Yellow Pages
CONCRETE — The Dow Jones Industrial Average has lost 2,811 points since the last time the Concrete football team surrendered even one.
The Lions defense has a shutout string that now stands at 12 quarters after consecutive shutouts of Seattle Lutheran, Orcas Island and La Conner. Concrete has not allowed a point since Week 3, Sept. 19 against Nooksack Valley.
“It’s been our intensity. Our linebackers are stepping up big time. Everybody’s flowing to the ball really well,” Lions defensive back Chris Smith said.
“They don’t give up big plays,” La Conner coach Patrick Brown said. “Part of that is obviously very good coaching. They have a lot of speed. Even when we broke a couple plays, they ran it down.”
Concrete has allowed an opponent to reach the 200-yard plateau in total offense just once in that stretch.
“I think it’s our speed,” defensive coordinator Jim Earley said. “We kind of went to a 3-5 defense with five linebackers because we’ve got a lot of little, fast kids. We kind of try to stay with that, and we’ve got a couple big kids we can put in the middle to stop that, so it’s worked out pretty good for us.”
A lot of the speed the Lions have in the offensive backfield also starts in the defensive secondary, and can cover a lot of ground quickly. The Lions speed prevents passes from turning into completions, short runs from turning into bigger runs, and big runs from turning into touchdowns.
“I think speed kills in every sport,” Lions coach Ron Rood said. “We’re able to get off blocks and make plays, and we’re really tough in the secondary.”
A good portion of the Lions defense has started together the past three seasons.
“I think it’s really important because it shows our chemistry together,” linebacker Tyler Massingale said. “We get along well. We’re able to talk things out on the field.”
With that experience has come better results — Concrete allowed 23.5 points per game two years ago and 16.9 per game last year.
This team is surrendering just 10 points per contest, a number skewed by the 34 points the Lions allowed to Northwest Conference Class 1A opponent Nooksack Valley. The other five opponents are scoring 5.2 points per contest.
The Lions also reached the playoffs last season, which has been a big boost to this year’s team.
“I think they got a lot of confidence,” Rood said. “They won some games last year and they did really well when we went to camp. Now, as we’ve gone through this year and played competition, and played good defense against them, I think our confidence is getting better.”
The Lions have succeeded despite injuries that have forced some players to switch position. After two full seasons on the defensive line, Massingale has moved back to linebacker.
“It’s been totally different,” Massingale said. “I’ve been a starter on the defensive line for three years. It’s been tricky, but I’m getting used to it.”
The task gets tougher Friday when the Lions face a Darrington team that is scoring 32 points per game and has won five straight. The winner has the inside track on a Northwest 2B League title.
“They average 32 points a game, so I think that’s a big challenge for our kids,” Rood said. “They have great speed outside. That’s the strength of their team too. That’s going to be a difficult thing for us to stop.”
• Eric Francis can be reached at 360-416-2131 or by e-mail at
