These days, Portage senior offensive tackle Christian Partlow can joke about his size.

So the 6-foot-4 1/2, 280-pound Partlow laughed about that half-inch.

“I was going to round to 6-5, but I have to be honest,” he said.

But what Partlow experienced last season was no laughing matter.

“Last year, I had a rough time at home,” he said. “I lost a bunch of weight. I was like 230. I just started to take everything more seriously. I overcame that hurdle.

“It just got to the point where it took a toll on me. But things are good now.”

Partlow has been able to boost his mental and physical health.

“I started eating a lot more,” he said. “I tracked my protein and my calories and took the weight room as far as I could. I’ve been doing everything right.

“I’ve just been taking the steps. I’ve been overcoming hurdles. I’ve just grown. I’ve grown as a leader. I’ve grown in the weight room. I’ve seen improvement everywhere.”

Which bodes well for Partlow and the Indians, considering he has started since the second game of his freshman season. A teammate’s injury created an opportunity at guard against perennial power Penn, and Partlow seized it.

“It scared the hell out of me at first,” he said. “That was probably the best D-line I was going to face, and I was a freshman. I had no experience. But it was fun. It really helped me grow as a player.”

Portage quarterback Kodie Young (12) scrambles for a long gain against Valparaiso during a Duneland Athletic Conference game in Valparaiso on Friday, Oct. 11, 2024. (Andy Lavalley / Post-Tribune)

Senior quarterback Kodie Young can empathize with Partlow, who has been a fixture at tackle since his sophomore season. Also because of an injury, Young “had to jump right in” as a freshman against Merrillville in Week 4, and he hasn’t relinquished his position either. Last season, Young threw for 1,232 yards and 10 touchdowns and rushed for 214 yards and two TDs. Young has also been a starter for Portage’s baseball team since he was a freshman.

“He definitely leads the O-line,” Young said of Partlow. “He gets them back on track whenever it’s needed. He’s very levelheaded. He’s always trying to make sure everyone else is also levelheaded on the O-line.”

Tony Klimczak, the Indians’ third coach in four seasons following the removal of Roy Richards, knows Partlow quite well. Klimczak was the offensive coordinator in 2022 and then was the freshman coach the past two seasons so he could watch his son Caleb quarterback Wheeler, where Klimczak was the coach from 2012 to 2016.

“He has a lot of experience,” Klimczak said of Partlow. “He’s tough. He’s gritty. When we need a yard, he’s the guy we want to run behind.”

Partlow, who didn’t start playing football until eighth grade, would welcome an opportunity to continue his career in college if an offer came his way. But at this point, he hopes to study mechanical engineering at Purdue or possibly become a welder.

In part to bolster his engineering background, Partlow is a member of Portage’s robotics team, which is led by offensive line coach Frank Hobart.

“Building a robot is a lot of fun, putting the pieces together,” Partlow said. “My O-line coach runs it, so I’m with him, too, so it’s just another bonding experience between me and him.

“All of us on the O-line, on the offense and on the team have a good bond. We just have to shake out the jitters, keep growing as a team, stop shooting ourselves in the foot with penalties, and we’ll be good.”

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/08/29/football-portage-christian-partlow/