It’s Friday night.

School spirit is bright in the student section, but the lights on the field are even brighter.

When it comes to Eagle football, it’s not often that we hear a lot of praise towards anyone besides the main players. There are many athletes on the field—specifically, there are offensive linemen who get little or no credit for the work that they do. One of these players is #77, left tackle, Shane Kerschner (’16).

Kerschner has been playing football at AHS since his freshman year, and loves it. Between team dinners and practices, Kerschner has grown close to his teammates. He’s been playing left tackle for three years. Kerschner’s job is to protect the quarterback from being hit from behind–his blind side. The left tackle is often considered to be the most skilled player on the offensive line.

“I’m not bothered by it,” Kerschner said of his lack of recognition. “In the paper, it’s usually the quarterback, receivers, and running backs that get the credit for stuff. But we, as offensive linemen, know that we make the whole thing work.”

In youth football, Kerschner played fullback; another position on offense. There, his main job was to break through the defense’s blocking formation. Since most of the time he would get through and hit other players, he adopted the nicknames “Freight Train” and “Shane Train”. Kerschner’s teammates used to say that when being hit by him, it felt like being hit by a train.

“I get to hit people all the time,” Kerschner said, in response to why he enjoys the offensive line so much.

Practices–which have been going on since the summer–keep Kerschner busy. But off the field, Kerschner likes hanging out with friends, keeping up with his school work, and playing video games like NFL Madden and NBA 2k.

Kerschner plans to continue on with football into his college career. He says that he’s “seriously looking at Central Washington University,” but is willing to change his mind based on which schools give him scholarships. As long as he’s on offensive line, he’s happy.

When asked for a piece of advice that he would give to fellow football players, Kerschner responded, “Work on your technique all the time and listen to what your coach says.”