A close watch

Eben Britton was stretched and set to compete against the top-ranked

team in the nation.

His football coaches at the University of Arizona told the

Burroughs High graduate to be prepared to play Saturday, when the

Wildcats visited the Los Angeles Coliseum to play USC in a Pacific-10

Conference game.

Britton watched as the Trojans marched on the field. He watched as

the Wildcats remained close to the defending champions and watched as

Arizona flirted with a huge upset.

But that’s all he did Saturday, as Britton’s homecoming turned

into a sight-seeing excursion.

Britton, an offensive lineman, hoped to play on the Coliseum’s

famed field, but he was never inserted into a game that USC won,

42-21.

Afterward, Britton wasn’t concerned about not playing in front of

his friends and family members who attended the game. He was more

frustrated that the Wildcats didn’t pull off the victory.

“I just want to win,” Britton said. “I want to play, but I’m just

going to give these guys all the support they need.

“A couple of breaks here and there and we could have won this

game.”

Even though his first road trip of the season didn’t go as

planned, Britton cherished suiting up and simply standing on the

sidelines.

“It was just incredible being on the sidelines,” he said.

For the first time in his playing career, Britton has had to

become accustomed to the sidelines. While at Burroughs, the reigning

Leader Male Athlete of the Year was a dominant force on offense and

defense and rarely stood on the sidelines.

“It’s tough being on the sidelines,” Britton said. “I’m used to

being in every single play. That’s a big adjustment for me.

“I’m going to fight to play.”

It might not be long before Britton, a 6-foot-7, 290-pound right

tackle, becomes more than just an onlooker.

“We’re going to get him ready to play,” Wildcat offensive line

coach Eric Wolford said. “I didn’t feel like [Saturday] would be a

good day to throw him in the fire.”

When asked what he liked most about Britton, Wolford replied,

“He’s 17 years old.”

Wolford -- who’s also coached at Kansas State -- said he believes

Britton will be a talented offensive lineman.

“He has a chance to be one of the best offensive lineman I’ve ever

been around,” Wolford said. “He has a lot of pride in what he does.

He has a lot of fire under him.

“He’s a tremendous kid.”

There are still some areas that Wolford said Britton needs to

refine.

“He needs to get a little better with his run-blocking, but that

comes with experience,” Wolford said. “He still needs to continue to

learn how to pass protect against all different types of defenses and

blitzes.

“We felt like we got a steal in a guy like Eben Britton. We feel

like he’s going to represent Arizona well and he’s going to represent

[the city of] Burbank well.”