Are Two Justin Knoebels Better Than One?

Going into Friday's game with Danville, Justin Knoebel's playing status was a question mark. As the game with Danville progressed and Steve Roth was picking up some big yards on the ground there was the familiar #60 getting off the bottom the pile. Roth started to pick up huge chunks of yardage from the second quarter until the final whistle. Broadcasting the game, we noticed Roth picked up the yardage from the left side and we viewed #60 opening up huge holes on the left side. One thing we didn't do is look for two number 60's.

In my weekly interview with Southern head coach Jim Roth, I told him I thought Justin Knoebel had a great game on the left side opening up some big holes for the running game. Broadcasting my first Southern game since week one, I knew Knoebel was teamed with Tyler Wilson on the right side, but injuries change the line composition over a course of the season. I assumed Knoebel was moved to the left for a reason.

Roth let me know that wasn't Justin Knoebel at left guard. The player in question happened to be Joe Picarelli who normally wears #86 and play defensive end and the second tight end when the Tigers go to a "double tight" formation. "Joe is one of our better blockers and we wanted to work him into the interior," said Jim Roth. "Knoebel adds so much as a leader to our line, it was good to have him back in there." In asking how many games Picarelli was at guard, Roth said, "it was his first." The PIAA does have some jersey rules. "The PIAA requires that the interior linemen wear 50-79, but it doesn't matter what name is on the back."

In this case, two Justin Knoebels were better than one.