LINDALE, Texas — The Lindale Eagles got off to a hot start 2-0 start in district play with wins over Henderson (44-7) and Athens (63-21). The team's toughest test is yet to come against Kilgore and Chapel Hill in a tough District 9-4A Division I.
A point of emphasis for visiting coaches is how to stop Lindale's offensive line. That unit became one of the best in the region last year, but catapulted to one of the best in the state this season.
“We've been excited about the group," Eagles head coach Chris Cochran explained. "First of all, they are high character young men, so they're gonna work really hard, and they're going to hold people accountable. So it's good to have such big bodies that are holding people accountable."
Big bodies is right. Four out of the five guys in their starting front stand at 6’3 or taller, and they play like it too.
Friday night against Athens, the unit made way for over 300 rushing yards not allowing a single sack. Their team mascot is the Eagle, but this offensive line group earned a special title, hogs.
"Being a hog means we're dirty, we nasty," four-star lineman Casey Poe said. "We're down in the trenches, we're doing things other people honestly don't want to do. But we take pride in that, we love doing the dirty things. We love getting pancakes, being on the ground, every play, so the guys behind us can do their thing.”
A well-oiled front that as senior center Trey Mazratian put it, has put the time and preparation into their craft.
"We talk about relentless effort," Mazratian said. "We talk about being a family, especially this year being really strong in that. And so I think that's a lot of stuff the offensive line takes pride in."
Three out of the five with at least one Division One offer, including four-star lineman Casey Poe, who hails offers from Baylor to TCU to Oklahoma. One of the top recruits in the region as a junior.
"I wouldn't be there without Trey and Will," Poe said. "They brought me up since I was a freshman and in the eighth grade in junior high. They put their arm around me to show me how to do things on the varsity level. And I really credit them to why I got here.”
Senior Will Hutchens, a major part of molding the next set of guys, because come next season, he'll be taking his talents to Sam Houston State University.
"We tend to think of ourselves as a unit that just constantly needs to work and get better, which is honestly what we are," Hutchens said. "We just want to constantly better and there's always ways for us to improve."