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Show ;; Once A Taclde, Always A Tackle v t ' - 7" 7;; - ; , (r. ) : 1 i! "1 : ' . H , - .' ! H ...... r iU t-- e 1'C.uiinOii learned pass defense '' ,r,'lNTIHL - Bv the lime thev reach "r ' r.:or vsr.ir m hii;h school most football ..'an t.i'k aNuit .ill the v .uunis positions y.. hv ? r'-'I'J m teir spoil during the Ym IVuntilul's Steve Hc.un-.on though c.' th.it once a tackle. alas a tackle. ;-'E U N US plavcd l.wklc. ever since t '.:t- One time, in ninth grade. I was tr a running Kiel position but m S,tcc til'ki-J me into playing the tackle spot Utc I: rea!! hasn't bothered me not to play tc r rvt" he admitted. The irvsr.:c part of this all is that Steve wasn't : - f."'.:h.i tvecest suv so that theorv goes out the window. "Ijust ic.illy don't remember w hy the little league coaches put me at tackle. It wasn't until the eighth and ninth grade that 1 really got that big" he laughed. LOOKING back over those two years Steve recalls grow ing si inches in height and putting on over 50 pounds. Now as a d'.V ;o5 pound senior Steve is definitely one of the bigger guys on the team, although at Bountiful he certainly isn't the biggest. As a sophomore he went both sides of the line as a tackle on the soph club but then last year as a junior he was used quite a bit on the varsity level along with junior varsity play. "The coaches would send me in on passing downs to rush the quarterback. Then in the Training in effective pass blocking has also made Steve Bearnson an effective pass rusher. final two games on league Chris Badger was injured and I got to start. 1'lus I played on the specialty teams" he beamed. II M I N ( ; A tackle at Hountiful used to mean one thing, learn how to run block for the big fullback. Hut this year is a little different for Steve and his buddies. "We had to learn how to pass block as well. We spend a lot of practice time working on pass blocking and protecting but it's still new a little new to most of us" he joked. When pushed for an answer concerning his preference to blocking for a run or a pass Steve noted. "A run I would say. Basically on a run I get to explode off the ball and get into my man whereas in pass blocking I'm put on the defense more in that you almost wait for your man to come to you." On the outside it would seem easy to pass block, simply stay in front of your man and not let him get to the passer but Steve says it isn't that easy. "First of all the defense gets to use their hands and throw you one way or the other, it is true though the basic principal is to stay in front of your man and keep between him and the passer. It's not that hard really but then again it's not that easy." ON THE OTHER side of the coin Steve is also considered by his coaches as the best pass rusher the Braves have. "It does help a little to I know what the blocker is doing. The key to j rushing is to get rid of your blocker as quick as I possible. The coaches teach about three or I four techniques of how to do this. I have my j favorite method but I'm not going to say what it is. My best asset the coaches tell me is my quick feet." Bearny, as he is called by his teammates, is a very emotional player. Even off the field he likes to get people fired up at athletic events. Last year he was the school mascot at basketball basket-ball games and he soon became the most visible visi-ble and vocal leader at the Bountiful baseball games. "Yea, I'm emotional on the field. I'll get excited if someone makes a good play or something like that but then I've always been emotional." ONE THING about this season that already was an honor for Steve was being selected as a team captain. "That means a lot to me, it's a big honor to be selected by your teammates for that honor." Steve looks to the region as a challenge this year. "It seems like everyone wants to beat the IT ' '. ? - r " 4 ...from being good at pass blocking boys on the hill. We're a good football team but in this region we're not going to walk over anyone and we know it." STEVE BEARNSON is one big reason why the Braves should still be included in any talk of a region championship in football. He has played under both systems and he likes what he sees this year. "It's new to us but we're getting used to everything and once we do then we'll be tough. I like the way we are spreading out the offense, now teams can't just key on one player" he notes. After high school Steve would love a shot at college football somewhere and the way he's going they'll be plenty of colleges that would love to have him. |
