Jakob Carron doesn’t need width to play in the trenches for the Mahar Regional School football team.
The 6-foot, 3-inch junior uses his quickness and strength to beat blocks and blow up plays in the opponents’ backfield.
“I really have to stay low,” Carron said. “Try to get into their waist and stomach area and keep moving my legs. One of the reasons I am a lineman is that I am stronger than most. My legs are really strong. I can push people out of the way if I need to.”
Carron plays tackle on both sides of the ball for the Senators, operating at left tackle on offense.
“He’s got a good motor,” Mahar coach Jim Woodward said of Carron. “He hustles. He gets off his blocks very quickly defensively. Offensively, he stays with his assignment. He’s quick and he pursues well. He seems to be in the right place at the right time.”
This was especially true in Mahar’s win over Greenfield last week, when Carron scored his first career touchdown after snagging an interception. Todd Chiasson pressured the quarterback, leading to an errant pass that Carron returned 45 yards for a score.
“When I saw Todd running after him, I knew he was going to throw it,” Carron said. “I just got to a spot where I could make a play on it. After that, used my speed and tried to get as far as I could. It really is a lineman’s dream. It’s something you always talk about, but you don’t expect it to happen.”
Carron spent a lot of time shedding blocks and getting into the Green Wave’s backfield to shut down runs before they even got a chance to get going. Carron had three tackles for losses against Greenfield.
“I think most of it was I was just faster than their linemen,” Carron said. “That’s one of the advantages of not being as big but still being as strong. You are faster. Whenever a guard went to pull, I could get through before the center or the guard could block down.”
When it comes to pass-blocking and run-blocking, Carron has excelled.
“I would say he is about 90 percent doing what he is supposed to be doing,” Woodward said. “Ninety-percent, I would take that if I could get all my linemen doing that. He’s a good player, and he’s only a junior. I am excited.”
The Senators are currently No. 4 in the WMass Division 8 Power Ratings.
Organized football began in middle school for Carron, but he started the sport before that with some tackle football games with his friends at Butterfield Park when was in elementary school.
In middle school, Carron was a running back and a cornerback, but missed a lot of time with various injuries.
But during his freshman season at Mahar, while buried in the depth chart at receiver, his size helped earn him playing time along the line.
“I said I guess I will do that as long as I can go back to receiver,” Carron said. “That never ended up happening. I’ve been a lineman since then.”
The Mahar offensive line has blossomed this season, springing running back Jake Tenney for 569 rushing yards and nine touchdowns.
“It’s more of a family,” Carron said. “We always stick together. We’ve been together for a long time. We’ve grown more together. Last year, I knew some of the seniors, but I’ve never really bonded with anybody like I have with these classes.”
Carron missed one game this season when he suffered a shoulder injury against McCann Tech in the opener.
Carron hurt himself making a tackle.
“I landed straight on my shoulder,” Carron said. “It was a close game against McCann. We didn’t have many subs to go in so I went back in and tried to play the rest of the game. I played as much as I could. Most of the pain came after the game.”
Mahar plays at Franklin Tech tonight in a huge game with playoff implications.
