WARREN, Minn. -- Football is a physical sport. But Zach Riopelle needs to be reminded sometimes to run away from, not to, contact.
At 6 foot 3 inches and 205 pounds, the Warren-Alvarado-Oslo running back has the size to run over opponents. But, more than big, the sophomore is fast.
"We try to teach him to hit the holes his line makes for him and run away (from defenders)," Ponies coach Tony Gullikson said. "We want to make sure he's hitting the hole instead of trying to create a hole himself. Zach likes to run over people."
Riopelle has run through and around defenses. He's the sparkplug of the offense for Warren-A-O, which is at Mahnomen for a 7 p.m. game today in the semifinals of the Section 8A high school playoffs.
Covering some ground
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Riopelle has rushed for 1,174 yards and 15 touchdowns. The sophomore has gained more than 200 yards in each of his last two games, including 252 on Tuesday in a quarterfinal win against Fertile-Beltrami.
He has big-play ability -- Gullikson said Riopelle has at least five runs of more than 50 yards, including a 92-yarder. But he doesn't shy away from contact; on the contrary, he thrives on it.
"There's nothing like running over a guy," Riopelle said. "That's exhilarating. The sweet sound of pads cracking when they hit -- I like that.
"I owe a lot to our line. They do a great job. I can shake one or two defenders, but I can't shake five of them. They make the holes. I wouldn't trade any of our offensive linemen."
Though he's only a sophomore, Riopelle is no newcomer to varsity football.
He was a special teams regular for the Ponies as an eighth-grader. Riopelle was a starting fullback as a freshman, rushing for 452 yards.
Playing against older opponents "was a weird, unbelievable feeling at first," Riopelle said. "But once you get into a game, you forget about (the age difference). Now I'm used to playing against older guys."
Altering the attack
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This season, Riopelle has switched to halfback and become the focal point of the Ponies' offense. Warren-A-O was more of a passing offense last season with then-senior Casey Larson at quarterback. The emphasis has gone to the running game, with Riopelle the first Ponies back to reach 1,000 yards since David Farder in 2004.
"Dillon (Nelson) has done a very good job at quarterback this year," Gullikson said. "But we knew we'd change our philosophy to more of an emphasis on the running game.
"Zach is just a premier athlete with his good size and great speed. And our line gets a lot of credit. In our last game, there were a lot of times he wasn't getting touched until he was 2-3 yards past the line of scrimmage."
An all-around athlete, Riopelle plays American Legion baseball in the summer, basketball in the winter and finished seventh in the 100 in the Section 8A track meet last spring. Gullikson said his straight-up running style is similar to that of former Red Lake Falls standout Blaise Larson.
"I feel faster this year," Riopelle said. "I lifted weights a lot over the summer. I'm already excited for the track season to come up.
"But football is my favorite sport. It always has been. It always will be."
DeVillers reports on sports. Reach him at (701) 780-1128; (800) 477-6572, ext. 128; or send e-mail to gdevillers@gfherald.com .
