FORT WAYNE – It’s midway through the first quarter Saturday inside Bishop D’Arcy Stadium, just after Saint Francis went ahead of Malone 6-0 with a touchdown that was followed by an errant extra point.
Now it’s the Pioneers’ turn offensively, and on the first play comes a 9-yard run that fires up the far sideline. It’s not a score, by any means, but 9 yards are 9 yards. More importantly it’s a ray of hope against a mere six-point deficit.
On the next play, though – a usually safe second-and-one situation – Malone’s hubris was quickly quelled when Saint Francis defensive end Rex Drabenstot chased down quarterback Josh McLaughlin for a 2-yard loss. And then a missed third-and-three pass resulted in a Pioneer punt.
On a day when the defense scored two touchdowns en route to a 47-10 Saint Francis rout, the Cougars had seven sacks. Two of them went to Drabenstot, the bull-neck, 6-foot-1, 238-pound junior out of Huntington North.
With junior Tony Moore coiled and ready at the other end of the line, the Cougars unleashed their defensive end tandem Saturday to tie the school record in sacks.
“(Moore) always says, ‘Meet you at the quarterback,’ ” Drabenstot said. “During the game we don’t have a contest; we’re more focused on getting there and making the play. But after the game we’re like, who had more sacks?”
Saturday, they tied at two apiece, although Drabenstot had another tackle for a loss. His day’s work: Five tackles, three of which combined for 19 lost yards.
“He’s an athlete with a lot of quickness and a lot of strength,” Saint Francis defensive coordinator Warren Malone said.
“In our eyes, we thought he adapted to his role here really, really quickly. He’s a smart kid, and he learns. He understands football. He gets it. That’s not always the case, but it goes back to his high school program. He was coached up pretty well in high school.”
Not only has it been him being a quick study, but the quickness that has made Drabenstot the threat off the edge.
Although he mostly played defensive tackle at Huntington North, the Cougars recruiters saw the potential to play him at D-end. If he could lose some weight and pick up speed, he’d go outside.
If he couldn’t shed the weight, then he’d go back to the middle where he’d be a run-stuffer.
“I lost 40 pounds,” Drabenstot said. “I dropped my 40 (yard-dash time) from a 5.1 to a 4.7. As I lost weight and got faster, I started to see more playing time at the end of my freshman year.”
Drabenstot played sparingly in five games as a freshman but was a starter in 11 games as a sophomore last season.
It was his third-quarter safety against Saint Ambrose that ignited a comeback from a 17-0 deficit that led to a 31-20 win.
He finished with six sacks a year ago, and, like Moore, has five this season with at least three games left.
“You come off free, and it’s this big feeling of power,” Drabenstot described what it’s like to zero in on a quarterback’s blind side. “You get a rush, and you get pumped up.”
