Photos by Scott DeCamp | CatchMark
NORTON SHORES — Jamar Hill is one buff individual.
After collecting several “chips” — i.e. wooden plaques — during Mona Shores’ inaugural Line’men’ Challenge Thursday night at Sailor Stadium, the rising Whitehall senior sported some “Buffs.”
At 5-foot-9, 250 pounds and strong as an ox, who is going to question Hill about his fashion sense?
Hill and his Whitehall teammates had bragging rights anyway after the Vikings ran away with the team title of the Line’men’ Challenge. Whitehall’s “A” team finished with 82 points, followed by DeWitt in second with 70 and Caledonia “A” third with 59.
“It’s really cool because like Terrance Taylor said, obviously we’re not the stars (on the field) — we do something good and nobody notices; we do something bad and everybody notices,” Hill said. “It’s nice to have something where we can be appreciated, you know, and it’s really cool to have that opportunity.”
Eleven schools were represented in the challenge, which featured the unsung heroes of football — those who do the dirty work with little to no fanfare — competing in nine events. Those events included bench press, small sled relay, full sled 40-yard dash, farmer’s walk relay, tire throw, sand bag stack, push/pull relay, medicine ball throw, and zig zag relay.
Forest Hills Northern’s “A” team finished fourth (53), followed by Mona Shores “B” fifth (51), Grand Rapids Union sixth (48), Grand Rapids Christian seventh (42), Ravenna eighth (35), North Muskegon “A” ninth (26), Oakridge “A” 10th (18), Whitehall “B” 11th (17), Mona Shores “C” 12th (8), Mona Shores “A” 13th (7), Caledonia “B” 14th (4), and Oakridge “B” 15th (1).
Hill, who plays interior defensive line for Whitehall, is one of the strongest young men you’ll likely find in West Michigan. His maxes are 430 pounds in bench press, including doing 32 reps of 225 pounds; 585 pounds in squat, and in deadlift “only 500,” in his words.
In the bench press event of Thursday’s Line’men’ Challenge, in which players repped 185 pounds, Hill was able to pump out 38 of them. The next closest competitor in that event had 26.
“Not to discredit our skill players or anything, but I feel like this year it’s going to be more about our line,” Hill said about the upcoming 2023 season, as the Vikings try to build upon the historic 11-1 season they enjoyed in 2022.
“We have great skill players coming back — we all know that. … But we have a brand-new offensive line, so I think it’s up to us whether we really want to go all the way or lose at the same game, the regional. It’s up to us.”
Terrance Taylor, a former NFL defensive lineman and ex-star for the Muskegon Big Reds and University of Michigan, made an appearance at the Line’men’ Challenge Thursday. He trains athletes now as part of his Transformative Threshold business.
Watch the video below to hear Taylor’s message to the players at the challenge:
