Miners' Miller, Falcons' Snyder voted Co-Linemen of the Year

Mar. 1—The best pass-blocker and the best pass-rusher were voted Co-Linemen of the Year by the area's head coaches.

Mountain Ridge senior Peyton Miller and Frankfort senior Chase Snyder both received three votes to share the award, Gabe Ryan of Keyser received two and Justin Parker of East Hardy logged the other one.

Miller anchored a dominant offensive line that set records along the way to a second consecutive Mountain Ridge trip to the Class 1A state championship game.

Snyder wreaked havoc on opposing offensive lines and finished with the most sacks in the area to help the Falcons host their first Class AA semifinal game in Short Gap, West Virginia, since 2014.

One was an unstoppable force at getting to the quarterback, and the other an immovable object in protecting his. A fitting combination to share the award for the region's premier lineman.

Peyton Miller

It's difficult to quantify an offensive lineman's impact tangibly.

Their spoils are the lack of statistics for opposing defensive linemen, the yards and touchdowns of their teammates or the longevity and health of their quarterbacks.

What can be measured is that Miller, standing at 6-foot-3, 295 pounds, will be playing on Saturdays next year after signing a Division I scholarship in December to play for the University of Massachusetts.

"Peyton didn't play football until his eighth-grade year," Mountain Ridge head coach Ryan Patterson said. "He always had the size and structure. We always knew he had the potential to be a force for us.

"We pitched the idea to him that he could be a Division I football player. He had his mind and heart set on basketball. Once (coach Sefa Pua'auli) got his hands on him, and Peyton became that piece of clay that he could mold, Peyton just became such an impactful player for us."

Mountain Ridge scored 73 touchdowns on offense. It gained 4,722 yards.

The team's 577 points and 44.4 per game were among the top five in the state of Maryland, regardless of class.

When the dust settles and time passes, the Miners' offense will be remembered as one of the greatest in this area's history. Miller and his teammates along the offensive line were a significant part of that.

In addition to the physical attributes that allowed Miller to excel at both guard and tackle, Miller's expertise in the mental aspect of the game is what set him apart.

"He has a knowledge for the game that no lineman I've ever been around has," Patterson said. "That intel that he could bring, being on the field, coming over to the sideline and talking to the coaches during breaks was just so invaluable.

"Once in a while you have a quarterback come over, 'What are you seeing?' And they can spit off what the coverage looks like, how the defensive end is playing things. Peyton, from that interior line position, could come over and have all kinds of intel. It just blew my mind."

On the defensive line, the senior tallied 30 tackles, five tackles for loss, two sacks, two interceptions, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery.

Chase Snyder

Frankfort head coach Kevin Whiteman said Snyder will go down as one of the greatest players in the rich history of Frankfort football.

It's difficult to disagree with him.

A three-year starter, Snyder was relentless in all three phases, racking up 73 tackles (51 solo), 21 tackles for loss, 10 sacks and a forced fumble. He was a standout lineman on offense and a disruptive force in kick coverage.

"I'm very happy for them, it's well-deserving," Whiteman said of his senior winning the award. "He's been a part of our program for four years, and he did an excellent job each and every year. ... He's a silent leader who just goes 100 miles per hour all the time."

Offensive lines were no match for Snyder, and neither was mother nature.

Snyder's toughness was on full display in freezing temperatures, as the hard-hitting Falcon never wore an undershirt beneath his shoulder pads, Whiteman said.

It was fitting for Snyder's best performance to come in a torrential downpour, when the senior slammed the Nicholas County quarterback to the turf twice in the backfield and recovered a crucial fumble to help guide Frankfort to a first-round playoff victory.

"If I was going into any kind of battle or a war, Chase is one of the guys I'd take with me," Whiteman said. "He'd be out front, leading the charge."

He was often the leading blocker on the other side of the ball, as Frankfort would move the versatile Snyder around and pull him outside to spring holes for the likes of Luke Robinette, Parker VanMeter or Tyrique Powell.

With the help of Snyder and his young teammates along the line, Frankfort improved leaps and bounds as a unit. When it was all said and done, the Falcons rushed for 3,438 yards and 52 touchdowns with a 7.2 yards per rush average for the season.

"We ran behind him a lot," Whiteman said. "He was playing with a lot of younger guys. He was patient with them as they came along. He could pull well.

"He played with a lot of heart. He was physical, he was aggressive. He was relentless. ... I just wish you could have a program of kids like him."

Alex Rychwalski is a sports reporter at the Cumberland Times-News. Follow him on Twitter @arychwal.