I.C. Murrell | PANews.com
Published 10:10 pm Tuesday, October 4, 2016
PORT NECHES — When Zachary Murdock finishes his Port Neches-Groves football career, he may become the teaching tool for how an offensive lineman should play.
“He’s done unbelievable,” PNG offensive line coach Peter Medlock said. “It’s like a coaching point every play. We can coach tackles for the next several years just by turning on film. It’s something to see.”
Murdock, a senior right guard, has graded the highest among offensive linemen on the team. Three times this season, Medlock said, Murdock has graded better than 90 percent, which he said is unheard of.
“Our grading system is not an easy grading system,” he said. “It’s not just a check mark if you did good. We grade technique. We grade whether or not you completed the assignment on the play.”
Murdock is a second-year varsity player who has stepped on the field at all five O-line positions in his career, Medlock said. He added Murdock has turned in a good offensive lineman and, by far, the most knowledgeable up front.
“The first thing that makes me think about [Murdock] is that he’s very athletic,” PNG head coach Brandon Faircloth said. “He’s a big kid, very physical, great at run blocking, great at pass blocking.”
This is the seventh straight year Faircloth has coached a Murdock brother on the PNG varsity. Micah Murdock played from 2010-11 and Avery Murdock donned the purple and white form 2012-14.
“We have a really big PNG tradition, so it’s nice to carry on the tradition,” Zachary Murdock said.
He and the O-linemen have helped the Indians (5-0, 3-0 in 22-5A) achieve big results this season. PNG’s offense produces 433 total yards per game, 230.2 of which comes in the running game.
Sophomore quarterback Roschon Johnson leads District 22-5A in passing with 970 and has thrown for 12 touchdowns with three interceptions.
“It helps out a lot when we can get our guys up front to help the guys behind us do their job,” Murdock said.
He put on 30 pounds since last season and has since become the Indians’ anchor of the O-line. He figures to be a big factor in the battle in the trenches against a Vidor (5-1, 4-0) defense that is second in the district with 244.3 yards allowed per game.
“They’re excited for the challenge,” Medlock said of his O-line. “We like to believe that we look forward to these kinds of games, not in an arrogant, haughty way, but to test and see where we stand.
If somebody can just sit in the stands and look at the battle in the trenches, it’s going to be pretty entertaining. It’s two very physical bunches of people. Our offensive line, the five guys who start, are very smart. They’re very knowledgeable. They understand what we’re trying to do. And I look forward to seeing them execute against a very good defensive front, the best defensive front we’ve played by far, up to this point.”
Murdock said his unit has been looking forward to a tough game for a while.
“I think we’re prepared for it, and we’re going to do a lot more this week to get prepared,” he said. “I think we’ll be there.”
