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Thursday, November 1, 2007
When Worlds Collide
Western Arkansas, AR
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By: Allen C. Thuringer
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Photo(s) By: Tom Ewart
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Bentonville’s Blackmon ‘crosses over’
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“I really don’t think about going out and scoring touchdowns. I think about running the ball hard and when the play is over, I think about what I’m supposed to do on the next play.” — Anthony Blackmon
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Coaches chuckled when they recalled the first time they saw Anthony Blackmon on the football field.
He was the new guy; he was a stranger in a strange land. He had followed the Oregon Trail to Grants Pass – where he had played football for the Cavemen – and now he was coming back to Northwest Arkansas in the summer of 2006.
He was starting over once again. And once again it was as if Anthony Blackmon was from a different world.
In retrospect, one Bentonville football assistant described Blackmon’s first appearance with the Tigers as something out of “Forrest Gump.” No, Blackmon is far from the simple person that was Gump. He scored a 22 on his ACT and he carries a 4.0 GPA.
But Blackmon was definitely a little out of place.
That is, until the team started running.
That’s when Blackmon set himself apart.
Less than two years later, Blackmon is still running and leaving his footprints all over the backs of the Tigers’ opponents.
He’s making his mark in the BHS record book, too.
During a three-game September stretch, Blackmon scored a total of 12 Bentonville touchdowns.
• He churned out a school-record 270 yards and brought Bentonville back from a 21-0 deficit by scoring all four of the Tigers’ touchdowns in a 28-27 triumph.
• Against Springdale, he was only needed on 15 carries for 140 yards in a 45-14 victory. Again, he scored four touchdowns.
• He almost broke his own school record, rushing for 269 yards on 29 carries, in a 42-17 victory over Fort Smith Northside.
“I really don’t think about going out and scoring touchdowns,” Blackmon explained. “I think about running the ball hard and when the play is over, I think about what I’m supposed to do on the next play.”
Changing Worlds on the Football Field
Football is a thinking-man’s game and Blackmon enjoys strategizing. In two seasons at Bentonville, he’s learned about football strategy on offense and defense under one of the top head coaches in the state, Barry Lunney.
As a junior, he started eight games as an outside linebacker for defensive coordinator Robbie Jones.
“We won’t see him back on the defensive side of the ball this year, that’s for sure,” Jones said at the midway point of the 2007 season. “Last year, we had two great running backs and we needed [Blackmon] a lot more on defense at outside linebacker than they needed him on offense.”
The Tigers coaching staff knew that Blackmon could run, however. To get him some repetitions at running back, Blackmon suited up on Monday nights with the junior varsity.
“I like the challenge of being ready and in the right place on every play,” Blackmon said of his time on defense. “It’s a lot like a video game. If you’re not in the right place or if you don’t throw the ball to the right place, you’re not going to make the play.
“It’s all about strategy. You’ve got to know where to go and where to be all the time.”
On offense, it seemed like all the Tigers had to do is hand the ball to Blackmon. But the senior isn’t taking any credit and when he receives a compliment, he deflects it to his teammates.
“I just like to run and I like to run all over the place,” Blackmon said, describing any preferences or tendencies he might have. “I really don’t have to pick my spot … My offensive line picks it for me.”
The Circle of Excellence
Blackmon’s abilities have enabled a quality offensive line at Bentonville to receive some much-deserved attention. In turn, the offensive-line coach, former Arkansas Razorbacks deep-snapper Benji Mahan, is heaped with credit by his players.
And then Mahan sends it right back around the horn again, touting Blackmon as “a guy you can build a team around.”
Blackmon has no bigger fan than his senior left tackle, Tyler Barnes.
With Kansas, Arkansas and now Army vying for his abilities, Barnes is enjoying his final high school games, happy to create openings for the Bentonville running game.
Barnes is part of one of the top offensive lines in all of the state and it may be because they’re all seniors. Besides Barnes, there’s left guard Jeff Landsaw, center Patrick Mirch, right guard Andrew Tackett and right tackle Cameron Phillips.
“Making the holes is what we do,” said Barnes, a lifetime Tiger who is more entertaining to listen to than most any radio or TV analyst. “We had two very good running backs last year, but Anthony is a combination of both of them. He’s got a little jukie and he likes to knock people down. He can beat you with his quickness and juke left or right on you and he’s got no problem running over anybody out there on the field.”
Besides 4.48 speed in the 40-yard dash, there’s quite a bit of strength in that 6-foot, 178-pound frame. Blackmon can bench press more than 325 pounds.
“He’s an all-around athlete,” Barnes said. “He works out in the weight room with the linemen and he can keep up with us. He’s a strong guy and he’s got the best work ethic on the team.
“He’s always giving his all.”
The Tigers were facing a little adversity when they traveled to Mayo-Thompson Stadium – where they had never won – and were clinging to a slim lead over the Northside Grizzlies. With two starting offensive linemen out of the lineup and Mahan down to third- and fourth-string players at guard, Bentonville could have let an opportunity slip away.
Held to 60 yards in the first half, Blackmon was unleashed for 209 yards in the second half and three of his four touchdowns as Bentonville pulled away to a comfortable victory.
“The second half at Northside says something about our coaching,” Barnes reflected. “Coach Mahan is the one who has led us to be as good as we are. He’s the best there is in the area.”
Even the halftime adjustments – many that came directly from the input of the linemen themselves – go back to Mahan’s coaching, Barnes explained. “He’s the guy who has taught us what to look for and how to lead and learn from what we see.”
Mahan chalks it up to having a group of bright, talented football players doing the things they’ve been taught for years.
“I have confidence in their skills,” Mahan said. “And when we ran into a little adversity and had to go with some new guys in the lineup, I didn’t get overly concerned about putting them in there with a good group of seniors all around them. I’m proud of the leadership they showed.”
It doesn’t hurt to have a guy like Blackmon running behind the o-line, either.
Welcome to Bentonville’s world. It’s the best of both worlds.
“We’ve run it pretty well this year,” Barnes said. “But we can throw the football, too.
“We can throw it when we need to and, with Anthony Blackmon, we can run it whenever we want to.”
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