Chaffee senior Blake Yarbro stands tall among the pack

Of all the seniors on the Chaffee football team, Blake Yarbro has one of the more versatile roles.

On offense, he's a tight end that is a glorified lineman that catches three of the Red Devils' four passing touchdowns this season. On defense, he's part of a powerful pass rush that is the strength of the Red Devils' defense with five sacks to his name. On special teams, he's the punter with the booming leg that can flip the field.

A big reason why Yarbro is able to handle all of these roles is because he's, well, big. The senior stands tall at 6-7, 270 pounds, and has put his size to good use on the gridiron.

"I got a big leg so I step in there and be the punter," Yarbro said. "On the defensive line, I'm really strong and really big and I'm a lot faster than most people think. So when you put all that together, I just feel like I'm really a good person to have in most positions. Especially at the line and tight end because I can go out there and block guys that most of the people on our team can't block just because of my sheer size and strength."

Yarbro didn't just get to the opposing quarterback five times this season but also helped fellow senior Levi McKinnine get an area-leading seven sacks and Angel Navarro adding three sacks.

"All year, I've been drawing double-teams, triple-teams because I'm so big that people need to put two people on me or I get through so easy," Yarbro said. "I feel like I really help out Levi and do as much as I can. I'm not just trying to get my stats up. I'm trying to help out the team, do everything I can to just take up space."

Yarbro's strength has been rapidly ascending over the past couple of years. He casually broke the school power clean record at 295lbs and is approaching 500lbs for squats, 500lbs for deadlift, and 300lbs for bench press.

"I think I really put on a lot of muscle in the last few years working hard," Yarbro said. "I'm really proud of myself in general for how far I've come from the last two years to now."

Yarbro getting in shape leading up to his senior year had a lot to do with combating his growth spurt. Starting his freshman year in 2020-21, Yarbro went from a "super short, super fat" kid to a kid who was 6-4, 180lbs.

"I had to work really hard to get all my muscles in shape," Yarbro said. "There was a point two years ago where I would go down and my knees just wouldn't allow me to stand up. My knees were so weak from growing so much that I couldn't do it. But I've done a lot of extra exercises to strengthen those ligaments and the muscles around my knee to support it."

When he's eventually done playing football, Yarbro will be seen on the basketball court in the winter, on the mound as a pitcher, and on the field as a thrower in the spring.

"I was never super tall when I was younger," Yarbro said. "Especially now that I'm super tall and really strong I just play in the middle."

Yarbro tried throwing for the first time as a junior this past spring. He placed 10th in the Class 2 state championships in the shot put with a personal record of 14.30 meters.

"I never did any throwing for track before last year," Yarbro said. "Our track coaches talked me into going out because I was mainly a baseball guy. I went out and I really enjoyed it and I was really good at it."