Marchbank performs a Sailor line dance
SARASOTA — The offensive lineman opposite Maddox Marchbank should be forewarned: the Sarasota Sailor defensive tackle will come at him as if the guy stole his lunch money.
"Friday night comes," Sarasota head football coach Brody Wiseman said, "he might not be the nicest person in the room."
The defensive lineman opposite Maddox Marchbank should be forewarned: the Sarasota Sailor offensive tackle will come at him as if the guy stole his lunch money, and gave it to a player on the Riverview Rams.
"If you're holding me back from something, I'm not your friend," the 6-foot-3, 272-pounder said. "I look at the person across from me as stopping my team from winning and stopping me from getting a scholarship. They don't even know they did something wrong, but I look at them as if they're a criminal. They'll get messed up for it."
He combines strength, quickness and power with a tireless work ethic and junkyard dog mentality that, when assembled together, makes Marchbank the best lineman Wiseman's had at Sarasota.
"Jamal Thompson is probably the only one who's up there," Wiseman said. "(Maddox) is really good on both sides of the ball, and I've never coached a guy like that. Haven't really coached a player who's that proficient on both sides of the ball. It's very hard to do, and he's really good at it."
When Marchbank, whose dad, Randy, played for the Sailors under head coach Eddie Howell, heard Wiseman's lavish praise, the senior smiled. "Oh, yeah, that one felt good," he said. "I heard that and I was like, 'Oh, yeah, I like that one.'''
Marchbank started the Sailors' first three games at offensive guard. But when the Sailors experienced leakage along the defensive line, he switched to defensive tackle for last Friday's game against Booker.
How did he do, coach? "He was a complete game-wrecker," Wiseman said. Marchbank finished the Sailor victory with seven tackles, four for losses, a strip sack and fumble recovery. This Friday night, the Sailors play Palmetto, and if the need arises, Marchbank, who didn't play any offensive line last season, will switch up again.
"I can play anything, really," he said. "I just use different techniques at different spots Really, any big-man position I can play at a high level. I'm really quick off the ball. If I line up between two people, more than often I'll get in between them even before they get their hands on me."
Said Wiseman: "He's really good at both. Some (colleges) like him as an (offensive) lineman, some like him as a defensive tackle. What helps him is his athleticism. He's a plus athlete on the (offensive) side. On the defensive side, he's nasty and plays with great technique. He plays with good leverage and pad level."
"It's really where I'm needed the most," Marchbank said. But whatever the side of the ball, the Sailor wrestler will combine a skill set with a confidence bordering on cockiness. Marchbank liberally uses the word "dominant" when describing his game.
"If you watch film, (both sides of the ball) are pretty similar," he said. "I personally don't know which one I'm better at. I guess it's just how people run their offense. I'm a confident guy. It helps me to trust to know what I'm doing. I have confidence in myself. If I have confidence in myself, then I should be good."
Marchbank's individual matchups, either with an offensive lineman or defensive tackle, within football's team structure mimic his opponents on the wrestling mat. That he's nonstop on the gridiron reflects his grappling pedigree.
"I get that from wrestling," he said. "You can't take time off during a wrestling match, or you'll get your butt whipped.
"I'll give it my all on every play, even if I'm tired. I'll pass out before you see me skip a play."
Marchbank has friends on the Venice and Riverview teams and they tell him his name gets dropped in meeting rooms.
"I don't know what they say," he said, "but come game day, I'm not quitting." It's one of the reasons he gets double-teamed on a consistent basis. "If you watch (film) from last year, they double-teamed pretty much every snap," he said.
Marchbank's attack mentality is best rewarded when he's at offensive guard and pulls to open a hole for a Sailor running back. "My favorite thing is when we pull," he said, "because I come through that thing hot. I'll come through that thing trying to take heads off. If I'm on offense, I flip the offensive switch. If I'm on defense, I flip the defensive switch."
He leads both by words and example. During practice, when Marchbank is on defense, he'll motivate the offense. When on offense, the defense receives his often choice vocabulary.
"I'm over there motivating the offense," he said, "so my teammates on the other side don't absolutely despise me. Sometimes I can be a little mean, but I kind of stay nice throughout the whole practice. My teammates know how I talk now."
A lineman who can play on both sides of the ball, while also having long-snapping on his resume, should attract the attention of myriad colleges. But, thus far, Marchbank has just one offer, from Seton Hill University, an NCAA Division II private Catholic school, in Greensburg, Pennsylvania.
"I'm being patient," he said. "I don't know how it works, really. My brother went through the wrestling recruiting process, and I have a cousin who did gymnastics, but no one in my family knows how the football stuff works. I've been told to be patient, but I'm losing my mind over here sometimes. Something will come along eventually that I just love."
Something will. Friday night, he'll line up against a Palmetto opponent who probably won't have a clue Maddox Marchbank aims to separate his head from his torso.
PREP FOOTBALL
Friday's schedule
Bayshore at Cypress Creek
Manatee at Braden River
Evangelical Christian at Bradenton Christian
North Port at Booker
Cardinal Mooney at Calvary Christian
IMG White at Zephyrhills
Celebration at Lakewood Ranch
North Fort Myers at Lemon Bay
Bishop McLaughlin at Out-of-Door Academy
Palmetto at Sarasota
Avon Park at Parrish Community
Port Charlotte at Ida Baker
Lehigh at Riverview
Fort Myers Canterbury at Saint Stephen’s
Southeast at Lely
8-man
Countryside Christian at The Classical Academy of Sarasota
Sarasota Christian at Shorecrest Prep
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Marchbank performs a Sailor line dance
