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Show Coach Pierce calls one extremely quick and the other extremely onery. liw' i. ..( v: ing , - ,z i :-f -en k . - - r " ' : ' v V I tai 'I . V . . l.Mi4d"-:AT--?Xfm' : 3 a i itMRrHFiil-'' ill -.fn it ct-i - : : ' k VI; ,V 1 thing going for them. "Lowell is simply quick, he doesn't stand there and let people get a good shot at them. Brian isjust ornery enough not to allow himself to get beat." When asked themselves, with knowledge of the coaches assessment the two agree. "I just don't let them hit me. I go into them once and then just try to disappear. I use my speed to shoot around them" Lowell confided. As for Brian, "The guys over me are usually big and slow. I just do anything to get past them" he joked. ANOTHER REASON for not only their survival sur-vival but also their success is the type of defense de-fense they run. "When you run our type of defense you either have two big giants up front like Bountiful, or you play games with a lot of stunts like we do" offered Coach Jones. "Yea those stunts help considerably" smiled Lowell, "then we know we have an assignment assign-ment gap to fill and we can get there that much faster." When no stunts are on there is no secret that these two tackles are responsible for taking away the three hole, which is between the offensive guard and tackle. LOWELL WAS born in Price, Utah and his family was much traveled until four years ago when they settled in Centerville. He never played little league due to all the travel. Brian was born in Jackson Hole, Wyo. , but moved to Bountiful at the age of one. He came up through the little league ranks and being one of the biggest players he usually found himself on the line somewhere. "I would rather be a linebacker" line-backer" noted Brian" but last year coach Pierce told me I would probably see more playing play-ing time and would help the team more if I moved to tackle so here I am." Lowell simply stated, "Seems like I've always been on the line." The size of the other players, on opposing teams, is usually misleading to these two guys on Friday. "All week we practice against other guys on our team that are usually smaller than we are so on Friday those guys opposite us look like Godzilla" joked Lowell. "On game days I seem bigger than I am, to me everyone looks bigger. 1 look around and it always looks like the real big guys are on the sidelines to me" laughed Brian. Both then admitted that after the game they like to shake hands with the guy over them and then they notice how big he is, "Sometimes I'm amazed I could play over the guy" mentioned Lowell. BOTH PLAVTRS have their answers about which players have given them the most trouble. trou-ble. "Davis, because they were unbalanced and double teamed me a lot" answered Lowell. "The kid from Layton. I think his number was 56, he was shorter than me and always seemed to be in my numbers with his feet moving all the time" replied Brian. These two have taken about all the verbal abuse two players should have to take about their size yet they still joke about it. "Size is overplayed on this level. If size were everything every-thing why are us and Davis near the top of the region?" summized Lowell. Brian has a different diffe-rent perspective, "It just seems to me some of those big guys don't really want to play. It's like the coach just found the biggest kid in the school and put him out on the field." THEN THEY had to answer a question they hadn't heard. What if they faced a guy smaller than them? "My first reaction would probably be, great no problem here. But then I would remember my own situation and be careful. If he's small and playing he has something going for himself Lowell reasoned. Brian was even more evasive, "I guess at first I would think he'd be easier to handle. But then again I don't judge anyone before the game, at least wait until after one quarter." Whether you feel these two are too small for high school ball or not they are playing major roles in the Viking success on defense. Neither of them plays offense, which doesn't bother either of them. They may be small in stature but already they have proven they can battle with the bigger guys, like Bountiful, and come out on top. While most people in the stands joke about the size of the Viking defensive tackles you can bet anything that the guys trying to block them aren't laughing one bit. ue ' Brian Bennett (left) and Lowell Knighton are two defensive Viking tackles who rely on desire instead of size. I n It's The Desire That Counts Dave Wlgham Clipper Sports BOUNTIFUL -- Remember that old song that tells you certain things you just don't do. Things like spit on Supermans cape, or spit into the wind, you don't pull the mask off the old Lone Ranger and you don't tell the Viewmont defensive tackles they're too small to play. CAN'T SAY those are the exact words of the song but all the above is on the list of don'ts for Brian Bennett and Lowell Knighton. Brian is the right defensive tackle for the Vikings who stands 6'2" and tips the scales at 180. Lowell is over on the other side of the line, the left side, at 6' and 170 pounds. "This size thing in high school is really over played" they both noted, "it's really not the players size physically that counts but more the size of their desire" they both summized. EVEN SO for these two, smaller than other lineman, to survive against the big boys from other schools like Bountiful or East they must have something going for them. Viewmonts' line coach Monte Jones feels each has some- |