ST. JOHNS, FLA. – It’s not easy taking over a starting quarterback role for one of the area’s best high school football teams. There’s a ton of pressure for Bartram Trail’s Jaden Weatherly and a lot to think about even before the snap of the ball. But one thing Weatherly doesn’t have to worry about is the five guys in front of him protecting his every move.
“It feels good to have a bunch of guys in front of me, block for me that I know will protect me pretty well,” Weatherly said. “I’ve played with some on JV so we’ve built good relationships. This team, we’re really like all coming together like brothers.”
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The Bartram Trail offensive line is one of the area’s best units.
“I think it’s because we have the most experience out of all the teams,” Bartram Trail senior offensive lineman Zach Marshall said. “We’re very physical up front.”
“I believe across our offensive line, you can look at any one of the five people starting and you can say that person is good enough to play on most o-lines in Northeast Florida,” Bartram Trail senior offensive lineman Jimmy Huck said. “I think it’s really the combination of everybody rather than one individual person.”
Part of their success is because the offensive linemen are first and foremost - friends.
“We’re really close,” Marshall said. “We hangout all the time. We’re always doing stuff outside of school.”
After three years together on varsity, it’s the bond that they’ve built off the field that translates to the game.
“My sophomore year on varsity sometimes we’d have to make a call or we have to point out something,” Huck said. “Where now between me and Zach, and me and Nick, and some of the other people that have been there longer, we don’t even have to say the things anymore. We can just point at somebody and we know what’s going on.”
The big boys in the trenches don’t always get the recognition, but if it wasn’t for them - Laython Biddle would not have become Florida’s leading rusher.
“Obviously last year we had Laython and this year we have Arthur and they make us look really good,” Marshall said.
The bear pack has one more season together to leave a lasting impression as one of the fiercest among the competition.
“We definitely got a lot better,” Marshall said. “We’ve been working on our run game and our pass game. It’s gotten 1,000 times better from the spring.”
They’re off to a strong start by winning their season opener, but against Ponte Vedra in week two, expect a battle on the line.