Dec. 8, 2004, 1:24PM

Clearing the way for Clear Lake

Offensive line big reason Falcons two steps from title

By L. SCOTT HAINLINE
Chronicle Correspondent

After edging defending Class 5A champion Katy last week, Clear Lake gets to take another step in their playoff march. And to a large degree, both literally and figuratively, the Falcons' path will be cleared by their offensive line.

"Every week in our little offensive line meeting the coaches and players talk about how the game depends on us and how well we move the defensive line and linebackers," said left guard Scott Nimmons (6-4, 245).

Clear Lake (13-1) meets the Smithson Valley Rangers (12-2) in a Class 5A Division II state semifinal playoff on Saturday at 4 p.m. in San Antonio's Alamodome, and once again, whether the Falcons move the ball and score points comes down to the play of the offensive front that includes, along with Nimmons, center Brian Kaufman (5-10, 235), left tackle John Nemec (6-1, 235), right guard Ben Volk (5-11, 245) and right tackle Josh Hayes (6-2, 260).

Working wonders

Clear Lake has rushed for 4,794 yards on 687 attempts (7.0 average) in 14 games, or 342.4 ground yards per outing. Senior quarterback Scott Oswald has gained 1,922, senior running back Elrick Jones has 975 and junior fullback Geno Blow stands at 930.

"Having three runners with those kinds of numbers starts with our offensive line, which is extra-quick and strong," Clear Lake head coach Troy Aduddell said. "They get on you in a hurry and they stay with their blocks."

Aduddell also sings the praises of offensive line coaches Brian Broussard and Michael Boone, along with junior tight end/tackle Brad Paul (6-4, 240).

"Coach Broussard and coach Boone keep our offensive line feeling good about what they're doing," Aduddell said. "Paul is our utility man on the offensive front, and he's really a tackle in our tackle-over formations, but we wanted our opponents to respect the pass, so he has a tight end number."

Loads with light feet

Actually, Paul isn't the only member of the unit comfortable away from the line of scrimmage. Clear Lake's option attack puts a premium on mobility and quickness.

"In our offense, we have to be able to get down field and get on the linebackers, and we're all pretty fast," said Volk, a starter since his sophomore season.

It also helps to be not just physically agile, but mentally agile as well.

"Before we switched to the option attack last season, there were a lot more assignments, but now, you don't really have a man to block; it's more of an area," said Nimmons. "You have the opportunity to block
several players, and every week at practice we work on passing off blocks to each other."

Blocking, not bantering

It also helps to have a healthy sense of humility and place. When you talk about offensive linemen, terms like "thankless job" and "lack of attention" often pop up, but that doesn't matter to the Falcons blockers.

"We don't get credit in the paper for scoring touchdowns and throwing passes, and we don't need that kind of attention," said Volk. "We just try to do our job and spring our runners for big gains. It's truly amazing what our backs have been able to do."

"It helps to be seniors and we know we have to get the job done," Nemec said.

Nemec's hasn't been an easy road to the top, one reason he can so ably keep his feet planted firmly on the ground. He and center Brian Kaufman labored in obscurity last season on Thursdays playing for the junior
varsity, even though they were more than good enough to stand on the sidelines on Fridays as varsity backups.

"It was very tough on both John and I, being juniors on the junior varsity, and not playing with our friends on Fridays," Kaufman said. "But playing every down was much better for us than just being on the field here and there, and it seems to be paying off."

Next stop: San Antonio

It certainly does. After beating defending state champion Katy 35-34 in two overtimes last week, the Falcons are two wins away from the school's first state football crown.

"We believed we could score points and beat Katy, and now we're carrying that same feeling into Saturday's game," Hayes said. "This is an amazing season, but you can't get caught up in it all. We have a job to do."

"It's unbelievable that we're one of the four teams in the state still playing, and that we've won the last two in overtime," added Kaufman. "It's great, but we're not ready to stop just yet."

The Clear Lake-Smithson Valley winner advances to next week's Class 5A Division II state championship game against Southlake Carroll (14-0) or Lufkin (14-0), which square off Saturday at 1 p.m. at Floyd Casey Stadium in Waco in the other state semifinal.  "Winning in overtime the past couple of games has been incredible, but we had to put it behind us and focus on Smithson Valley," said Nemec. "We've had a hard week of practice and we're ready."