Wilde Lake High School football coach Charlie Schafer directed traffic near the bench-press drill at the Maryland State/Nike football combine at M&T Bank Stadium on Saturday.
An estimated 1,700 athletes participated in the football combine and many took part in the bench-press drill, the final physical test of the day.
At the highly-attended Maryland State/Nike high school football combine Saturday, sweaty athletes would finish what they thought would be their final drill -- the vertical leap -- before being pleasantly surprised when they walked through a dark tunnel at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore.
After such physically-demanding events like the shuttle run, power ball toss and 40-yard dash, the ultimate test of strength awaited in the shadows and plenty of the upcoming area football studs had gas left in the tank.
"How many can you do?" Wilde Lake High School football coach Charlie Schafer would ask unassuming players as he flexed his guns and they walked through the tunnel.
Many of the athletes still didn't have their shoes on because they just had their vertical leap measured. Hesitantly, they answered after what they saw behind Schafer and had to make a quick decision. Four bench presses were set up with 185 pounds on each bar and coaches were there spotting and sometimes barking at participants.
"It's funny because their first question back is always, 'How much weight is it?' " Schafer joked.
"It's the moment of truth. Some guys get a quick stretch in and immediately lay down on a bench. For some, you can see pure intimidation in their eyes."
Said junior Andre Dupree of North Point: "We all thought they took (the bench-press drill) out. But it was no big deal. We all just went in there and did our best."
Dupree was in it mentally but wasn't quite ready physically for the change in scenery. Before his first repetition, he accidently slid off to the right side of the bench and nearly dropped the bar on himself.
"Yeah, that was funny," said Dupree, who re-adjusted and ended up finishing with 11 repetitions. "I don't know what happened with my right hand. But it's OK. I got back up and made it happen."
Broadneck sophomore Hussam Ouri was the early leader in the event with 31 reps.
"Only a sophomore," Broadneck coach Jeff Herrick said. "He's going to be a player."
But the tally only lasted until Poly junior Arnold Farmer stepped up.
"I really wanted to do it (bench press) first while I was fresh but all the running got me warmed up," said Farmer, who lifted the 185 pounds 34 times in one sitting. "I was kind of upset with the 34 but it's still the highest. I think I could have done more -- maybe 35 or 37."
Many of the athletes said that weight-training courses at their respective high schools may have altered their performance. For the foreseeing Farmer, he sat out the three-day-a-week class on Friday in anticipation for Saturday's events.
"It's been really interesting to see how your size and strength compares to everyone else," Farmer said. "You get to meet other people from other schools, too. It's been a great experience."
The free event attracted an estimated 1,700 athletes from Maryland and the surrounding states and it kicked off at 8 a.m. It was the second straight year the combine was held at M&T Bank Stadium and according to the participating players and coaches, the event ran very smooth and was a huge success.
Farmer made his rounds early in the day but at about 11:30 a.m., he was standing near the bench press drill in his street clothes. About half the day's athletes have come through and Farmer's bench output was still stops. Later on, an athlete in the afternoon matched his total.
"I'm going to see if it holds up," he said. "The only thing I have to do is work out again tomorrow."
One of the players that took aim at the top spot was Linganore sophomore Kyle Tucker. The offensive lineman and his teammates started a training regiment weeks ago to prepare for the combine. Tucker finished with 30 reps.
"We've been training a lot for this," he said. "We did a bench-press routine, we threw power balls in the schools, 40-yard dashes out on the track.
"This was really awesome. It's pretty sweet to come out here and do this at Ravens' Stadium."
Many players didn't know what to expect as they walked through the tunnel.
"I actually thought the bench press was canceled and I didn't know it was here," said Horace Miller, out of Dunbar. "But it didn't matter -- I'm ready for every test."
At the time, Miller had just thrown the power ball 38.5 feet, which was good enough for second in the combine. To his disappointment, he put up the bench press bar only 19 times.
"I'm not going to make any excuses, I should have done better," Miller said. "But I'm going to train even harder so watch out."
The power ball is a fairly-new event at the combine, which has been held in Maryland every year since 1988. It's supposed to replace the bench-press drill but some of the coaches feel it should be a nice supplement.
"We're so old-fashioned and the college coaches always want to know what the kids can bench," said Joe Russo, the
Maryland Football Coaches Association president and director of the combine.
"That's the whole idea. It's to expose these kids to college football. All the results go through our website and DigitalSports and any coach in the country can see how these guys measure up."