{"id":458551,"date":"2026-10-07T01:02:14","date_gmt":"2026-10-07T01:02:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/458551\/"},"modified":"2026-10-07T01:02:14","modified_gmt":"2026-10-07T01:02:14","slug":"jordan-martinez-quinn-lyle-anchoring-planos-offensive-line-kendall-county-football-notebook-shaw-local","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/458551\/","title":{"rendered":"Jordan Martinez, Quinn Lyle anchoring Plano\u2019s offensive line: Kendall County football notebook \u2013 Shaw Local"},"content":{"rendered":"

Offensive line is hardly a glamorous position on the football field. <\/p>\n

After all, most of the sport\u2019s dirtiest work is done in the trenches, where linemen spend their Friday nights sparring, often without recognition beyond the locker room.<\/p>\n

Jordan Martinez wouldn\u2019t have it any other way.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just have a very mean mindset \u2014 that I\u2019m going to mess up the guy in front of me,\u201d Martinez said. \u201cI\u2019m going to put him in the dirt, even though I don\u2019t get recognized very much by everyone else. But as long as I\u2019m doing my job, that\u2019s all I really care about.\u201d<\/p>\n

Martinez\u2019s job at Plano<\/a> is a crucial one. As the Reapers\u2019 left tackle, he serves as the primary blind-side protector for quarterback Braylon Schmidt. Martinez stepped into the role as a sophomore last season and is now one of the anchors of Plano\u2019s offensive line.<\/p>\n

And he\u2019s not alone.<\/p>\n

Lining next to Martinez at left guard is Quinn Lyle, a third-year starter \u2014 and the only other returning starter.<\/p>\n

The two bring more than experience to the left side of the line. They also bring familiarity dating back to their days playing youth football together.<\/p>\n

\u201cMe and Quinn have great chemistry with being together for such a long time that we build a very strong bond with each other,\u201d Martinez said.<\/p>\n

Plano coach Kyle Tutt said that bond carries plenty of weight \u2014 both literally and figuratively \u2014 for the Reapers\u2019 offense.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can always feel comfortable whichever way we go,\u201d Tutt said. \u201cEspecially when those guys are in there, we feel like we can go either way, both sides … and just the camaraderie that those guys have, being through some of the same experiences, has really allowed them to feel good about what they do, and probably why a lot of our plays go near those guys.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lyle also adds an element of versatility, having also played stints at left tackle, right guard and right tackle. That, combined with his extensive varsity experience, makes him a natural fit to slot next to sophomore center Tyran Lockett.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s just done an excellent job at being a sophomore and playing that,\u201d Tutt said of Lockett. \u201cA lot of it has to do with having Quinn on his side all the time, coaching him through, talking him up, but also building him up and knowing that he had been in that position before and able to have empathy for him and get him an opportunity to continue to improve.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the grander scheme, Lyle and Martinez also have the added responsibility of being leaders amid a difficult season for the Reapers. Plano currently sits at 1-7 after going 0-5 to start the year.<\/p>\n

For Lyle, the answer hasn\u2019t been to dwell on the losses. It\u2019s been to focus on what could come next.<\/p>\n

\u201cNobody expected walking into the streets and us to start out 0-5,\u201d Lyle said. \u201cI just keep focusing on the good practices. We\u2019ve got to stack those good practices to stack good games, and then I just keep looking to tomorrow, looking at my teammates, keeping them up.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Oswego's<\/p>\n

Football: Oswego and Joliet West Oswego’s Graham Schwab (22) stays back to block for Drew Kleinhans (4) during football game between Oswego and Joliet West. Friday, Oct, 2 2026 in Joliet. (Gary E Duncan Sr. for Shaw Local)<\/p>\n

\u2018Just a bump in the road:\u2019 Oswego finding groove since Bolingbrook loss<\/p>\n

Even teams as mighty as Oswego<\/a> aren\u2019t immune to receiving a gut check every now and again.<\/p>\n

Last year, the Panthers took two of them, suffering low-scoring division losses to Minooka and Yorkville before regrouping to make a run to the Class 8A state championship game.<\/p>\n

This year, the gut check came in Week 5, when reigning Southwest Prairie West champion Bolingbrook upended Oswego.<\/p>\n

That 21-7 could ultimately cost the Panthers the division title if the Raiders, still perfect in division play, win out. <\/p>\n

But the Panthers hardly view it as a wash.<\/p>\n

\u201cCoaches always say the only way you can actually lose a game is if you don\u2019t learn from it and stuff like that and get better the next week,\u201d quarterback Drew Kleinhans said.<\/p>\n

Oswego has since scored at least 35 points each week \u2014 most recently putting up 62 points against Joliet West in a game in which the starters sat the entire second half. <\/p>\n

Only five of the Panthers\u2019 nine touchdowns were scored by the offense \u2014 a feat made more impressive by the fact they\u2019re still without star running back Ammar Banire, who\u2019s been dealing with a foot injury.<\/p>\n

The other four came off a pair of pick-sixes and punt return in the first half, along with a kickoff return in the second.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the kind of all-around performance Oswego needed late in the regular season, especially as it tries to lock down a first-round playoff bye.<\/p>\n

Looking back on that night in Bolingbrook, Kleinhans called it a bump on a road that leads to even better performances.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was just a bump in the road for us, and we got over that bump, and now we\u2019re back on track,\u201d Kleinhans said. \u201cAnd I think we still haven\u2019t played our best ball yet.\u201d<\/p>\n

RB3 steps up for Oswego East at Romeoville<\/p>\n

Oswego East<\/a> knew it would be breaking in a sophomore at quarterback this season in Carter Meindel.<\/p>\n

What the Wolves didn\u2019t anticipate was needing another sophomore to emerge in the backfield.<\/p>\n

After losing starting running back Ty\u2019Rel Thomas and breakout star Obadiah Carlson to season-ending injuries within the first three games, Oswego East has had to lean on Jeremiah Gbean to get things going on the ground.<\/p>\n

Gbean originally split carries with converted safety Brandon Hill. But with Hill needed on defense, the Wolves gave Gbean the brunt of the workload, especially last week.<\/p>\n

The sophomore ran a season-high three touchdowns during Friday\u2019s 42-0 win at Romeoville. Gbean racked up 164 yards on 18 carries, setting him up as Oswego East\u2019s newest breakout player.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Offensive line is hardly a glamorous position on the football field. After all, most of the sport\u2019s dirtiest…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":458552,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[135877,586,2291,147242,147241,160,162,161,41688],"class_list":["post-458551","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-plano","tag-fnd-kendall-county","tag-high-school-football","tag-high-school-sports","tag-oswego-east-preps","tag-oswego-preps","tag-plano","tag-plano-headlines","tag-plano-news","tag-plano-preps"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/458551","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=458551"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/458551\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/458552"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=458551"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=458551"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=458551"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}