Southwest hopes O-line will lead to a stronger finish

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By BRENT C. WAGNER / Lincoln Journal Star

His father had called Andrew Essman over to the computer.

One of those recruiting Web sites had a video of Baker Steinkuhler, and it was Essman that was the guy lined up next to him.

A Lincoln Southwest offensive linemen, Essman says it’s pretty cool to see yourself on a highlight video that grown men across the country couldn’t get enough of. Steinkuhler was the right guard for Southwest, and Essman the right tackle.

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Lincoln Southwest's Rylan Cotton holds onto the ball as he is tackled to the ground by Papillion during the second quarter of the varsity game at Seacrest Field. (LJS File)

Lincoln Southwest's Rylan Cotton holds onto the ball as he is tackled to the ground by Papillion during the second quarter of the varsity game at Seacrest Field. (LJS File)

The story is significant, if only because you can’t help but get at least a little better playing inches away from Steinkuhler for two seasons, and the Silver Hawks believe their offensive line has the potential to be a bright spot this season.

Essman, a 6-foot-2, 290-pound senior, has been a starter since the first game of his sophomore season. Another lineman, Jason Schrad, is also a three-year starter, and others come with experience at the position.

“I’m a lot more confident because of the guys I played with in the past, like Baker Steinkuhler and Sam Siegel and some really good guys,” Essman said. “I’ve kind of seen it all now, so I know what to expect, and I think we’ll have a good team.”

As for what a guy like Essman can learn from Steinkuhler?

“Just to play hard every down, work hard in the offseason and just do everything you can to get better,” Essman said. “It motivated me to try to get better; try to get like Baker.”

Last season was somewhat of a disappointment at Southwest, if only because there was a lot of wondering what might have been. Coach Mark King says the season was like an episode of “Grey’s Anatomy,” with 24 of the top 42 players missing at least one game due to injury. Southwest ended the year 5-5, and lost to Millard North in the first round of the playoffs.

“Guys on this team remember our five-overtime loss at Millard North, and then losing to them again last year,” Schrad said. “That’s just focused us on saying we need to do it this year. Our seniors saw how last year’s seniors ended, and we just said we’re not going to go out like that.”

Behind that offensive line will be Rylan Cotton, the retuning starter at quarterback. The top running back is junior Jeff Seyboldt, and Eric Hyde is currently No. 2 at the spot.

The strength of the offense may end up being its balance, King said.

“I think we’ll be able to do a lot of different things on offense, and that’s a little bit different,” King said. “Sometimes, we’ve been really power oriented with some of the guys we’ve had in the past.”

On defense what you may notice about the Silver Hawks is their speed, and for at least now, the depth should help all around.

That depth was aided with transfers Bill McEwen (North Platte), Kyle Daniels (Boys Town) and Jordan Tyrance (Parkview Christian). Tyrance, a 6-4, 190-pound junior, has been working at receiver and outside linebacker.

The coach isn’t quite sure yet which players will stand out most this season. He keeps coming back to some of those veterans on the offensive line, though.

“We’ve won a lot of ball games here with those guys,” King said.

Reach Brent C. Wagner at 473-7435 or bwagner@journalstar.com.