Blue Devils' Herrera loves stuffing rivals' ground game

Each play for Jose Herrera is like stepping into the middle of a brawl.
 

The senior defensive tackle at Sunnyside High plays at the line of scrimmage, a place where forearms are swung menacingly at facemasks, where bodies are blocked violently into the air and grunts are often married with screams of pain.
 

For members of a team's offensive or defensive line, it is a place where only the strong survive.
 

"Each play is banging," said Herrera, whose team meets Tempe Marcos de Niza in a Class 5A Division II semifinal game Friday at Flowing Wells High.
 

"Every play is banging and banging, and you know that you have to get to the quarterback and make plays. You have to make tackles."
 

Herrera is thriving in his second year as a starter at defensive tackle for Sunnyside coach Richard Sanchez. The cat-quick lineman has been the heart and soul this fall of a scrappy defense that has surrendered more than 100 yards rushing to a running back only twice in 12 games.
 

"He has done a great job. He is quick, and awfully, awfully strong for his size," Sanchez said. "Our kids are pretty strong, but he is exceptionally strong."
 

The 6-foot, 205 pound Herrera is built like a stone wall, and hits with the force of a wrecking ball.
 

He was a key part of a stout defensive front that bottled up Avondale Westview's potent power running game in the Blue Devils' 13-3 defeat of the Knights last week.
 

The Knights were limited to 118 yards rushing against the Blue Devils. Herrera had two sacks in the game.
 

"This is what we expected from him last year, but we are getting it this year," Sanchez said.
 

Herrera, who has been on the varsity since his sophomore year, has been a nearly unstoppable force this fall.
 

He had 50 tackles during the season, nine of them sacks.
 

"I want it more than other linemen," Herrera, 17, said. "I use my strength and my speed. Also, I try to use (opponents') strength against them."
 

Marcos de Niza (6-6), which defeated defending 5A-DII state champ Phoenix North Canyon 13-10 last week, is the No. 11 seed. Halfback Harrison Evans and quarterback David Vels are the top performers for the Tempe school, which runs the football about 70 percent of the time.
 

"They (Marcos) are a lot like us. They are tough kids from south Tempe," Sanchez said. "We are expecting a brawl."
 

"Our kids are really focused. They were our freshman class when we won the state championship (in 2003), but after that, we have been knocked out twice in the quarterfinals. They want a state championship."
 

Herrera teams with defensive tackle Rocky Samorano (6-2, 225) and defensive ends Terrell Lennox (6-1, 185) and Marcus Laverty (5-10, 185) at the line of scrimmage in Sunnyside's 4-3 formation.