tool name
closeSenior is Ram-tough on offensive line
Guy Cipriano
- gciprian@centredaily.comSPRING MILLS — He doesn't want to play favorites, not that anybody at Penns Valley would mind.
CDT photo/Michelle Bixby
Eddie Flick (60) has often been in the right place for the Penns Valley football team this season. The versatile Flick, who can play any offensive line position, will lead the Rams against Central Mountain tonight.
After three years helping the Rams’ offensive line, Eddie Flick is entitled to declare center, guard or tackle his favorite offensive line position.
Yet, the senior doesn’t take the bait.
“All three are real fun,” he said. Flick will play his final game tonight at Central Mountain. He could line up at center. He might play guard. The possibility exists he could end up playing tackle at some point.
Wherever Flick goes, teammates and coaches can expect a workmanlike effort.
“He’s been a rock the past three years,” Penns Valley coach Martin Tobias said. “He has been no-nonsense, very businesslike and self-motivated. There are very few kids that work as hard as he does at everything he does.”
Last month’s game against Clearfield embodied Flick’s value to the Rams. Flick started at center. He also played guard and tackle. A few weeks earlier at St. Marys, Flick played center and left and right guard.
Such is the career of Edward E. Flick III, who grew up on a family farm in Dix Run. His parents, Edward E. Flick Jr. and Maria Flick, sold the farm and moved to Centre Hall when Eddie was in sixth grade. Flick still helps at his grandparents’ farm along Route 192.
Long hours at a young age shaped Flick’s football career. Before his days at Wingate Elementary School, where he was a classmate of current Bald Eagle Area players Jon Gingrich and Brock Bathurst, Flick rose early to feed cows. He then fed the same cows again after school.
“You learn about hard work and attitude: Don’t give up on anything,” he said.
The move to Centre Hall cleared some time on Flick’s schedule, so he became the first member of his family to try football. His career started as a lineman on the Rams’ seventh-grade team.
“I figured I would give it a shot,” he said. “It was tough, but I liked the challenge.”
A major challenge awaited once Flick joined the varsity team in 2007. Needing a second-half spark in a Week 3 game at Tyrone, the coaching staff inserted Flick at left tackle.
The hostile environment cultivated at Gray Veteran’s Memorial Field has flustered many sophomores, especially one involved
in a game between two undefeated teams. But Flick displayed enough composure to earn a start the following week at Lewistown. He hasn’t left the field since making his varsity debut, even playing with a broken hand last year.
Where Flick plays is anybody’s guess.
He moved to guard last year. He started this season at center, but his position can quickly change. Flick also plays all three of Penns Valley’s defensive line positions — nose tackle, defensive tackle and defensive end. Tobias said Flick has never questioned a position change on either side.
“It isn’t easy,” Tobias said. “If there’s any kid that handles it well, it has been him.”
Tobias and Flick said the offensive line positions include similarities. Blocking and protection fundamentals vary little. But different angles and communication levels present challenges. Tackles pull more than guards and centers must memorize cadences. The 6-foot, 220- pound Flick started working at center for the first time during this past preseason camp.
“It’s pretty much all muscle there,” he said. “You’re going up against the big boys.”
Flick’s practice habits have helped him flourish at multiple spots. No member of the coaching staff can remember Flick asking for a break during practice. He also attended nearly every off-season and summer workout despite holding a job at the Grange Fairground.
Flick represents part of a decaying trend. Players with farming families were once the norm at Penns Valley, but Tobias said fewer players with farming backgrounds comparable to Flick’s are entering the program.
“He has his own unique qualities,” Tobias said. “He’s very much about the team. For him to get any recognition as an individual is something he shies away from.”
The team is what motivates Flick. His best friends are fellow linemen Dustin Henry and Eli Covalt. His career highlight is a 25-22 overtime victory over BEA during Week 2 of this season. Flick’s play against some of his former classmates helped running back Kody Bjalme gain 244 yards on 31 carries.
“It’s been a lot of fun,” he said. “There’s always something new going on with the team. My teammates and coaches have showed me a lot.”
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