A quarterback is nothing without his offensive line, but often that group is overlooked. When it comes to the Nixa O-line, they’re hard to be overlooked.
“[The] offensive line, you don’t really get any stats,” said Nixa junior left tackle Jackson Cantwell.
There is one stat they can track: Pancakes. This O-line is flattening opponents and stacking them high.
“We’ve been very fortunate to have a lot of those this year and it’s always fun to see somebody just lay somebody out,” Cantwell said.
“Even if it’s in practice or if it is in game, I mean if I see a pancake like I’m getting over there, we’re screaming,” said Nixa junior left guard Hunter Jensen.
It stacks up to what makes Nixa’s O-line different from the others.
“The nastiness and the aggression we have, I think that’s what puts us between good to great O-linemen,” said Nixa senior right guard Jacob Lile.
Nastiness and aggression with a whole lot of selflessness from the guys who don’t do the scoring on the offensive side of the ball.
“Everyone sees the touchdown that happens or the pass that gets made, but no one sees the protection to make that whole thing happen,” said Nixa senior tight end Champ Porter.
“You know we’re just trying to help the team do whatever we can to make the team better,” said Nixa junior right tackle Hayden Mays.
These guys average 6-foot 3-inches tall, about an inch away from the average NFL offensive lineman.
“I’m the shortest one, I kind of feel small,” said Nixa senior center Oakly White. “But when we go out there you know, I feel like everybody just [has] a big surprise on their [face] like dang these guys are big.”
Big eyes from the opponents and Power Five coaches for the Eagles’ five star tackle.
“He’s a beast on the field and just it’s cool seeing all these college coaches coming around to see him,” White said.
Cantwell is the No. 1 offensive lineman in the 2026 Class.
“It’s pretty crazy, I line up right next to him and people tell me that he makes me look small,” Porter said. “I don’t usually get that a lot because I’m a pretty tall guy.”
Joining in on the action are the tight ends.
“It means a lot to me really, because those guys are willing to sacrifice themselves even though they’re technically a skill position,” Cantwell said. “They are able to go down and block just like the rest of us. They’ve done a great job this year”
“It’s like a family,” said Nixa senior tight end Lane Meltabarger.
“Lane is going to hate me for saying this, but I currently have more touchdowns than he does…and the other tight end, champ,” Cantwell said.
They pick on each other in true brotherhood fashion.
“We go out and eat all the time. It’s a great bond we have together,” Meltabarger said.
“We’ve got a couple of guys on the team that can eat more than the others,” Jensen said. “It’s always fun just going out and making fun of each other because of the prices that we have to pay up at the end of the meal.”
They spend time together (heck they might be eating pancakes together) and they are leading the Eagles out to the gridiron every Friday night.
“We don’t get recognized unless we mess up,” said Nixa offensive line coach Kenzie Medley.
But it’s hard to over look the good this O-line has done for the undefeated Eagles.
