West High's offensive line is anchored by a guy named Rambo, which seems fitting for a unit that savaged Dimond in a 41-14 Cook Inlet Conference victory Saturday afternoon.
The line's dominance was on display in the Eagles' first four possessions, which produced four touchdowns. Running backs Lincoln Tulimasaelii and Nathen Sailele were often escorted untouched through the line of scrimmage and quarterback Conor Feckley was furnished ample time to pick apart the Lynx.
West scored touchdowns on five of its six first-half possessions.
"We just came out in sync,'' said West center Rambo Sega. "It was a good first half.
"Every day in practice, we work hard. Just reps, reps, reps. We definitely are strong up front. We have some of the bigger linemen, especially our tackles. We can be pretty dominant.''
The 6-foot, 310-pound Rambo, a senior, is flanked on the left by senior guard Esene Tui (6-0, 230) and senior tackle Kieran Kuiper (6-4, 285) and on the right by sophomore guard Trea Samifua (5-9, 265) and junior tackle Chris Feero (6-0, 275).
"They really pushed those (Dimond) guys around,'' said West coach Tim Davis. "They're big and physical.''
The line allowed the Eagles (5-1 overall, 5-0 CIC) to rack 485 yards total offense.
"Basically, in practice our O-line is working the hardest out there, non-stop,'' said Tulimasaelii.
In West's first four possessions, it needed a combined 20 snaps from scrimmage to accumulate 224 yards and a 28-0 lead.
Feckley hit Leroy Elliott with a 43-yard touchdown pass, Tulimasaelii scored on a 2-yard run, Sailele cranked off a 30-yard touchdown run and Feckley connected with Eric Vandervort on an 18-yard touchdown pass.
Feckley completed 18 of 28 passes for 309 yards and four touchdowns. Feckley and Elliott hooked up for a 35-yard touchdown just before halftime and Feckley added an 8-yard scoring pass to Vandervort in the fourth quarter.
Vandervort caught seven passes for 126 yards and Elliott latched onto six passes for 163 yards.
"It's nice to sit back and have time, and for the receivers to have time to get open,'' Feckley said. "And say no one's open right away, the line gives us time to let our playmakers make plays.''
And Sega said it is comforting to have a third-year starter in Feckley, an all-state returner.
"Give him four or five seconds and he'll do something,'' Sega said. "Then we do our PAT and get off the field.''
Dimond (3-3, 3-2 CIC) struggled in its first game this season against one of the CIC's power teams. The Lynx still have a shot at the conference's last berth to the state playoffs -- East is the other contender -- but committed four turnovers.
Though Dimond produced two second-half touchdowns -- Rocky Vasai scored on an 18-yard run and Ryan Brady caught a 12-yard scoring pass from Kelley Coleman -- it never presented a threat to West.
West, which played sloppy in the second half, threatened itself, though, mostly by virtue of its continuing plague of penalties. The playoff-bound Eagles were whistled 15 times for 145 yards.
Doing that would likely prove troubling in West's upcoming games against defending state runner-up South and defending state champion Service that close the regular season.
"Against South and Service, we need to be able to execute in the second half and play 48 minutes,'' Feckley said.
Find Doyle Woody's blog at adn.com/hockeyblog or call him at 257-4335.
Dimond 0 \t0 7 7 -- 14
West 14 20 0 7 -- 41
First Quarter
West -- Elliott 43 pass from Feckley (Carson kick), 7:41.
West -- Tulimasaelii 2 run (Carson kick), 2:20.
Second Quarter
West -- Sailele 30 run (Carson kick), 11:05.
West -- Vandervort 18 pass from Feckley (Carson kick), 6:15.
West -- Elliott 35 pass from Feckley (kick blocked), 1:16.
Third Quarter
Dimond -- Vasai 18 run (Sedor kick), 7:06.
Fourth Quarter
West -- Vandervort 8 pass from Feckley (Carson kick), 11:50.
Dimond -- Brady 12 pass from Coleman (Clayton kick), 2:46.
DIMOND WEST
First downs 14 21
Rushes 36-103 34-176
Passing yards 121 309
Return yards 142 115
Passes 8-18-3 18-28-0
Punts 4-25.5 3-31.0
Fumbles-lost 2-1 0-0
Penalties-yards 2-25 15-145
INDIVIDUAL STATS
RUSHING -- Dimond: Tufaga 14-35, Coleman 1-15, Brady 2-15, Vasai 2-13, Unga 3-12, Chong 2-10, St. Liaga 2-7, Zavala 1-5, Jaworski 1-3, Barrett 1-2, Pili 5-0, Sa. Liaga 1-(-13). West: Tulimasaelii 14-84, Sailele 6-54, Faamasino 4-40, Feckley 7-4, Team 1-(-7).
PASSING -- Dimond: Sa. Liaga 5-15-3--77, Coleman 2-2-0--37, Vasai 1-1-0--7. West: Feckley 18-28-0--309.
RECEIVING -- Dimond: Brady 3-58, Lauwers 2-60, Pili 1-8, Tufaga 1-7, Vasai 1-4. West: Vandervort 7-126, Elliott 6-163, Filipo 2-16, Money 1-7, Corpuz 1-(-1), Faualo 1-(-2).
By DOYLE WOODY
Anchorage Daily News