Last week against Wolfforth Frenship, the Permian football team showed that it can slow down an offense that can spread the ball around and gain big yardage through the air.
The night the Panthers’ defense had in the 17-14 victory was commendable, but the Panthers offensive line also had one of its strongest showings of the season.
It was evident on the team’s opening drive when it traveled 75 yards on 13 plays.
When the offensive line gets going, everything seems to click for the rest of the offense.
Permian head coach Jeff Ellison, who puts an extra emphasis on the players in the trenches, believes strong line play is the key to having a successful offense.
He has spent years honing his craft, playing along the offensive line when he was in high school at Whiteface and in college at McMurry University in Abilene.
When Ellison was first hired at Permian in 2013, he was the team’s offensive line coach.
“I’ve been very fortunate in my career to coach with some great coaches and some very good offensive line coaches,” Ellison said. “They really taught me how to coach it with passion, intensity and technique.”
Since he was 22, Ellison had the chance to pick up on technique drills he still uses with his linemen today.
Before making it to Permian, the head coach worked with a different style of offense than the veer the Panthers run but it has always been a point of emphasis to win up front consistently.
Some of those lessons have been passed down to former player and current Permian offensive line coach Derron Gatewood.
Before Permian’s game against Wolfforth Frenship, Gatewood said he and the coaching staff challenged the players up front to roll their opponents off the ball and control the clock.
They did just that, leading the team to 260 yards on the ground on 56 carries.
When Gatewood coaches his offensive line group, he tries to keep his players focused on being students of the game and finding tendencies to win their matchups in the trenches.
It’s something he did when he played at Permian and later at UTEP.
“Everything I’ve learned from playing offensive line from my old coaches and what they taught me of how to play the game and position, that’s what I try to bring in to these guys,” Gatewood said. “Telling them the importance of the position they play, what it means to play on the offensive line and how important it is for the whole offense and this whole team.”
Gatewood added that this year’s offensive line is a tight-knit group that builds its bond outside of practice, improving its chemistry before it even takes the field.
Ellison said the 2021 position group has more depth than other groups in the past and it has continued to get better as the season progresses.
The offensive line still has a few tough tests remaining this season, starting with Friday’s matchup against crosstown rival Odessa High at 7 p.m. at Ratliff Stadium.
To keep the high-flying Bronchos offense off the field, the Panthers will have to show a dominant effort up front to control the clock like it did last week.
Just two weeks ago, Odessa High struggled on the road against a Midland High team that runs a similar option-based offense to Permian’s.
The Bulldogs bulldozed their way to a 350-yard rushing night, defeating the Bronchos 49-28.
The speed the Midland High offensive line used to get off the ball stood out to Gatewood.
“You’ve got to come off the ball, you’ve got to be fast and off the ball,” he said. “That’s the way our offense is, everything we do is fast.
“We’ve got to play at pad level but everything’s got to be fast and that’s what Midland High did really good on their offensive line, they were just quick off the ball.”
>>Follow Chris Amaya on Twitter at @OA_CAmaya
