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Show Praise Gridiron Men Heroes eseirv Menfin AtW0 lette-yr's lette-yr's starter as rT i l 3 235 Pound poi' ' the I forrnation , better than everat , ' an. will be at left, John Schiller. 2" t line reseat fuss will get th right tackle. s0Dh ! wiU see some action J .KentRamon, J v Wyoming through lasfseaSl;: !, the starter at centP k (Ed. Note: This is the second in a series of articles evaluating spring training.) By Greg Fowler Staff Writer The often unsung heroes of the gridiron are the big, powerful power-ful giants of the front lines. These are the men who make the openings for the famous runners and keep the enemy away from the star quarterbacks. Without the violent blocking and tackling of the big men the greats of the backfield would never make the headlines. At the University of Utah the job of establishing and maintaining a powerful and effective ef-fective forward wall falls on the shoulders of coaches Don Bennett and Jim Criner. Coach Bennett, a former coach at Glendale, where he compiled an impressive 36-9-2 overall record, rec-ord, will again be responsible for the important defensive line. Like most Ute coaches, Bennett must rebuild after the graduation gradua-tion last year of most of his great line. The loss of John Stip-ech, Stip-ech, the mainstay of last season, sea-son, will undoubtedly be felt. However, George Hartmon, who filled in for Big John the past two years is a good aggressive tor. Criner has some excellent returning talent to form the foundation foun-dation of an offensive front line. At left guard two year letterman Jerry Tollman will most likely get the starting call. Only 205, Tollman will be one of the smaller small-er men on the line but his quickness quick-ness and experience make him a good asset. The stalwart of the offensive player and his experience should help him fill the vacancy at the left tackle spot. Senior John Bo-bich Bo-bich and Norm McBride will give the position some depth, but without Stipech left tackle will be somewhat weaker than last year. Burnett as Left Guard Junior Tim Burnett saw a lot of action last season and will probably be the starter at left guard this year. Jack Miller, a sophomore coming up from the freshman squad will see a good deal of action also. With two good men at the left guard spot this position will be just as strong as last year. Joe Johnson John-son will be back at the right guard spot. He is one of the few remaining starters on the defensive defens-ive line this season. The 240 pound Johnson will be b a c k e d by sophomore Mike Lynch and senior Mike Littig, both from last year's squad. After filling in as a front line reserve for the past two years, veteran senior Manny Fernandez will be the starter at right tackle. At 6'-2" and 252 pounds, he has the size and ability to be a defensive standout. stand-out. Backing up at the right tackle tack-le spot the JC transfer Gary Kerl and sophomore Perry Lie-vallen Lie-vallen from the frosh team. Coach for Offense Taking over the reins of the offensive line is first year coach Jim Criner. He was formerly head coach at Clovis High School, Calif., and is starting his rookie year as a university men- i f J - v - 41, s "Sf -" ' - 9 ' I - ' ' r I J ; ' t . I ' xv ,- 1 t i Norman Chow is expected to be the anchor man tor the I'ltll I line in 1967. l |
