There are a few reasons why Port Arthur Memorial junior running back Elijah Hines is now the No. 2 rusher in District 22-5A.

First, Hines is obviously a very talented young man and second, the Memorial offensive line is doing its job.

Guys like senior left tackle Leonta Dancy have made names for themselves on the offensive line in 2016.

Dancy is joined by left guard Darwin McMillan, center Isaac Reynoso, right guard Nakoven Lewis and right tackle Brian Roy as starters on the line.

This past Friday the Titans’ offensive line did a great job against the Port Neches-Groves Indians. Running back Elijah Hines ran for 303 yards on 31 carries with five touchdowns.

One would think it would be easy to block for a guy like Hines but Dancy disagrees.

“It can actually be pretty hard,” Dancy said. “He is so fast and then he jukes. We still have to hold our blocks and pancake people.”

Still, Hines do so much that the offensive line takes proud of his accomplishments like they are the five guys’ own.

Hines has 1,011 yards on 106 carries and 12 touchdowns this season.

“We take a lot of pride in that,” Dancy said. “We block for him and we have to protect him.”
Dancy said he enjoyed being on the field against the Indians last week. He called PNG a great football team.

“Last week was great competition,” he added. “We had to play well in all three phases to get the win. We were able to get the job done.

“This year has been a great opportunity to play in Class 5A. We enjoy playing the teams in this district. Every team we have played plays for 48 minutes. We have been able to execute in practice and in the games with good coaching.”

His coach, Kenny Harrison, said the offensive line is growing with each game.

“Our offensive line is young as far as experience goes but he is a returning starter,” Harrison said. “We lost all those guys a year ago and he is one of the guys with some experience. Our line is improving and is still a work in progress. The good thing about it is we have been able to correct the mental mistakes after wins. I think our line is going to peak at the right time.”

Harrison understands how hard it can be to play on the offensive line.

“Those guys don’t always get the headlines,” Harrison said. “Everything they do goes unnoticed but it is
glaring when they do make mistakes. We have a great group of guys and Dancy is the senior leader of our line. They are all unselfish kids.”

So what is the hardest part of playing on the line?

“The hardest part is working every day,” Dancy said. “We don’t get much credit but we can be the hardest workers out there on the field. We consider ourselves the most important part on the field.”
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Gabriel Pruett: 721-2436. Twitter: @PaNewsGabe