Highlights from the OL/DL drills at The Opening include Bryan Bresee, Korey Foreman

Though fast-paced, high-flying spread offenses have taken over football, the battle in the trenches remains as important as ever.

At The Opening on Tuesday, the offensive and defensive linemen were put through one-on-one drills to to challenge each other.

It was a simple task: The two paired up with a pylon acting as the quarterback. The defensive lineman had to get there, or at least get the man covering him to the ground so he’d have access. The offensive lineman had to make sure that pylon remained safe.

In some cases, the offensive linemen held their own. Four-star 2021 Episcopal (Bellaire, Texas) offensive lineman Donovan Jackson dropped his man:

Ride or die It’s heating up here in Dallas #TheOpening pic.twitter.com/SE6LgUciJv

— Football Recruit. (@FootballRecruit) July 2, 2019

But in other cases, the defensive linemen bulldozed their way to the pylon.

Here’s four-star 2020 Florida commit Gervon Dexter of Lake Wales (Florida) getting to the cone:

Florida commit Gervon Dexter bulldozing at #TheOpening @GervonDexter pic.twitter.com/ANQpLQkpfw

— Football Recruit. (@FootballRecruit) July 2, 2019

It wasn’t pure shoving and taking men down.

Being a lineman requires quickness and finesse to get around the large barrier in front of you as you aim for a moving target.

Marietta (Georgia) High School’s B.J. Ojulari, an uncommitted four-star in the 2020 class, showed off his spin move as he burst around an offensive lineman and got to his mark.

With the Lineman portion of #TheOpening closing, uncommitted B.J. Ojulari was my highest riser of the day. pic.twitter.com/xOVcizDVSc

— The Football Addict (@tdashwebb42) July 2, 2019

Myles Murao, an offensive lineman from Mater Dei (Santa Ana, California), appears to be recovering nicely from an injury that sidelined him in October.

He took on Bryan Bresee, the No. 2 player in the USA TODAY Composite — and won.

Polynesian Bowl commit Myles Murao gives the business to Clemson commit Bryan Bresee. @PolynesiaBowl pic.twitter.com/ehacGoz7v2

— Football Recruit. (@FootballRecruit) July 2, 2019

Of course, Bresee’s not a guy who takes Ls often.

He gave a notice to any linemen he might face during the season to not mess with him during this run:

Clemson commit Bryan Bresee handling business at #TheOpening @bryan_bresee pic.twitter.com/9xZrwnw19O

— Football Recruit. (@FootballRecruit) July 2, 2019

One of the top performers looked to be Korey Foreman, who is ranked as the No. 1 play in California in the 2021 class.

On this rep, Foreman threw the offensive lineman into the “quarterback.”

2021 Centennial (Calif.) DE Kore Foreman (@koreyforeman54) has a chance to be a special player off the edge. https://t.co/LSMEgBmXdw#TheOpening pic.twitter.com/isGeX80pb3

— Matt Freeman (@mattfreemanISD) July 2, 2019

And here, the offensive lineman couldn’t even stay on his feet. With a handful of Foreman’s jersey, the man went down — and Foreman glowered over him.

That’s not a good sign for California high school opponents. They still have two years left of him.

Corona Centennial baller Korey Foreman FEASTING @koreyforeman54 @Cen10Football pic.twitter.com/BlRwfayLXl

— Football Recruit. (@FootballRecruit) July 2, 2019