and quickness to beat size." After giving up 34 points to Lemont, the Golden Warriors have allowed an average of 12.2 points in wins over Chicago Curie, Streator, Geneseo and Dixon. Each of those teams had offensive linemen that dwarfed the Sterling D-line. "They're 210, 215 pounds, and they're defeating guys that are 280," King said. "It's because they've got good leverage and good speed - it's hard to block what you can't catch."