Heavy Hitters Club

Ever hit someone so hard that you makes them bleed? Or even more brutal, ever hit them so hard that it makes you bleed?

Play football with an old school boxer's mentality like those featured on the cover — Alma's Aaron Cluck, Bentonville's Torery Garrison, Harrison's Josh Martin and Rogers' DJ Smart — and the answer is 'Yes' to both questions. The four are among the hardest hitters in the area and help us pound out the mental and physical attributes behind delivering an eye-popping blow.

It takes brains, as much as brawn.

Being mentally strong enough to overcome any fear of being hurt or of hurting an opponent is key. But also being smart enough not to play too pumped up is essential.

Still, one has to play a little crazy to throw every pound of their body into another player.

Garrison even giggles as he's trying to knock out a ball carrier.

"It's a pure adrenaline rush," said Garrison, Bentonville's leading tackler last season. "Our safety, Jean-Claude (Rodriquez), said when I hit that guy coming up the middle (in the opener), he said he could hear me laughing as I hit him because I was so excited.

"That's why I always come up with a huge smile on my face. I love hitting. It's so fun."

Crazy is as crazy does, but defense does win championships and that's why these hard-nosed hitters are the kind of players coaches love the most.

Having a big hitter can intimidate tailbacks and even cause offensive coordinators to design double teams and script plays away from a certain player's area.

THE STARE DOWN
Most of the 15-20 seconds before the snap is spent with both teams trying to read each other's formations.

Quarterbacks are eyeing safeties as linebackers eye ball carriers and vice versa.

Boxers stand nose-to-nose before a fight and stare each other down from across the ring between rounds. Like in football, they also better keep an eye on an opponent during the action.

Hit or be hit is the life in football and in boxing.

"Against Conway (in the season opener), the running back came straight up the middle and I came untouched because nobody saw me," Garrison said. "I'm looking right at the running back and he's looking right back at me thinking he's going to run me over and I wound up decleating him."

Smart, Rogers' leading tackler through two games, has shown tremendous mobility for a 230-pounder and has used his size to level several opponents whether they're running the ball or trying to block him.

When he sees a player's eyes squint in fear of absorbing a hit, that's when the bell goes off in his head.

"My eyes start lighting up and they get bigger," Smart said. "Just because it's 'Oh yeah, here comes the hit.' Once you hit, it feels so good. Then you just pop straight up and flex your muscles and get ready for the next play."

LOCO IN LA CABEZA
Throwing yourself into harm's way in the ring is very much like throwing your entire body into someone at full speed on the gridiron.

A bit of crazy mixed with courage is needed.

Alma and Harrison are will known for physical play and Martin is a junior safety for the Goblins with a knack for head hunting.

"You know you're about to have a good hit and the only thing that goes through your mind is just to hurt them," said Martin, a former linebacker. "It's a big release after I hit someone because it makes me feel so good. There's a lot of built up anger that needs to come out."

Cluck, the Airedales' leading tackler the past two years, gets to eye opponents as a linebacker and lead blocker in "heavy" offensive sets.

His hit mentality is the same from either side of the ball.

"I just want to unload on them and make sure I hit them good," Cluck said. "I want to make them feel it. It's definitely an adrenaline rush. It's like making a 100 on a test you didn't study for."

One aspect where the four featured on the covered differed was in their actual intent to cause bodily harm. Just like some boxers who hug after a fight, others would prefer seeing the other carted out of the ring.

"I never worry about hurting anybody," Garrison said. "They know they are out here to get hit and I'm just the one hitting them."

Boxers may break a knuckle on another guy's nose, but football sluggers are putting their entire bodies at risk and can often absorb as much of the blow as they dish out. Some even see stars or injure a shoulder or neck on a collision.

In the season opener, Smart got busted up on contact he initiated.

"My helmet came up when I hit a guy and my chinstrap came up and pulls the front of my lip and rips it off," Smart said. "I had to go out for four or five plays to get the blood to stop. Blood was all over my mouth and my nose and everything."

HITS BEFORE THE HITS
Boxers jam to loud music while working up a frenzied sweat in the locker room and on their entrance into the ring.

Each of the four heavy hitters on the cover have specific rituals they go through to get into that ready-to-leave-my-feet-to-hit-anybody state of mind.

Like boxers, most involve some sort of music.

"I listen to a mix of really mellow and hard-core screaming music, like Cold Play or Jump for a Cowboy. They sound basically like pig squeals," Smart said.

Not all of our hitters are the same. Cluck listens to a mixed taped with the rest of his Airedales' teammates while Martin opts for hip hop before he delivers a pop.

"I've got my iPod and it's full of a lot of loud rock and rap," Martin said. "Lil' John usually gets it going the best for me. Then I just go into a corner by myself to get myself ready."

Garrison listens to heavy metal songs such as "Ironman," "Seek and Destory," and "Enter Sandman," to get pumped prior to kickoff. Then he evolves into a Tiger pacing up and down in a 120-yard cage.

"About 30 minutes before the game starts, I put my helmet down and I walk up and down the field about 10 times," Garrison said. "I just walk around and start bouncing and if the gates are open and the stands are open, I can see everybody and I just feed off of that. I get my feel for it getting loud and crazy. That just really pumps me up.

"You can't be passive playing defense. It's all aggressive."

But not too aggressive.

"You want to get hyped up," Cluck said. "But you don't want to be too hyped up for the game because then you'll go in there too anxious and miss a lot of tackles right from the beginning."

Top boxers also maintain the more level-headed you can stay during a fight, the better chance you have of not literally losing your head. Being too pumped up for a football game can lead to over pursuing on and bad timing on hits.

Like boxing, timing a perfect punch makes a much sweeter sound than Smart's pregame pig squeals.

"You get a good hit on somebody and you're just laying on top of them," Smart said. "And you can hear them just kind of moaning, 'Ahh!' like the air is coming out of them.

"That's when you know you've really hit somebody hard."