How Forreston football took an offensive lineman and made him into a dominant fullback
FORRESTON — Johnny Kobler was a star running back in middle school. But he never complained when his high school coaches turned him into a blocker.
“I love football,” Kobler said. “If they told me I had to play long snapper and that was it, I would play long snapper and perfect it to the best of my ability. I just love the sport. I love the team. I love everybody out here.”
And now, after playing tight end as a freshman on a team that doesn’t pass and offensive tackle the last two years, Kobler is back in the spotlight as the leading rusher on a Forreston team that will play two-time defending state champion Lena-Winslow (12-0) at 2 p.m. Saturday in the Class 1A state football semifinals.
Kobler, in his only year carrying the ball, not only leads the NUIC with 1,400 yards rushing, the 6-foot-3, 240-pound senior fullback also has the second-highest total in Forreston’s illustrious history.
More:Why slowing down helped carry this 5-4 Forreston team back to the state semifinals
“Johnny transferring back was a huge transformation,” said halfback Kaleb Sanders, whose 873 yards rank second for Forreston and seventh in the NUIC. “He’s just a tank. He can run through people when he needs to and he’s also great blocker.
“People try to tackle him and if they don’t go low he runs right through them. And when he’s doing his kick-outs (blocks), he lowers his shoulder and that person is not in the play any more.”
Kobler’s 111 yards and 22 carries in Forreston’s 20-8 victory over Dakota — which had beaten Forreston earlier in the season — stood out for two reasons. No other Cardinal ran for more than 28 yards. And no one else had more than seven carries.
That was a huge departure for a team so known for sharing the wealth. Forreston threw only one (incomplete) pass Saturday and rarely throws in any game or any year. But the Cardinals (8-4) have the most diverse running game in the area. Its three state championship teams in 2014, 2016 and 2018 all had four players who rushed for at least 500 yards. This year’s team has five players with at least 350 yards rushing.
So giving Kobler the ball more than the rest of the team combined “was absolutely out of character,” coach Keynon Janicke said.
But it was also the way to win.
“We couldn’t get our sweep plays going or our outside (isolation) plays,” Janicke said. “We knew we could rely on Johnny. He has carried the load all season. It was a tight game, and we knew we could rely on him the most so we just kept feeding him.”
“I am glad they have enough faith in me,” Knobler said, “to give me the ball like that. But any time we find a hole and a person to do it, we’re going to find that person and hit that hole and keep going.”
More:Where and when Rockford-area teams play in the 2022 IHSA football playoffs
The bruising Knobler fits Forreston’s style. Nothing fancy. But he keeps moving the chains. And he hits defenses as hard as defenses hit him.
“He’s always had that fight in him,” quarterback Brock Smith said. “He’s always had that passion to just go, go, go. He never gives up.”
Knobler’s two touchdown runs also ties him for the school record with 23. He probably can’t catch Jeremy Deforge’s school record of over 1,900 yards, but that’s OK. He doesn’t want records. He wants another Forreston title.
“Growing up and seeing ’14, ’16 and 18 teams go all the way and now we’re sitting here, right in reach of where they were, trying to put Forreston back on the map as the best team in the state, it’s amazing,” Knobler said.
The Cardinals will be decided underdogs against a Le-Win team that is 65-5 the last six years. But they beat Le-Win once in two meetings last year and gave the Panthers their closest contest this year, with a 28-14 loss in Week 9.
The Cardinals will need another big game by their star fullback to pull an upset. A fullback who still plays a little like the offensive tackle he was the previous two seasons.
“Being a fullback, it’s mainly just power,” Kobler said. “You have to have some sort of speed, but it’s fairly similar to tackle when you are blocking. The only difference is how your hands are positioned.
More:Byron's clutch QB leads Rockford's top football performers from the state quarterfinals
“And I can’t do anything without the line. Without them, I am unable to go anywhere.”
No runner knows that better than a former lineman. Forreston once switched players the other way, with Matt Akins moving from fullback to offensive line, but Janicke doesn’t know of any star runner who used to be an offensive lineman.
That makes him a favorite of Forreston’s current linemen.
“They definitely love me a little more,” Kobler said. “They do their job well and protect all the (skill-position players).”
Matt Trowbridge has covered sports for the Rockford Register Star for over 30 years, after previous stints in North Dakota, Delaware, Vermont and three years covering the Hawkeyes in Iowa City.
This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: IHSA football playoffs: Forreston fullback converted a offensive lineman
