OJ WORKS OT

Some students take summers off.

But O.J. Turner, like he does everything else, took his summer on. Head on.

After grinding through 75-hour work weeks for an ice-packing company last summer and yet not missing any weightlifting workouts or conditioning training, Cape Central's 6-foot, 200-pound senior middle linebacker is seeing his effort come to fruition.

Turner has been named to the Class 4A all-state first team which was released today. He was one of two first-team all-staters in the immediate area -- the other was St. Vincent kicker Derek Kutz in 1A -- and was only the third all-state football player to represent Cape Central in the last 10 years. Turner's teammate, kicker Brian Emmendorfer, was named to the second team.

"It means a lot to be named all-state," Turner said. "It lets you know that working hard pays off."

Turner said he was surprised when he made all-state.

He shouldn't have been.

Turner, also a wrestler and track team member, had a sensational year on the football field, crushing ball carriers to the tune of 150 tackles -- including an astonishing 129 solos. He was the best defensive player on a state-quarterfinal team that registered five shutouts -- the most since 1970 -- including four in a row late in the season. A fullback on offense, he helped lead a team from a 1-9 season to a 7-5 record this year.

And it all started last summer.

"The thing I respect most about O.J. is that he worked 75 hours in the summer and didn't miss one lift or one run," said Central defensive coordinator Bobby Haggerty. "He worked his butt off."

Both Haggerty and head coach Lawrence Brookins said Turner's drive was much improved over the prior year, although Turner's work ethic wasn't bad to begin with. Turner was one of many Tigers who were resolved to work harder and try to bring respect back to Cape Central's football program.

But Turner was the only one who put in the time after an 11-hour day loading, delivering and unloading ice.

"We were worried about the hours he was working," Brookins said.

"Basically, I was at work from 6 to 5," said Turner. "Then from 5 to 8, I would condition. I didn't party in the summer like everybody else. But after doing it for awhile, I just got used to it."

Stepping up to 'Mike'

At the beginning of the 1999 football season, Turner played both outside and inside linebacker in a 4-4 defensive system. Turner admitted it was difficult being switched from one position to another.

This year, Central switched to a 4-3, making Turner the middle linebacker, known as the "Mike" linebacker for signal calling.

"Last year we had some solid linebackers, but when the seniors quit, I got moved inside and outside," Turner said. "They were switching me back and forth, and I got confused."

But Haggerty, in his first year as coordinator, looked at the makeup of this year's team and decided, with the depth in the defensive backfield and the lack of depth at linebacker, a 4-3 was best suited for the Tigers.

As a bonus, the 4-3 is an easier defense to understand. The Tigers, especially Turner, excelled. The defense is designed to channel everything toward the middle of the field, which, of course, allows the middle linebacker to make most of the tackles.

"I told him at the beginning of the year, 'You're my Mike,'" said Haggerty. "I said you better be ready to make plays."

And Turner obliged, leading all of Southeast Missouri in tackles.

"You can see the field a lot better and see things open up in the middle," Turner said.

Brookins gives a lot of credit to Haggerty and the 4-3 approach, but said: "Ninety-nine point nine-nine percent of his success comes from his effort."

Scholarship offers

Turner is being considered by some NCAA Division IA and IAA schools. Southeast Missouri State University and Southwest Missouri State -- both IAA schools -- have been recruiting him as has Arkansas State, a IA school.

Turner said none of the schools have offered a scholarship yet, but all are very interested. He said he's taking a wait-and-see approach to making a decision.

Though Turner doesn't have breakaway speed -- he runs a 4.7-second 40-yard dash -- coaches talk about his closing speed.

"He runs a 4.7 forty, but he plays at 4.4," Haggerty said.

"I don't think we saw a better linebacker this year," said Brookins. "There's one who may be just as good -- the (Jeff) Mannon kid from Poplar Bluff. Those two were the class of the linebackers this season. The Mannon kid was very strong, but I don't think we saw anyone with the closing speed O.J. has."

One blocker won't do

It didn't take many games for opposing coaches to start game planning to stop No. 22.

Turner proved right away that it takes more than one guy to knock him out of a play.

"At the beginning of the year," Haggerty said, "teams tried to single-block O.J. In the first game, he had 16 tackles and in the second game he had 24 tackles, 22 of them solo. People learned real quick they better be getting a double team on him and he beat those, too."

The extra attention that teams gave Turner made the whole Central defense better. At times during the season, teams would leave defensive linemen unblocked on certain plays to try to take Turner out of the equation.

"We looked at film after the Blytheville game, and they'd send 3 to 4 guys at him," Haggerty said.

But it should've come as no surprise when, despite the double and triple teams, Turner continued to make play after play for the Tigers.

After all, if 11- or 12-hour days of hauling ice couldn't keep Turner out of the weight room, one or two blockers weren't going to keep him away from the football.