Meet The Hogs of North Gaston

DALLAS — They are black and white, tall and short, handsome and not so handsome. A couple like country music, others prefer rap. Some like math and science, others do well in English and history. They are as diverse a group as you’ll find, yet they are a tight-knit band of brothers that hold the area’s top offense together.

They are The Hogs.

A casual look at North Gaston’s season statistics reveals that two players — quarterback A.J. Blue and running back Princeton Brooks — have dominated the team’s statistics, combining for more than 90 percent of the total offense between them.

Of course, they are two of the best skill position players in the state. But ask anyone on the Wildcats team — including Blue or Brooks — about the key to the team’s most successful season ever and they’ll point fingers directly at the group of seniors on the offensive line.

The high-powered engine that drives one of the most prolific offenses remaining in the playoffs is a ragtag group that doesn’t actively pursue the spotlight or the headlines, but just wants to win.

They line up this way: Jonathon Wright (left tackle), Josh Shanks (left guard), Chase Gamble (center), Josh Clark (right guard) and Caleb Tidwell (right tackle). They’re all seniors, and all but Wright have played together for the last four years.

“He fits right in,” Clark said. “It’s like we’re all brothers. We hang out, talk a lot to each other about the plays and the offense all the time, we just try to keep the group together as much as we can.”

The Hogs are opening up holes big enough to drive a truck through these days, and the numbers point that out. Including three playoff games, Brooks has run for 2,120 yards and 34 touchdowns this season, while Blue has rushed for 1,954 yards and 20 scores. They are the top two ground-gainers in the area by a wide margin. The Wildcats offense averaged 41.3 points per game during the regular season, also best in the area.

It all starts up front, where head coach Bruce Clark, who doubles as offensive line coach, instills a philosophy of emphasizing speed, quickness and technique above size and strength. (Of course, they average 240 pounds, so they aren’t that small.)

“We want to make the blocks at the line, but Coach is always telling us to get downfield fast,” Shanks said. “We get those guys through the line, but they’re through it so quick sometimes they get into the secondary before you know it. So it’s important for us to make our block then get down the field and make another one.”

The strategy is working, as Brooks and Blue have combined for 22 touchdown runs of at least 20 yards, including 11 of more than 40 yards. What’s more, Brooks is averaging 9.95 yards per carry while Blue is just behind at 9.2.

This is serious business for The Hogs, who march out to the field every Friday with the mindset that they are headed into battle, and their area of expertise is, according to Josh Clark, “trench warfare.”

“I think it’s probably something like the military in that we have to be on the same page all the time,” he said. “We have to have the same mission. You’ve got to communicate with the guys next to you on every play. I think that’s our biggest positive is that we can sometimes know what the other’s going to do without saying a word.”

And the rest of the Wildcats appreciate it.

“I think the other guys on the team know that we work hard and give it all we’ve got,” Shanks said. “It makes us happy to see A.J. and Princeton score the touchdowns and get the glory, because we know we did our job if they’re in the end zone.”