Thursday, October 29, 2009

Chuck Carree - High school offenses get more variety over years


By Chuck Carree
Chuck.Carree@StarNewsOnline.com


Published: Wednesday, October 28, 2009 at 6:32 p.m.
Last Modified: Wednesday, October 28, 2009 at 6:32 p.m.


I like diversity, which helps make high school football offenses captivating.

Go to a prep game, and you are apt to see triple options (Pender and Trask) to the Notre Dame Box (East Columbus) to variations of the single wing or Wildcat formation anywhere else.

Last week, I spoke with Don Callahan, a writer for Inside Carolina and a contributor to Scout.com. He sees a game a week and recently saw a team open in a T-formation, switched to the I and finished in the spread.

He also told me he has seen a team run some wishbone and then went to the spread.

It is designed to give defenses multiple looks and force the opposition extra preparation.

For example, when South Columbus beat Hoggard, Vikings coach Scott Braswell noted the Stallions, a traditional Wing T offense, ran some Wildcat with quarterback Brian Riggins.

“They faked the jet sweep and he would keep it,’’ Braswell said.

Riggins, only a junior, already has scholarship offers from North Carolina, East Carolina and Virginia Tech. Boston College, Clemson, Duke, Florida State, Georgia and N.C. State also have expressed interest.

But the Stallions recently chucked the Wildcat because of turnovers and blocking woes.

New Hanover planned to utilize the Wildcat 40 percent this season, but the players better suited for it suffered torn ACLs.

At Whiteville, head coach Bob Lewis has toyed with it in two games and said some people nearly had a heart attack.

“I think it adds another dimension of excitement to the game, so I think it is great,’’ he said.

Lewis saw it more frequently as coach at Harrells Christian.

“It opens up the field, makes it bigger, and with athletes, there is a chance to produce more points,’’ he said. “We even saw quarterbacks line up at flanker. But you cannot bleed the clock with it, though.’’

East Columbus coach Travis Conner is a huge proponent of the single wing, which is why he runs the box with no quarterback.

Scott Conner, his father, ran the box for 35 years and earned induction into the N.C. Coaches Hall of Fame while having the field at Asheville A.C. Reynolds named for him.

“That is what I grew up knowing and why I do it,’’ Conner said.

While no one operates from the single wing principle more than the Gators, Hoggard has used it well in recent years.

Luke Caldwell, a receiver and strong runner with some speed, ran it in 2007 en route to the Vikings state 4A title.

Last season, Brad Busby, a quarterback, kept the ball most of the time. This season, Jovon Genwright, a running back, lines up in the Wildcat.

“You are getting the ball in a play makers hands and you are playing 11 on 11 because the quarterback is not just handing the ball off,’’ Braswell said. “The quarterback must be the runner.

“The biggest advantage is of 11 on 11 is being able to put a body on a body. You at least have to a chance to block everybody up.’’

Staff writer Chuck Carree can be reached at 343-2262 or chuck.carree@StarNewsOnline.com



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