Bent makes the most of his senior year

By Bruce Morgan

Calvin Bent didn’t have his expectations real high as he started to scroll on Twitter in late December.

The Warwick senior football player wasn’t named All-State by the Pennsylvania Writers.

But when he saw a link with the PA Football Coaches selections, he couldn’t help himself.

“I was already thinking, ‘There’s some big guys out there, I’m probably not going to be in here,’” said the 6-foot, 275-pound Bent.

A look through offensive guards confirmed his suspicions.

Then he turned to the defensive side of the ball and saw Spring Grove’s David Czapp (6-2, 260).

As Bent kept scrolling, his eyes lit up. The standout twoway lineman had in fact been selected to the PFN Coaches Select All-State Second-Team as a defensive end.

“I was like, ‘What?’ I was so happy,” Bent said. “That was a good moment. I texted coach (Bob) Locker and said, ‘Thank you.’ It was amazing, honestly, seeing that.”

It was the latest honor for Bent following an amazing senior year.

The accolades included Section Three Offensive Lineman of the Year, First-Team Offensive Line, First-Team Defensive End, and Second-Team Offensive Lineman on the Eastern PA Football Team.

Bent was still feeling sky high in early March when he got a 6 o’clock email which was better than coffee.

It was a perfect start to the day. No caffeine needed. He was already full of energy after learning that he and his senior teammates Vinny Bagonis and Tyler Musser had been selected to the Manheim Touchdown Club’s Tri-County All-Star Game in May.

“I’m so excited for it already,” Bent said. “It’s in May, but I’m counting down days on my calendar.”

Photo by Dave Snyder

Lineman Calvin Bent (66) blocks against Cedar Crest in the Warriors’ 34-12 win last September.

That will give him one final time to play while representing Warwick. And once that’s done, you can bet that Bent will be counting days until his career gets underway this fall at Lebanon Valley College, to where he committed in December.

“LVC was showing me love since junior year, so I went there,” Bent said. “I don’t want to be just a number going to, like, Ohio State, some big school like that where I’m not going to be able to play. LVC was a great opportunity and I think I’m going to make the most of it.”

Bent certainly made the most of his senior year at Warwick, helping the red-and-black go 5-1 Section Three, 9-3 overall and advance to the District Three Class 5A quarterfinals.

Prior to his final season, he switched from center to guard on the offensive line.

“To have somebody coming back with all the playing time he had,” Locker said, “and then asking him to undertake a new position this year, to move from center to guard, he became an outstanding guard — someone we could depend on. Outstanding pull blocker. He has a motor and plays very, very hard. We had four returning linemen, and they all worked very hard.”

A mainstay on the offensive line at guard and center since starting in Week Four as a sophomore, he rarely came off the field as a senior, adding D-end responsibilities to his Friday nights.

Rewind to last April or May, when defensive coordinator Todd Smoker sat down with Bent. In that conversation, Smoker gave him a glimpse of what was coming.

Bent had spelled Owen Rowe end a bit as a junior, but he was being asked to play a bigger role.

“He was very blunt with me,” Bent recalled. “He was like, ‘I don’t know who we have yet to back you up. You might have to play 100 percent on offense and 100 percent on defense.’ When he told me that, I was like, ‘OK, I’ve got to work on my cardio, I’ve got to make sure I can go 100 percent both ways.”

Immediately, Bent began slimming down from the 300 pounds at which he played as a center. “I was just a big guy, kind of a bowling ball going left and right,” he said with a smile.

Following a stretch in which he fasted, Bent started football eating with carbs and proteins, added muscle and got down to 265.

All the while, Bent was also working on the handwork which would be required to play on defense.

“Defensively, he worked so hard in the off-season,” Locker said. “He got a little quicker, got stronger, slimmed down a little bit weight-wise and just played with a motor. You put him and Vinny on the same defensive line, plus we had some other good D-ends, and they became a force. He played with a motor, played with an attitude and was just a leader on and off the field.”

“I was understanding how my hands should be and all that stuff,” Bent said, “and it kinda clicked in June and then it kept building off of that leading into the season.”

As a third-year starter, he was a leader for the team. Evolving his leadership style was important, not just in the realm of football and the weight room, but outside of that as well and in the school’s hallways.

“One of the joys of coaching is watching somebody grow as a person and a player,” Locker said. “He became an anchor in locker room and the practice field. He became somebody that conducted himself day in and day out exactly the way we’d hope kids would play and act. He developed into an outstanding leader.”

“I did stupid stuff (as a freshman and sophomore),” Bent said. “That troubled me leadership-wise, but then I grew out of that.”

Prior to his final year, he did a smart thing by sitting down with fellow senior linemen Wes Brunken, Ty Eckert and Preston Landis. They established goals of having each of the four earn All-Section honors — which they achieved — and paving the way for 2,000 team rushing yards. With Heath Schnipke (1,359 yards, 17 TDs) leading the way, they nearly pulled it off.

Either way, Bent and the linemen were a big reason that Warwick avenged a 2024 loss to Shippensburg by beating the Greyhounds to advance to the District Three quarters.

“That’s further than we’ve gotten in a long time,” Bent said, “so I’m appreciative of that.”

Of course, he also appreciates the opportunity to play in the Tri-County All-Star Game. Bent is loving the thought of playing one more time in front of his family and friends, and measuring himself against some of the L-L League’s best linemen.

“It’s just a good experience,” he said. “Going against Vinny (Bagonis) at practice again, that’s going to be a pain in the butt, but it’s going to be fun. He’s one of the hardest guys I had to go against ... It’s going to be fun to see how I work with other guys that are new or who don’t have the same technique as me.”

Make no mistake, Bent’s technique is pretty good. It helped him earn Pennsylvania Football Coaches All-State honors.