By Dimyana Vivao
Friday night lights are here. The student section will be full of blue and gold cheering on the panthers as they play hard on the field. Everyone knows about the quarterback, the star of the team, but no one knows who makes that quarterback shine. What would happen if there was no offensive line? Will the quarterback be scrambling the whole time or will he be able to get out of the pocket in order to complete plays?
I asked Matthew Vivao, who is in 11th grade on our 2026 Benicia High Varsity Football Team, “How does the offensive line contribute to the gameplay for the quarterback?”
Vivao says that, “there is a defensive line, and they are trying to break through to hit our QB, so it is our job to protect him so he is able to make that play. We are all like body parts in order for the body to function. If one lacks, then we as a team must pick up and help him.” Vivao believes that the QB wouldn’t do so well without the offensive line because he would have to “rush his reads,” meaning the QB will have to quickly make the decision of what type of play he will make.
I also asked Vivao, “What position do you play and how does it protect the quarterback?”
Vivao plays left guard, and he says his job is to guard the defensive end. Vivao gives us an example of a play, in which he says, “if the quarterback is running a run play, my running back should be able to read their keys and have a big run because our offensive line are doing our jobs by blocking the defensive line. That is why we have a playbook. The playbook lets us all know what we need to do for our quarterback to complete the play.”
Everyone has their own job in order for the team to succeed. Just like Vivao said earlier, each player is a body part in order for the body to function, if one lacks, the others must help that one person in order to succeed. Without an offensive line, there are no complete plays.
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