Marble Falls athletes show positive gains in the weight room

Being a member of another prestigious crew is paying off for the Marble Falls High School football program.

Known as the 1,000-pound club, players become members if their weight totals in the incline bench, bench press, squat and power clean add up to 1,000 pounds. Of the 95 players tested, 17 are in the club, including senior quarterback Hayden Miller, with another 20 who have totaled more than 900 pounds.

“When I first got here in 2020, we struggled with light weights, and (the players) didn’t want to put themselves in the weight room,” football assistant coach Robert Draper said. “Now kids are coming in the mornings and afternoons to lift, and our kids have gotten better at doing technique and getting stronger.”

One player on the verge of joining the club is Aaron Arrendondo, who weighs about 120 pounds, and can lift a total of 900 pounds, which is up from his total of 740 pounds in March. Senior tailback Caleb Vidal also can lift a total of 900 pounds.

“Aaron worked really hard. Caleb was proud of his gains,” Draper said. “Hayden was really proud of himself. He’s done a great job of being in the weight room and lifting. I’m real proud of him.”

But Draper, who is the Mustangs’ offensive coordinator and offensive line coach, didn’t stop there. He noted there was an overall increase of weight lifted in the power clean of 37 percent. That equals lifting 62 more pounds toward the end of the semester from the last testing period, which was in March. That’s a solid number considering that football players must be faster than their opponents to get out of their stances as soon as the ball is snapped. The quicker players are to move when the play is live, the better chance a team has of that play succeeding.

“Our form wasn’t the best,” he said. “Coaches Richard Scales and Austin Silva instructed technique. I was really proud of our increases. To me, that’s the explosiveness. You lift weight from the ground up, and it’s an explosive movement. It’s explosiveness that starts with hitting somebody as an offensive lineman or a defensive lineman. It’s our hitting technique. It’s that initial explosiveness. I was pleased with the increases there.”

The Mustangs had a 20 percent increase in weight in the squat that equaled every player lifting at least 50 pounds more in late May than in March. Draper credited former assistant coach and 2011 Marble Falls graduate Cyril Lemon for emphasizing the importance of the squat to the Mustangs. Lemon saw that only three players could squat more than 400 pounds. One year after Lemon left for another position, the Mustangs have 15 players who can squat at least that much weight.

Some of the top performers in the squat include junior lineman Jeremiah Bales, had squatted 405 pounds in the spring but is now at 500 pounds. Senior lineman Bryan Beltran also squats 500 pounds, while senior lineman Kaden Roberts is squatting 475 pounds.

“We have a couple of others who are squatting 400 pounds,” the coach said. “We’re in a better place squatting than this time last year. The squat also helps with explosiveness and it also helps with speed. You have to be strong in the legs and move well. We’re always doing well on the squat. Our legs are stronger.”

Draper said the weight gains also mean an increase of speed that translates to being a step faster. While that may not sound like much, consider that offensive lineman are asked to block for one second longer than what they’re used to so give skill players have another second to get a positive play started. The same is true for the defense, Draper said.

“That’s an extra step in coverage for that receiver,” he said. “Our players are getting faster and quicker. They’re showing up and lifting and running and doing drills and pushing themselves. Stronger in the legs helps with motion and hamstrings.”

The football players weren’t the only ones in the weight room. The boys basketball team began lifting with the football team after its season ended. Draper commended those 15 players who also were tested in May for their commitment to getting stronger and faster, too.

“They’ve seen a 20 percent increase in their squats, and they’re getting stronger,” he said. “Their power clean also has gone up 20 percent. They like to flex themselves in the mirror, too.”

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