O-line serves as the backbone of offensive success through conference season
As Wabash football marches past the halfway mark of their North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) campaign, the Little Giants have been one of the highest-producing offenses in the conference, riding exemplary performances of running back Xavier Tyler ’26. But, behind Tyler’s 103.1 yards per game and 722 rushing yards (both leading the NCAC), stand five reasons for Wabash’s success running and passing the ball: their offensive line.
On every football team, the offensive line is the cornerstone of offensive success. Their ability to block on both running and passing plays allows skill players to achieve statistical greatness, week in and week out.
Offensive linemen typically have no stats. They are the team’s silent guardians, blocking unselfishly to give their team the best chance of scoring.
This season, Wabash’s line of Kanon Kelley ’25, Enrique Ruiz ’25, Cameron Ford ’25, Quinn Sholar ’26 and Jax Bower ’27 drive the second-best offense in the NCAC. A veteran crew with four upperclassmen and three returning starters, these Little Giants bring experience to this year’s offense, commanding the line of scrimmage against their opponents.
Their stellar play this season has already earned them D3football.com’s “Team of the Week” honors for their standout performance against the College of Wooster on October 5, 2024. With 577 total yards of offense against Wooster and a scorching 334 yards on the ground, the Little Giants’ offensive line certainly packs a potent punch.
“I would say that this group specifically comes with a lot of maturity,” said Ford. “We don’t have the explosive offense that we’ve had in the past. With that, you have to rely on the offensive line a little more to get things going. If we’re going to win games, if we’re going to dominate, then it’s going to run through us first.”
And run through them it has. One of the major stories of this season for Wabash has been the loss of senior quarterback Blake White ’25 to injury and the introduction of Brand Campbell ’27 into the starting position. With no experience playing at the collegiate level, Campbell needed all the help he could get from his experienced linemen while acclimating to the speed of the game.
“Early on, the goal was to take as much load off of Brand as possible,” said Ford. “That comes in two forms. Firstly, we don’t want him running too much and getting too free, because that’s where a lot of those late hits can come. But secondly, a lot of it came through the calls that we gave: protection calls, flipping plays and switching plays.”
To alleviate the pressure from Campbell, many of the typical audible calls or pressure adjustments that Wabash quarterbacks typically make at the line of scrimmage were made by the linemen, not by Campbell. Head Football Coach Don Morel was able to lean on his linemen to mobilize the Little Giants offense, keeping it running smoothly during Campbell’s transition to starting QB.
“These are highly intelligent guys whose hobby is that they love offensive line play,” said Morel. “They take incredible pride in their technique and scheme, and with a young quarterback back there, he doesn’t need to worry about the protection of those guys up front.”
“[The line] helped a lot. They made me feel comfortable back there and took control of blitz checks to take the pressure off me,” said Campbell. “I’ve had all the time in the world to throw the ball. It helps a lot when you have one of the best o-lines in the country blocking for you.”
Along with their second-to-none knowledge of the Wabash offense, these linemen also bring an aggressive attitude and physical play to the table on gameday. They take specific pleasure in bringing the physicality to their opponents, setting the tone for the game they want to play, especially in the run game.
“I feel like, between the five of us, fun comes with physicality,” said Kelley. “ This year especially, we really put emphasis on that. I think being able to run the ball is fun for all of us.”
Part of the success that Wabash has seen in the run game has come from slower developing plays where linemen pull from their initial positions and block out in open space, creating lanes for running backs to cut off, which make big holes for big plays.
“[The coaches] are getting us in open space,” said Ruiz. “They’re allowing us to pull, being able to get to the second level easier and more efficiently. This allows for us to play looser. And, we can get to the linebackers in the secondary level, while making the holes for our guys.”
“These guys are work horses, but they’re also race horses,” said Assistant Football Coach Olmy Olmstead ’03. “I’ve got fast, agile guys that I can get in space to give us an advantage.”
Playing on the line is a unique skill. To perform well as a unit, there has to be perfect communication and understanding between all five players, bordering on telepathy. Each member needs to know exactly what the others are doing at any given moment. This sort of connection cannot only be bred on the field, but developed off it as well.
“Something I believe that helps us as a unit off the field is that we know how to leave football at football and actually be interested in what each of us have going on in our personal lives,” said Sholar. “And that gives me even more of a reason to play for the person to the right of me. I feel like that translates to the field as well.”
“Off the field, we try to keep things not as serious,” said Bower. “We’re joking around with each other, and building up rapport. Falling into that has helped us know what each other is thinking on the field, so that we can work together a lot better.”
Playing offensive line is the only position in all of sports where the primary goal is the protection of another player. It is a one-of-one experience, requiring a special blend of physical strength, quickness, high football IQ and teamwork that is unparalleled in almost any other discipline. To do it well takes hours of practice, film study and camaraderie. The Wabash offensive line does it great.
“I think it’s pretty obvious that [DePauw] is ranked pretty high right now,” said Kelley. “But we always say that the Little Giants will be on top at the end. I fully have faith in that. And we’re going to [win the Bell] with the five of us here.”