Thielbahr’s Real Estate Agents Sandpoint’s Offensive Linemen Hot Property For Running Back

They pancake the usual cliches.

While the offensive linemen on most high school football teams are usually known by just their numbers - or mistakes - Sandpoint’s young men in the trenches have become nearly as popular as the players who receive the headlines.

Toiling in obscurity? Hardly. A thankless job? Nope.

Tailback Jeremy Thielbahr knows he’d be a step or a head-on collision away from an injury if his buddies weren’t opening holes and shielding him from would-be tacklers.

Thielbahr has made it his personal mission this season to share as much of the spotlight with his five friends. As Thielbahr sees them in practice and games, primarily bent over in front of him, they are: left tackle Pete Murray (6-foot-1, 180 pounds), left guard Ronnie Moore (5-9, 260), center J.D. McElroy (5-9, 180), right guard Jarad Vasquez (6-2, 250) and right tackle Erik Boone (5-11, 175), all seniors.

“He’s sort of our PR (public relations) agent,” McElroy said.

“Last year, my line got very little credit and I gained nearly 1,900 yards,” Thielbahr said.

Three of those starters returned in McElroy, Vasquez and Boone - the entire right side where, predictably, Thielbahr begins many of his frequent sprints toward the end zone.

Although the left side is new, Moore and Murray aren’t new to varsity. Moore came from Sacramento, Calif., where he started at center last year. Murray was a part-time player last year, rotating through the line.

The bond the linemen share wasn’t formed during two-a-day practices. Rather, it goes back to mid-June when they attended football camp at Idaho.

Moore’s family was thinking about moving to Sandpoint. So he was invited to join the camping Bulldogs.

“They let me start (at camp), not knowing if I was going to be able to move up here or not,” said Moore, a childhood friend of Vasquez.

Moore’s linemates are elated that the move worked out. Moore is considered the enforcer up front.

“It’s not that he makes all the difference,” Boone said, “but now we have a gun in our belt, another weapon.”

Said Moore: “I don’t take nothing from anybody. If somebody gets mouthy or does something I don’t like, I take care of it. I put them on their back. You can do it legally, you don’t have to cheap shot ‘em.”

The fivesome has caught the attention of opposing coaches.

Sandpoint, an A-1 Division II team, toughened its schedule by adding A-1 Division I Borah.

To a lineman, they say the victory over Borah was their best as a unit. It was a defining game for a team trying to gauge its potential, too. Sandpoint fell behind 14-0 in the first quarter, but the Bulldogs scored the next 43 points before settling for a 43-29 win.

“We’ve played Highland, the A-1 Division I power in the state; Pocatello, the best teams around here (Boise), and I’m not so sure Sandpoint’s not the best team in the state,” Borah coach Paul Peterson said. “The film (of the game) will bear it out. Their offensive line is impressive. They’re dominant, quick, and their center (McElroy) is the most impressive I’ve seen for the high school level in a long time.

“They have a very safe game plan, but they’re not going to make mistakes. They’re a big, physical team that plays with a nasty confidence.”

It was against Borah that Thielbahr broke his school record for most yards in a game, eclipsing 300 yards (326). He did it again two weeks later when he gained 345 in three quarters against Lake City.

Thielbahr can count on one hand how many times he’s been tackled for no gain or negative yards. And quarterback Brett Taylor can count how many times he’s been sacked on one finger.

“We have great linebackers, great wide receivers, great running backs,” Taylor said, “but the offensive linemen are probably the most important group of people on our team. They would be the most difficult to replace.”

Boone said the linemen are like brothers.

“We argue, we bicker, we’ll fight, we’ll complain - like brothers who are pretty close will do - but we can come up and give each other a hug and talk to each other about anything,” he said.

Oh, and about that one sack?

“It was my fault,” Boone said. “The guy did a stupid stunt on me and he guessed right.”

Vasquez enjoys the reward of a job well done.

“We outplay people; we punish them,” Vasquez said.

Asked which is the toughest defensive line Sandpoint’s faced, Moore said: “Our defensive line, and we score on them when we please.”

While McElroy, Vasquez, Boone and Moore have been honored as the team’s lineman of the week at least once this year, Murray, who shares time with junior Dave Rust, has plodded along at an efficient level.

“My blocking percentage has improved steadily each game,” Murray said.

“They’re very close in abilities and performance each week,” offensive line coach Mike McNulty said. “The game against Borah was storybook stuff. We hit a rhythm. It was electric in the huddle. It was inspiring. But we can play better.”

McNulty allowed a pause - like a few short seconds between huts, almost as if he was calling an audible - before inserting the humbling air needle into the helmets of his linemen.

“From time to time, we make Jeremy look good,” he said, “but to be very honest, more often he makes us look pretty good.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo