But what happens when the void left behind by graduation is a player, or players, that don’t get as much recognition, those who wear a number in the 50s, 60s or 70s, those who do all the dirty work?

That void can be felt monumentally by coaches and teammates, especially those looking to be the next ones with the unmistakable low numbers.

Every year there are a few stars who instantly become “the good ol’ days.” They helped bring teams to championship games. Or broke school records. Or both. But for every star quarterback or running back there is one or two (or five) offensive linemen that paved the way — literally — for those backs to accomplish what they did.

Every humble star back will mention his line. It gets laughed off sometimes, with some schmuck newspaper reporter thinking that any five big boys could create a barrier for the highlight-reel star athlete.

But the humble star isn’t just saying the right things. He knows.

So do the coaches. Boy, do they know that void.

Across the region, coaches spent the offseason, and then the preseason, and now likely the early regular season, trying to figure out how they can piece together an offensive line that can help create a push for first downs — let alone touchdowns.

That’s not to say that some local teams don’t have talent in the trenches, but line performance is often more about chemistry, rather than physiology.

“Young line play slows an offense’s early season progress,” Mt. Blue coach Jim Aylward said. “but you keep working.”

Aylward has to replace some pieces of his backfield, but he also has to worry about an inexperienced offensive line.

“It’s going to be hard up front on the line,” Aylward said. “We’re going to struggle early, I think, till kids get their assignments down, till kids can play with a little confidence. I think once we get better on the line, we’ll be a pretty good team.”

Thankfully for Aylward and other coaches, the line might be the most coachable part of a team.

“Overcoming struggles and improving takes a lot of teaching,” Leavitt coach Mike Hathaway said. “(You) must have quality instruction in practice from the line coaches and correct mistakes from the film in meetings. A lot of live reps and play review for those guys in practice, and really try to get them to play cohesively and intelligently to make up for any lack of size or strength.”

Hathaway, too, has to rebuild his stonewall up front. His presumptive starting five up front includes a freshman at left guard, a sophomore center and no longtime veteran starters.

Oh, and all these new starters have to learn some new schemes.

“This year we have adjusted our schemes to create more double teams, run more ‘read’ plays where you don’t have to block everyone, and call more misdirection plays, screens and play-action to get the defense on its heels,” Hathway said. “As a playcaller, you are more conscious of trying the keep the defense off balance with a mix of calls, often going against traditional down and distance tendencies.”

The Hornets will throw less than they did last year with all-conference quarterback Levi Craig, who was able to quickly get the ball out to veteran receivers who knew how to get open. With more running plays comes more blocking schemes.

The same goes for Spruce Mountain, which has an offense that will be run-heavy but utilizes outside runs from a spread formation. A young Phoenix line has to make sure the backs don’t get stopped in the backfield, before they even get started.

With a new coach, Poland is getting away from an intricate offense, featuring misdirection and deception. But even with a more straight-forward running attack the Knights’ line must grow, and grow quickly, to help the new offense get in gear.

Gray-New Gloucester has to replace four of its five starting offensive linemen, not to mention its starting running back and quarterback. Head coach Mark Renna said losing 80 percent of his line is just as big of a blow as losing the star power in the backfield.

But all is not lost for local teams with question marks on the offensive line. Speed can’t be taught, nor can quickness, nor a powerful, accurate arm.

But cross-blocking and the pulling guard can be.

“The most important thing we are trying to do is break it down into individual techniques and assignments,” Aylward said. “In other words, I might have the guards work with just the centers while the tackles work on a tackle-specific skill.

“The second most important thing is continuous teaching and repetition of assignments.”

The new school year just started, but linemen across the region have been getting schooled on blocking since the middle of August. Coaches are hoping they’ve been doing their homework. Otherwise there will be some failing grades for some offenses.

Even a lineman can earn a gold star.

wkramlich@sunjournal.com.

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