The Single-Wing Sentinel

NHS faces road test vs. Maroons

2009-11-22T21:03:00.003-06:00

By CRAIG REMSBURG Senior Sports Writer

Some high school football coaches wouldn't relish playing a game at Walton Blesch Stadium in Menominee.

After all, it's an old facility surrounded by a concrete wall and the home of the perennial powerhouse Menominee Maroons.

But Negaunee High School head coach Paul Jacobson is looking forward to taking his Miners there Saturday for a 2 p.m. (EST) Division 5, District 1 championship clash with the Maroons.

"I just love playing Menominee," he said, "especially at their place with all the football heritage and tradition there.

"When you step inside those walls and the fans are on your back, it's great."

The 7-3 Miners will be taking on an 8-2 Menominee squad they beat last year in Negaunee, 14-13, in playoff action.

"I haven't brought that up to my kids," Menominee head coach Ken Hofer said. "We should have played better than we did and Negaunee took advantage of our mistakes.

"They also took care of us by running the option. We have to do a lot of work against that."

All-Upper Peninsula "Dream Team" junior guard Kyle Michaelson, senior tailback Cody Dagenais and senior quarterback Tyler Nault (if healthy) will spearhead the Negaunee offense Saturday.

Dagenais - with the help of Michaelson's blocking - averaged 5.1 yards a carry and scored nine touchdowns during the regular season.

Nault passed for 385 yards and rushed for 358 more, accounting for eight TDs overall.

Nault is nursing a high ankle sprain, however, and Jacobson said the signal-caller is "questionable" for Saturday's game.

If Nault's unable to go, junior Dan Bingel will get the call. He completed 4-of-9 passes for 39 yards in last Saturday's 30-28 Negaunee playoff win over Grayling.

The Maroons will counter with their fabled single-wing offense headed by "Dream Team" picks Brandon Colvin at guard, Erik Hines at end and Keeler Conery in the backfield. Colvin's a senior, the other two juniors.

Hines caught 38 passes for 649 yards and 10 TDs, while Conery rushed for 705 yards.

"Menominee ... can run the ball and also throw," Jacobson said. "That makes them a potent offense.

"Their single-wing comes off a 'shotgun' snap. It's almost like a spread offense, only they pack it tight and run up the middle. There's more blocking at the point of attack."

Defensively, Menominee - which beat Elk Rapids 42-15 last week to advance - features All-U.P. Class ABC selections Travis Cherney at tackle and Jordan Miller at linebacker. Cherney's a senior, Miller a junior.

Cherney made 37 tackles (nine solo) during the regular season; Miller came up with 79 (24 solo), an interception and two fumble recoveries.

"We're a pretty balanced team," Hofer said. "We try to make the same emphasis on both sides of the ball."

The Miners are led defensively by Nault and senior defensive back Nathan Alexander. Nault recorded 85 tackles and seven sacks this season; Alexander came up with 75 tackles and picked off four passes.

"The big thing will be the line of scrimmage," said Hofer, now in his 43rd year of coaching. "They have some big linemen and we have to control their big people up front.

"We'll have to 'outquick' them as much as we can.

Jacobson said the Maroons' single-wing offense won't be a complete mystery to his Miners.

"We've played (the Maroons) in the lower levels and played against Grayling's shotgun last week. It's similar to Menominee's (offense)," he said.

The Negaunee-Menominee victor will play the winner of Saturday's Pinconning-Clare matchup in state regional play.

========================

The Mining Journal

249 W. Washington

Marquette, MI 49855

=======================

Stone Bridge returns to region finals

2009-11-21T23:03:00.000-06:00

Sports
By Dan Sousa
Source: Special to the Loudoun Times-Mirror
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21 2009

For the Stone Bridge High football team, revenge was a side dish Nov. 20 as the Bulldogs turned the tables on Madison, the only team to defeat them this season.

The main course for the host Bulldogs was a complete performance on both sides of the ball, which led to a dominating 27-8 victory over the Warhawks in the Northern Region Division 5 semifinals.

And the game wasn't even as close as the final score indicates. Stone Bridge (11-1) did not allow Madison (7-5) to cross midfield until a final drive against the Bulldog second defensive unit. Stone Bridge junior Marcus Harris rushed for more than a 100 yards in the first half and finished with 171 yards on 28 carries, breaking the school's single-season rushing mark along the way.

"We have just been waiting to play well on both sides of the ball and special teams and this was the night we finally put it together," Stone Bridge coach Mickey Thompson said. "I don't think we can play any better than we what we played tonight."

All of this adds up to an incredible eighth consecutive trip to the regional finals. The Bulldogs will host Robert E. Lee for the region championship Nov. 27 at 1:30 p.m.

"Our season starts in the playoffs. A lot of other teams, it's a big thing to make the playoffs. But it's normal here," Stone Bridge senior lineman Mitchell Freitas said. "We've done this before, it's nothing new. We've come alive."

While Madison had defeated Stone Bridge a month ago, 28-14, by controlling the line of scrimmage, it was a different story Friday.

Stone Bridge, which was running a spread offense half the time in the first meeting, stuck exclusively to the single-wing and Harris, off a great angled snap from center Kyle Wrenn, cut back the fifth Bulldog snap of the night and was into the secondary before most people on the field could find him and he sprinted untouched 56 yards for the first score.

Later in the game, Harris broke Devon Brown's school record of 1,745 rushing yards in a season. Harris now has 1,768 and counting.

"It feels real good for my name to be put up there with some of the top running backs that have come out of here," Harris said.

While it was a different Stone Bridge offense Friday, it was also a different Stone Bridge defense as the Bulldogs bunched the line of scrimmage and stuffed the Warhawk running attack.

After picking up two first downs on the opening drive of the game, Madison failed to move the chains on its next seven possessions and didn't get another first down until less than five minutes remained in the game and Stone Bridge leading comfortably, 27-0.

With the run game mired, the Warhawks couldn't pass against the Bulldogs, going just 4 of 15 for 24 yards and Stone Bridge corner Dexter Rogers intercepted a pass.

Kyle Gouveia added 70 yards rushing and two short touchdown dives, including one on the first drive of the second half to make it 21-0. Abdul Shaban added two field goals to pad the lead.

Northern Region Division 5 semifinal
Stone Bridge 27, Madison 8

First Quarter
SB: Harris 56 run (Shaban kick) 5:49 (drive: 5 plays, 82 yards, 2:12)

Second Quarter
SB: Gouveia 1 run (Shaban kick) 10:11 (drive: 11 plays, 55 yards, 5:48)

Third Quarter
SB: Gouveia 1 run (Shaban kick) 8:51 (drive: 8 plays, 60 yards, 3:09)
SB: Shaban 24 field goal 0:57 (drive: 14 plays, 73 yards, 6:43)

Fourth Quarter
SB: Shaban 35 field goal 5:27 (drive: 13 plays, 52 yards, 6:22)
M: Roland 32 run (Powers from Roland) 1:51 (drive: 10 plays, 66 yards, 3:36)

Inidividual leaders

Rushing: M-Roland (5 for 41 yards, TD); SB-Harris (28 for 171 yards, TD), Gouveia (13 for 70 yards, 2 TD)

Passing: M-Roland (4 of 15 for 24 yards, Int.); SB-Rody (2 of 3 for 34 yards)

Receiving: M-Powers (2 for 19 yards); SB-Harris (1 for 20 yards), White (1 for 14 yards)

.

Appomattox (8-2) at Clarke County (10-0)

2009-11-20T22:52:00.000-06:00

By Jeff Nations -- jnations@nvdaily.com
When: Saturday, 1:30 p.m.
Where: Wilbur M. Feltner Stadium, Berryville

Who to watch: Appomattox -- Kenny Scott, senior, QB (53-for-103 passing for 866 yards, seven TDs, 955 rushing yards); Joe Reed, junior, RB (827 yards, 12 TDs); Neal Thomas, senior, WR (21 catches, 502 yards, four TDs); Josh Wilson, sophomore, RB (190 yards, three TDs); M.J. Pennix, senior, MLB; Clarke County -- Sam Shiley, senior, RB/DB (1,675 yards, 33 TDs, three Ints); Zach Shiley, senior, QB/DB (36-for-52 passing for 720 yards, five TDs); Grant Shaw, junior, RB/DB (697 yards, nine TDs, 53 tackles); Jeremy Rhoads, senior, RB/LB (119 yards, two TDs, 156 tackles, five sacks); Caleb Hartsook, senior, TE/DE (70 tackles, two sacks).

When Clarke County football coach Chris Parker thinks of Appomattox, he just can't help that the school brings to mind one of his best football memories.

That came last year, when Parker's Eagles downed visiting Appomattox 27-19 for Clarke County's first playoff win since 1990 and the first-ever under Parker. It didn't come easy, and Parker expects it won't be any easier in Saturday's playoff rematch at Wilbur M. Feltner Stadium in Berryville.

The matchup promises to be a treat for fans numbed by the ever-popular spread and wing-T offenses so prevalent in high school football. The Eagles run a single-wing attack that has positively devastated opposing defenses this season, while the Raiders employ their speed to run an option-based offense incorporating both mid-line and triple option elements.

Appomattox, the Dogwood District regular-season champion, is seeking its first playoff win since 1979.

The Eagles will again have their hands full in trying to contain Appomattox senior quarterback Kenny Scott, a capable passer (866 passing yards, seven TDs) and an explosive runner (955 rushing yards, 13 TDs). Scott, along with junior running back Joe Reed (827 rushing yards, 12 TDs), is the focus of the Raiders' offense.

"They have a lot of speed, they're very athletic, and they have playmakers," Parker said. "They can throw it, but that's not really what they want to do.

"Speed's their game. They'll run plays off-tackle, but if stuff's clogged up they'll bounce it outside."

Clarke County's offense hasn't been close to slowed this season, as senior running back Sam Shiley (1,675 rushing yards, 33 TDs) and twin brother Zach Shiley -- the Eagles' quarterback who has passed for 720 yards -- have developed into an unstoppable combination. Clarke County's single-wing has rolled up 3,478 rushing yards this season, despite an ever-shifting approach by opposing defenses.

"We see all kinds of stuff," Parker said. "[Appomattox has] been running an odd-front with a 3-5 or, when they bring in the outside backers, a 5-3 look. I would imagine we'll see a lot of people in the box."
.
.
.
.
The Northern Virginia Daily - nvdaily.com -152 N. Holliday St., Strasburg, Va. 22657

Conemaugh Township, Windber to play for District 5 title

2009-11-20T10:43:00.001-06:00

BY ERIC KNOPSNYDER
The Tribune-Democrat

Phil DeMarco has spent all season trying to improve his team’s defense.

The Windber coach has tried different looks and different players, but with his Ramblers set to face rival Conemaugh Township in the District 5 Class A championship game at Berlin tonight, he’s done tinkering.

“I’m not even going to mention defense,” DeMarco said Wednesday night. “We’ve got to find a way to win the game.”

Mostly, the Ramblers (8-2) have done that with their high-powered single-wing offense. Last week they rallied to beat Berlin 47-44 as Brandon Ulasky, Jarid Cover and Kyle Smith each ran for 100 yards. Cover scored the final touchdown with 13 seconds remaining to cap the comeback.

“I told them last week after the game ‘You’re unbelieveable,’ ” DeMarco recalled. “They said ‘Is that a good thing or a bad thing?’ I said, ‘That’s a good thing.’ ”

Conemaugh Township (9-1) is the top seed in District 5 and beat Windber 49-41 in Week 2. In that game the Ramblers trailed 35-14 at the half before coming within a foot of a touchdown that would have given them a chance to tie the game.

Indians coach Sam Zambanini thinks his defense has improved since then, giving up more than one touchdown only once in the past six games.

“We’ve evolved into more of a defensive team than we were early,” Zambanini said. “Each week we’ve gotten better defensively.”

The Indians will face a big test from a Windber team that has averaged 40.8 points per game. The Ramblers do it with a diverse offense. Cover has a team-high 1,436 yards and 21 touchdowns on the ground while Brandon Ulasky has run for

687 yards and 12 touchdowns and caught

35 passes for another 557 yards and eight touchdowns. Quarterback Erick Strapple has thrown for 901 yards and 10 touchdowns against just three interceptions.

“That’s the essence of the single wing,” DeMarco said. “We spread the wealth in this offense.”

Even so, Zambanini isn’t convinced that Windber and Conemaugh Township will light up the scoreboard like they did early in the season.

“I think some people might be surprised,” he said. “A lot of people might see it as a shootout, high-scoring affair, track meet – whatever you want to call it – but it wouldn’t surprise me at all if it turns out to be a defensive game.”

Conemaugh Township has an explosive offense of its own, as the Indians have averaged 37.2 points per game for the season. Seth Zaman leads The Tribune-Democrat’s coverage area with 1,798 rushing yards, and the senior has 24 touchdowns on the ground, but he’s not the Indians’ only threat.

“They’re not a one-man team,” DeMarco said. “They can throw the football – I think they proved that in the first game.”

Quarterback George Bivens has thrown for 1,016 yards and 10 touchdowns this season against just three interceptions. His top target is Kyle Zambanini, who has 461 yards, but Zaman (232 yards) and Keith Myers (205) are also threats in the passing game.

Fullback Brett Byers has rushed for 405 yards and eight touchdowns and also is the lead blocker for Zaman. Center Mike Lysic leads an offensive line that has impressed DeMarco.

“You can’t underestimate their guys up front,” DeMarco said.

Conemaugh Township’s players probably won’t underestimate Windber, either. Last year the Indians beat the Ramblers in the regular season before falling to them in the district championship game.

Coach Zambanini hasn’t let them forget it.

“That’s got to be one of the motivating factors for our guys, especially since we have a lot of guys that were in that game last year,” he said. “Hopefully they have the memory of that game. That could be part of their motivation.”

========================
The Tribune-Democrat
425 Locust St
PO Box 340
Johnstown PA 15907-0340
=========================

.

T-Bolts take aim at next level

2009-11-19T22:35:00.000-06:00

Rye tests powerful Akron in Class 1A football semifinals.

By JUDY HILDNER
THE PUEBLO CHIEFTAIN

It took just four minutes and seven plays last weekend for Jeff Bailey and his Rye High School football team to know they had arrived.

Now they're looking for more.

That four minutes last weekend was the time it took the T-Bolts to score on their opening drive against Burlington en route to a 38-13 victory over the always-powerful Cougars in the Class 1A state quarterfinals. Now, undefeated Rye moves to the next level against Akron, the three-time defending state champions who come in with a 10-1 record. Game time is 1 p.m. at Rye.

Bailey realized Rye could beat Burlington as the opening drive unfolded. "On that first series, when we were able to move the ball that way," Bailey said about pounding the ball downfield from the Rye 29.

Now the Bolts are back in the semifinals at home, the same position they were in a year ago when they lost 27-0 to Wray, the eventual runner-up to Akron in the 1A title game. They have seven senior standouts who remember losing a year ago as well as a solid cast of underclassmen.

Both teams play old-fashioned, pound-it-out football with the Rams lining up in the single wing, an offense they have perfected over decades. Bailey called coach Brian Christensen and his predecessor Carl Rice, who is still an assistant, two real masters of the formation.

Rye last saw Akron early in the 2005 playoffs but Bailey said Rye's offense is very similar.

"We've told the kids that with the exception of one player and who gets the snap, it's almost the same - the same kind of spacing on the line, the same wedge play we run.

"Akron's bigger than us. Not at every position but overall," Bailey said. "We've got some speed on them."

That speed comes in the form of senior twins Jake and Luke Van, a quick compliment to the pounding of fullback tandem Chaz Guerrero and Billy Jack Forell. Jake Van has rushed for 1,802 yards in 11 games while Luke Van has accounted for 1,065 yards.

Forell leads the Bolts on defense at linebacker with 65 tackles and Jake Van has 45 stops at defensive back.

Akron is led by Jourdan Hottinger with 1,679 yards rushing out of what Bailey characterized as a wingback position.

"They can also pass the ball some," Bailey said. "But, if we can get them in the position to where they have to pass, we're doing something right."

Although the Vans’ breakway speed allows Rye to score quickly, both teams typically grind out yardage and playing from behind is a struggle.

In the other semifinal, 10-1 Limon plays at 11-0 Yuma, also at 1 p.m. Saturday. It was Yuma that snapped a 46-game Akron winning streak 17-14 on Oct. 23.

==========================
The Pueblo Chieftain
Pueblo Co
==========================

/

Wildcat offense infiltrates every level of football

2009-11-19T22:25:00.002-06:00

November 19, 2009
By Roy Lang III
rflang@gannett.com

Despite the fact it's derived from football's most rudimentary roots, the mere mention of the Wildcat offense can send elite defensive coordinators into convulsions.

When's it coming? Who's going to have the football? Run or Pass?

In less than five years, the Wildcat has climbed the ladder: high school to college to the pinnacle of the sport — the NFL. It's created problems for defenses at every stop.

But is the offensive set made popular under Houston Nutt at the University of Arkansas really a "gimmick?" Will it take a resting place next to the Run-and-Shoot or can it sustain long-term success?

Opinions are varied. But, for now, the Wildcat is a viable weapon.

"It's a schematical nightmare," said former LSU defensive coordinator Bradley Dale Peveto, now the head coach at Northwestern State University.

The Wildcat (teams often change the "cat" to fit its school's nickname) is an offense used to capitalize on mismatches created by shifting skill players around the field. A running back/wide receiver normally lines up in the quarterback position out of the shotgun formation.

A second skill player is sent in motion to force the defense to respect the outside threat. The Wildcat "quarterback," after having a moment to process the defense, has the option of handing the ball to the man in motion as he passes, running the ball himself, or throwing a pass.

Offenses have evened the numbers game.

"You're really playing back to 11-on-11 rather than the quarterback under center who's not a runner," New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton said. "It allows teams to run the ball effectively against some down-safety defenses."

Peveto's nightmares came from watching Darren McFadden and Felix Jones gash LSU's defense with Arkansas. Payton got a good dose of the Wildcat against Miami last month when the Saints traveled to play the Dolphins — the NFL team that has used the Wildcat most effectively at the top level.

Under Nutt, Arkansas put the Wildcat on the map. However, in reality, Nutt just offered his seal of approval in 2006. The idea came from brother Danny, through a former high school coach and new Razorbacks assistant Gus Malzahn, who ran it at Shiloh Christian and Springdale (Ark.).

McFadden and Jones both ran for more than 1,000 yards in 2006 as opponents scrambled to find an answer.

"It makes you defend 12 people," Peveto said. "Most of the time you have to defend the run, but you're also having to defend the spread passing game as well. If that (Wildcat quarterback) can throw it at all, it can give you fits."

McFadden (182) and Jones (137) combined for 319 rushing yards against Peveto's Tigers in 2006 and McFadden was a perfect 2-for-2 throwing the ball.

In a 2007 upset of No. 1 LSU, McFadden rumbled for 206 yards on the ground and added a passing touchdown. Jones and Peyton Hillis combined to run for another 174 yards as Arkansas tallied more than 500 yards of total offense at Tiger Stadium.

"I should have got on the offensive side of the ball when I had the chance years ago," Peveto would later say.

But why does the Wildcat work at every level while the option hasn't really been considered in the NFL?

"You didn't see the option because people invest so much in their quarterbacks; in the option game, the quarterback gets hit," Peveto said. "In the Wildcat, it's actually a tailback or a big skill guy in that quarterback position. You're not having to put your quarterback at risk."

Even though the Wildcat isn't an every-down offense, defenses can't look at it that way.

"At LSU, we spent 75 percent of our week with the problems the (Wildcat) posed and 25 percent on what they did the other 75 percent of the game," Peveto said. "They are forcing you to spend 75 percent of your time worrying about something they are going to do only 25 percent of the game. But you have to, because it can be a long, long night as they are finding out in the NFL."

The Miami Dolphins welcomed the Wildcat offense to the NFL in glorious fashion last season. The Dolphins were a 1-15 squad from 2007 and 0-2 to start the 2008 campaign when quarterbacks coach David Lee — a former Arkansas assistant — suggested first-year head coach Tony Sparano take a chance with his toy.

The Dolphins, using running back Ronnie Brown as the Wildcat quarterback, stunned the vaunted New England Patriots — a 16-0 team in the regular season the year before — with a 38-13 triumph at Foxborough, Mass.

Brown scored four rushing touchdowns and added a fifth through the air to end New England's 21-game regular season winning streak. The Dolphins won for the second time in 22 games.

The Wildcat become a staple with Brown and Ricky Williams and the unpredictable Dolphins went on to capture the AFC East at 11-5.

Naturally, fellow NFL teams have since dabbled in the Wildcat, but Miami remains the NFL team that employs it most often.

"From our end, the guys take great pride in it," Sparano said. "It's something that we've been able to put our arms around here. It's a small part of what we do. It's not everything we do, but it certainly gets a lot of attention."

Sparano laughs at the Wildcat's detractors, who believe it's a fad and not "real" football.

"What I've learned in this league is that yards are hard to come by, so are wins," he said. "Anyway we can get yards and get closer to wins, we're going to do it. I really could care less about what anyone else has to say."

The Dolphins have no plans to curb the Wildcat, although they may be hampered by Brown's recent injury.

"We had no idea about how people were defending it and we still don't have any idea how people defend it, meaning every week, there's something different," Sparano said. "We're trying to stay ahead of the curve."

Meanwhile Nutt, now in his second year at Ole Miss, continues to employ the Wildcat. Maybe he didn't invent the Wildcat, but he will forever be linked with it.

"A lot of times we are given way too much credit for that formation," Nutt said. "That formation was way back in the single wing days with Pop Warner and all those guys."

The Wildcat, like any offense, will need some tweaks and some variations to remain effective, but Peveto said it isn't going anywhere. Thankfully, he doesn't have any hair left to lose.

"I don't think it's a fad; I think it's here to stay," he said.

================================
Shreveport Times
222 Lake Street
Shreveport, LA 71101
================================

.

Bulldogs return to basics, march into region semis

2009-11-18T22:12:00.004-06:00

Sports
By Dan Sousa
Source: Special to the Loudoun Times-Mirror
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 17 2009

FALLS CHURCH -- Stone Bridge High School football fans might have thought the drive was long to a Nov. 13 “home” playoff game, moved to Marshall High School’s turf field because of unplayable field conditions in Ashburn.

But that was nothing compared to the Bulldogs' opening series.

Just a week after rushing for 300 yards in a regular-season ending 45-22 win over South Lakes, Stone Bridge took the field again against the Seahawks Friday night. And like last time, they ran the ball again ... and again ... and again.

Stone Bridge (10-1) ran the ball a bone-crunching 17 consecutive plays – all runs by junior running back Marcus Harris (25 carries for 123 yards on the night) and junior quarterback Kyle Gouveia (13-74) on a marathon drive that ate up more than eight minutes and put the Bulldogs on the path to a 28-7 victory.

The win set up an intriguing Northern Region Division 5 semifinal at Stone Bridge Nov. 20 at 7:30 p.m. as the Bulldogs will host Madison, a 31-10 winner over Edison Friday.

The Warhawks (7-4) are the only team to defeat the Bulldogs this season, a 28-14 win in Ashburn, making them the first Liberty District squad to ever beat Stone Bridge since the school opened a decade ago.

In that loss, Stone Bridge was sporting a spread offense more than half the night and rushed for just 58 total yards while putting the ball in the air 19 times. Since that game, Stone Bridge has returned to basics and stuck on the ground with its patented single-wing attack.

“We are finally just running the offense that we have run for 10 years,” Stone Bridge coach Mickey Thompson said. “We are not flashy.”

Indeed, there wasn’t much flash to Stone Bridge’s game plan Friday.

South Lakes tackled much better than the previous week when Harris busted loose for several long runs and tallied four touchdowns. The Bulldog offensive line, however, got enough push to pick up a constant five or six yards a rush with Harris and Gouveia combining for 38 carries.

A Stone Bridge fumble early in the second quarter and a couple of nice runs by South Lakes' Ja’Juan Jones and Darius Smith tied the game at 7-7 with 11:38 to go before the half. But the Bulldogs came right back, and now with South Lakes crowding the line of scrimmage to stop the run, the passing option was open.

Stone Bridge’s other quarterback, junior Brian Rody, still recovering from an injury in the Madison loss, was able to hit senior Michael Kajut on a crossing pattern that picked up 41 yards before the Seahawks could haul Kajut down at the South Lakes' 11-yard line. Three plays later, Rody found senior Taylor Lambke in the end zone to put Stone Bridge ahead, 14-7.

Penalties and a sack prevented Stone Bridge from adding to its lead late in the first half and so it was just a 14-7 advantage at the break.

“I was really concerned at halftime,” Thompson said.

Even though South Lakes received the ball first to open the second half, Stone Bridge’s defense had the Seahawk offense, especially its passing game to junior receiver Sean Price, bottled up.

While Price had hauled in eight balls the previous week for 127 of South Lakes’ 181 yards via the air, he managed only two catches for 20 yards Friday under a constant double team watch.

Stone Bridge’s 6-foot-7 junior defensive lineman Rob Burns stepped up big with several sacks and tackles for losses in the second half. The pressure that Burns and his teammates brought on senior quarterback Shawn Rana was a major reason the Seahawks couldn’t complete passes.

“It is the greatest feeling ever when you sack the quarterback,” Burns said. “South Lakes prepared well, they did block differently tonight, but we made adjustments at halftime.”

After South Lakes went three-and-out to start the third quarter, Stone Bridge moved the ball 64 yards to go ahead 21-7, with Gouveia picking up six yards on fourth-and-six from the Seahawk 32 to keep the drive alive. Harris scored for the second time on the night, from seven yards out.

Gouveia added a three-yard touchdown run late in the third quarter to close out the scoring.

Stone Bridge 28, South Lakes 7

First Quarter
SB - Harris 2 run (Shaban kick) 3:40 (drive: 17 plays, 84 yards, 8:20)

Second Quarter
SL - Jones 15 run (Belt kick) 11:38 (drive: 3 plays, 55 yards, 0:41)
SB - Lambke 8 pass from Rody (Shaban kick) 8:30 (drive: 7 plays, 65 yards, 3:08)

Third Quarter
SB - Harris 7 run (Shaban kick) 6:23 (drive: 8 plays, 64 yards, 3:33)
SB - Gouveia 3 run (Shaban kick) 0:28 (drive: 5 plays, 25 yards, 2:32)

Rushing
South Lakes: Jones 9-67, Smith 10-46, Sanford 1-2, Khan 1-(-5), Rana 4-(-8). Total 25-102.
Stone Bridge: Harris 25-123, Gouveia 13-74, Rody 4-23, Burns 3-17, Thomas 3-13, Forbes 1-7, Rankin-Bell 2-5, Rositano 2-2. Total 53-263.

Passing
South Lakes: Rana 2-11-0 20.
Stone Bridge: Rody 4-6-0 82.

Receiving
South Lakes: Price 2-20.
Stone Bridge: Lambke 3-41, Kajut 1-41.

================================
The Loudoun Times Mirror
9 E. Market Street, Leesburg, VA 20176
================================

.

Deltona edges South Lake, 17-14

2009-11-12T22:04:00.000-06:00

The Daily Commercial
FRANK JOLLEY
Staff Writer

GROVELAND -- Walter Banks knows his team can compete with the best.

The South Lake High School football coach found that out earlier this season when the Eagles battled Tampa Catholic, East Ridge and Apopka into the fourth quarter before losing all three games.

More often than not, it seemed like South Lake's biggest enemy was itself -- critical mistakes at crucial points in games. A penalty here and a turnover there, and what had been a three- or four-point deficit turned into a double-digit defeat.

In Friday's season finale against Deltona, South Lake self-destructive tendencies reared their ugly heads again and thwarted a late comeback attempt in a 17-14 loss.

"We had a lot of bad breaks this year and didn't show the kind of consistency I was hoping for, but I'm so proud of these kids," Banks said after he spoke briefly with his team, including 13 seniors who had played their final game for the Eagles. "I can't think of one time when our kids quit on us. No matter what happened on Friday, they always showed up on Monday, ready to work and they gave us everything they had.

"Fans may look the win-loss record and think we've had a bad season, but I saw a lot of positives come out of this year and I can't wait to get back to work with our returning players."

South Lake (3-7) played well enough to win, with the exception of two plays on defense and one on offense.

After a scoreless first quarter, Deltona got its single-wing offense untracked and launched an eight play, 52-yard drive that was capped off with a nine-yard scoring run. On the drive, the Wolves (4-6) had three plays that gained at least 10 yards.

South Lake responded with a 10-play drive that set up a 52-yard field goal attempt by Roberto Aguayo, who booted a 51 yarder earlier this season. His school-record attempt, however was blocked and returned, and when the made scramble for the loose ball subsided, the Wolves had possession on South Lake's 28-yard line.

On the next play, Josh Dagley swept around right end and appeared to be stopped, but the senior powered through the scrum and scampered in for the score.

"We weren't ready to play in the first half," Banks said. "Tonight was Senior Night and the pre-game festivities broke up our pre-game routine. I don't think we really got comfortable and back to playing the way we're capable of playing until the second half."

After forcing the Wolves to punt on their first possession after intermission, South Lake running back Steel Stewart blasted through the left side of Deltona's defense and appeared to be on his way to a 60-yard scoring dash. Stewart, however was caught at the one-yard line and fumbled the ball into the end zone.

Deltona recovered and took possession on the 20.

Once again, South Lake's defense stepped up and forced a one-yard punt and took possession on Deltona's 34-yard line.

On the ensuing possession, Stewart redeemed himself by 29 yards on four carries in the drive, which was capped by his three-yard run.

Late in the fourth quarter, trailing 17-7, South Lake scored on a 27-yard pass from Jonothan Cox to P.J. Harris to get within a field goal.

Once again, the Eagles defense rose to the occasion after a failed onside kick and stopped the Wolves, regaining possession on their 26-yard line with one minute, 43 seconds to play.

After receptions of 14 and 19 yards by Curtis Davis, the Eagles had moved the ball to Deltona's 41 with less than a minute to play. Needing only about 10 yards to give Aguayo a shot a game-tying field goal. Cox overthrew his intended receiver at the three-yard line and the ball was picked off by Donald Matthews to seal the win for the Wolves.

South Lake's defense limited Deltona to 185 yards of offense. Dagley led the Wolves with 73 yards rushing and he completed his only pass attempt to Shane Lewis for 22 yards.

The Eagles turned in 331 yards of offense. Stewart led the way with 156-yards rushing on 19 carries and Cox completed 10-of-24 passes for 168 yards. Harris was the team's leading receiver with three catches for 68 yards and a touchdown. Davis had four catches for 55 yards.

==================================

HarborPoint Media and The Daily Commercial

212 E. Main Street Leesburg, FL 34748

==================================

Giles ready for second chance against Radford this Friday night

2009-11-11T21:38:00.000-06:00

By BRIAN WOODSON
Bluefield Daily Telegraph

BLUEFIELD — Three plays. That’s all that Jeff Williams thinks kept Giles from defeating Radford last week and clinching its fifth Three Rivers District title in the last six years.

Actually, it might be less than that.

“Take those three plays — hey, take one of them — and I feel like we finish on top,” said Williams, whose Spartans lost 23-19, having been outscored 20-6 after the break. “It just wasn’t meant to be.”

It won’t take long for Giles to get another shot at the Bobcats. They’ll meet Friday in the Region C, Division 2 playoffs in Radford at 7:30 p.m.

“Nothing is going to change,” said Williams, in his second season since replacing Steve Ragsdale. “We’ll be blocking and tackling again on a Friday night.”

Williams is especially anxious for the blocking part. He didn’t think the Spartans did that well, but they have an excuse. Six-foot-3, 290-pound guard Justin Farmer is playing with a cast after breaking his hand in two weeks ago against Floyd County, while Ryan Lucas is out with a dislocated elbow.

“I think we can do a better job of blocking,” Williams said. “After watching the videotape, we had success with them, we had good yardage rushing, we had over 300 yards of total offense and we had two backs with over 100 yards rushing.

“I just didn’t think we blocked very well. We didn’t block as well as I think we can block. We’ve got to get back out there every day, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, and get back to blocking.”

Giles led 13-3 at halftime against Radford, but were immediately penalized 15 yards for coming out of the locker room late. Radford responded to the short field, and scored a touchdown. The Spartans responded with a 19-play drive and a score of their own, but the Bobcats came right back.

“We kicked the ball off into the end zone and they had 80 yards to go,” Williams said. “We got confused on defense a little, we were late getting lined up and they busted two plays for 80 yards, and we had kept them hemmed up pretty good all night.

“We were moving the ball on our next possession, but we threw an interception and they returned it 70 yards for the score. Two big running plays and that interception turned the whole ball game.”

Making their seventh straight playoff appearance, the three-time state champion Spartans haven’t changed during that time. They still run the single wing, led by fullback Justin Gautier, who had 128 yards against the Bobcats.

Andrew Eppling and Travis Robertson have split the duties at halfback for the Spartans. Gautier is also among the walking wounded. He’s questionable for Friday after suffering a case of turf toe.

“Andrew and Travis have done a great job for us,” Williams said. “They’ve been splitting time at the tailback spot — our premier running back spot.

“They have shared every other play in practice. That was my plan going into the season and it has worked out really good for us.”

What hasn’t been kind is the injury bug. Williams said the injuries started to mount for Giles against Floyd County when Farmer and Lucas were both hurt, and the Buffaloes’ best player even suffered a broken ankle.

“We made it through three-fourths of the season pretty good,” Williams said. “That Floyd County game two weeks ago, it just hit us. That is always a tough and rough football game.”

Radford is led by quarterback Dontae Carter, who Williams refers to as a Tyrod Taylor-Michael Vick type. Carter had 92 yards rushing and a touchdown, and threw for 45 more. Kevin Adkins added 91 yards, while Corey Dark picked off the Eppling pass and returned it for the score.

D.J. Palmer, a transfer from Christiansburg, leads the Bobcats in rushing, while Josh Oliver is a force on the defensive line.

“They’ve got a good little running back, but they’re really athletic, a typical Radford football team,” Williams said. “They’ve got a kid playing defensive tackle who is one heck of a football player and their quarterback is a special player.

“They are a typical Radford High School football team. They’re real athletic, they move around well on defense, and they’ve got athletes on offense.”

Even with the injuries that have plagued Giles, especially on the depleted offensive line, Williams won’t allow the Spartans to use that as an excuse.

“We just have to get in there with the kids we got.” Williams said, “and cut out the turnovers and not make the penalties and cut down the mental mistakes and I think we’ll be OK.”

Williams has placed extra emphasis on blocking this week in practice, hoping that will help the Spartans get past the Bobcats, and advance to the Region C semifinals next week at George Wythe.

“That’s what we always do, but we feel like we can block a little bit better,” Williams said. “We’ve got one with a broken hand and one with a dislocated elbow so we’re getting a little thin.

“We don’t have a lot to go on, but the other night they did a pretty good for us. They played hard and played pretty physical, but we just didn’t come out on top in the game.”

Making the playoffs is nothing new for the Spartans, who have compiled an 8-5 record in the postseason since their current string of appearances began in 2003. Giles won the state title in 2005, and lost in the finals in ‘06.

The Spartans fell to Chilhowie last season, Giles’ first opening round exit since ‘03.

“This is our seventh year in a row in the playoffs and that’s a nice accomplishment in itself,” Williams said. “I hope we can go over and play the best we can on Friday night and see what happens.”

==============================
Bluefield Daily Telegraph
P.O. Box 1599
928 Bluefield Avenue
Bluefield, W.Va. 24701
=============================

.

Seniors protect the Bulldog football legacy

2009-11-10T21:30:00.000-06:00

Sports
By Dan Sousa
Source: Special to the Loudoun Times-Mirror
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 10 2009

After Stone Bridge lost to Madison on Oct. 19 – the school’s first-ever loss to a Liberty District opponent in 35 games -- the Bulldog seniors gathered in a somber players-only huddle on the field.

“We were down,” senior left guard Eric Volz said. "We needed to come back hard."

The loss highlighted a fear that this senior class, which had gone just 4-6 as freshmen in a program that simply did not lose freshman football games, would somehow let down the Stone Bridge legacy of six consecutive district titles and seven straight trips to regional title games and beyond, including a AAA Division 5 state title in 2007.

“We heard people say, ‘Your senior class is going to be bad,'” said senior right tackle Rich Freitas, who moved into the program midway through his freshman year. “After the Madison loss, we just said, ‘Let’s get back to work.'”

And that's what the seniors and Stone Bridge did, going back to basics, which meant running the single wing offense.

The Bulldogs were able to add their chapter to the school’s football legacy with three wins to finish the regular season, including a 45-22 victory over South Lakes Nov. 6 in a game that wasn’t as close as the final score indicates.

With a fifth consecutive Liberty title and an incredible eighth-straight district title in the bank with the 9-1 regular season, the Bulldogs weren’t ready to think about a rematch with South Lakes this Friday at home in the Northern Region Division 5 quarterfinals.

Instead, they were ready to celebrate by posing for photos with the district-title banner and the smiles were biggest on the sweaty faces of the seniors.

“This has got to be satisfying for them,” Stone Bridge coach Mickey Thompson said. “They were committed to the weight room. They were loyal. They stayed loyal to the program, to the coaches. They didn’t point fingers after that freshman season.”

Victories paved on the back of adversity are, perhaps, the sweetest to savor and Volz was almost emotional describing the feeling for the seniors.

Senior center Kyle Wrenn said, “It was harsh that year, having to go 4-6.”

While the junior class, led by running back Marcus Harris – who had four touchdowns Friday – and quarterback/safety Kyle Gouveia and safety Spenser Rositano, were the face of this year’s Bulldog success, that was just fine with the seniors as long as they continued the winning tradition.

“We are not a flashy group,” Freitas said. "We are down to earth and hard working."

The loss to Madison also forced the Bulldog coaching staff to huddle. The Bulldogs spent almost half of the loss to the Warhawks in offense sets other than their trademark single wing offense and it just wasn’t working.

“It was like a slap in the face to the coaches,” Thompson said. “That loss really helped us. We finally stopped searching for something that wasn’t there.”

The result was Stone Bridge from start to finish against South Lakes in the single wing, running the spin series that over the years has confounded defenses. Run after run resulted in 300 yards on the ground.

“The single wing ... That is what we do. That loss made us go back to basics, to our roots and just play football,” Thompson said.

Stone Bridge 45, South Lakes 22

First Quarter
SB: Harris 3 run (Shaban kick) 10:16
SB: Shaban 21 field goal 4:45
SL: Price 48 pass from Rana (Belt kick) 3:19
SB: Harris 49 run (Shaban kick) 2:07

Third Quarter
SB: Rositano 34 pass from Gouveia (Shaban kick) 9:48
SB: Harris 1 run (Shaban kick) 5:35
SB: Harris 3 run (Shaban kick) 2:52

Fourth Quarter
SL: Jones 3 run (Belt kick) 10:56
SB: Thomas 3 run (Shaban kick) 1:52
SL: Khan 4 run (Lewis from Zarco) 0:06

Individual leaders

Passing: SL-Rana (9 of 18 for 127 yards, TD); SB-Gouveia (2 of 3 for 49 yards, TD), Rody (4 of 6 for 37 yards, Int.)

Rushing: SL-Jones (9 for 37 yards, TD), Smith (10 for 36 yards); SB-Harris (23 for 188 yards, 4 TD), Rankin-Bell (6 for 48 yards)

Receiving: SL-Price (8 for 127 yards, TD); SB-Rositano (2 for 46 yards, TD)

-Read more of Dan "First and Goal" Sousa's work at VivaLoudoun.

Ram tough

2009-11-06T21:20:00.000-06:00

Posted: 11/08/2009 01:00:00 AM MST

It's playoff time in Akron:

The Akron Rams took one step closer to their fourth consecutive Class 1A title by routing Denver Lutheran 43-0 on Saturday. The Rams' single-wing attack rushed for 221 yards on 34 carries, led by Jourdan Hottinger (95 yards, two TDs).

In case you missed it:

Fort Collins' Michelle Tharp won the Class 5A all-around gymnastics title Friday night in Thornton. The Lamb- kins senior posted a score of 38.9.

Toughest region:

The Class 2A state volleyball title has had a history of going through Region D. On Friday at Fountain Middle School, Simla (20-4) and defending champion Fowler (25-1) advanced to next weekend's state tournament at the Denver Coliseum.

Jon E. Yunt, The Denver Post

.

Raft River ready to give Prairie a game

2009-11-06T20:58:00.000-06:00

The 11-hour bus ride is the least of the Trojans' concerns.

The Raft River football team opens the Class 1A Division I state playoffs at the Kibbie Dome in Moscow against the highly-touted defending champs from Prairie, which have won their last 21 games - with 11 shutouts - and have outscored opponents 51.7 to 3.7 on average.

But Raft River doesn't plan to travel all that way just to roll over.

"We're going to make the best of it. It's a good experience for us," said Raft River senior Rio Manning. "We have a special opportunity to go up there, have fun with it and kick some butt at the same time."

As underdogs, the Trojans are feeling no pressure, which will allow them to play more relaxed.

"Everybody's saying how they're invincible and how nobody can touch them," said Manning of Prairie. "They are a solid team, but we match up well with them. We're going to go up there, play as good as we can and hopefully come out on top."

If nobody is giving Raft River (7-2) a chance, it's because they don't realize how close the Trojans were to going undefeated this season. In its season-opening loss to Castleford, Raft River lost its starting quarterback Nelson Manning to injury. It was also working out the kinks of a new spread offense, which they have since bagged in large part, going back to their bread-and-butter single wing. Raft River's other loss was to Snake River Conference champ Oakley, a game that the Trojans were just a 2-point conversion away from winning.

"The kids believe they have a chance for some redemption," said Raft River coach Randy Spaeth. "They still have the Castleford and Oakley games in the back of their minds. If they can pull this one off, it erases those losses."

Prairie's offense is athletic, physical and explosive. The key for Raft River will be to sustain drives to keep Prairie's offense off the field, while not getting too conservative.

Concerning the travel, the Trojans are following nearly the same itinerary as their 2004 trip to the Kibbie Dome when they won the state championship over Genesee. The team departed at noon on Thursday, practiced at Bronco Stadium in Boise at 4 p.m. and spent the night in McCall. After a walk-through at McCall-Donnelly High School this morning, they will travel to Moscow for the 8 p.m. (MST) kickoff.

"It's an awesome opportunity. It's going to be a fun game in the Kibbie Dome and we're going to give them a run for their money," said Raft River senior Braden Ottley.

Said Manning: "We know as seniors that if we don't win this one, we're going to be done with football for the rest of our lives, and we're not ready for that yet. We want at least two more games."

========================

Times News

P.O. Box 548,

Twin Falls, ID

83303

========================

’Dogs hope to tame Panthers

2009-11-06T20:53:00.000-06:00

With the season ticking down to the final minute, the Moffat County High School boys varsity football team will need a few breaks to reach the playoffs.

But, before the team can think of advancing, coach Kip Hafey said the Bulldogs need to take care of business starting at 7 p.m. today against Montezuma-Cortez High School.

“We have to win,” he said. “There are three or four teams still around, and if certain things happen we could still be in.”

Last week, Moffat County fell, 31-0, to the visiting Glenwood Springs High School Demons, which dealt the Bulldogs’ playoff hopes a blow.

The Bulldogs’ chance of reaching the next level of play is at 10 percent, Hafey said, but beating the Panthers tonight in Cortez would keep them alive.

Montezuma-Cortez owns a 1-8 record, including a 1-6 mark in Western Slope League play.

This also will be the last regular season game for Moffat County seniors Jeremiah Gordon, Travis Noland, Justin Zufelt, Jordan Wilson, Halen Raymond, Brian Ivy, Todd Stewart, Aaron Nielson, Nathan Tomlin, Jasen Kettle, Matt Linsacum, Scott Mann and Pablo Salcido.

When Montezuma-Cortez has the ball
Against the Bulldogs, the Panthers will go for a spin.

Running out of the spinner series, the Panthers will try to deceive the Bulldogs defense.

The spinner series is a single-wing set in the shotgun formation, in which the quarterback will sometimes spin 360 degrees to fake handoffs.

Not biting will be the Bulldogs’ best defense, coach Lance Scranton said.

“They run a lot of motion, which has the potential for a sweep, trap or QB keep,” he said.

“We need to be disciplined, especially our outside linebackers. They need to stay at home, and not over-penetrate.”

From the spinner series, Montezuma-Cortez quarterback Breen McComb can fake a hand-off, pass the ball or keep it and run.

Nine games into the season, the Panthers are averaging 18 points a game and the Bulldogs are scoring 18.5.

If Moffat County can get a push up-front, then the Panthers’ offense could stumble.

“Our three interior linemen need to be physical,” Scranton said. “If they can do that, it will blow everything up.”

The team also needs to make solid tackles, Scranton said.

When Moffat County has the ball
Hafey said the Bulldogs need to run at the Panthers.

“We need to be really physical,” he said. “Teams that have been physical have had a lot more success against Cortez than the teams that rely on finesse.

“We need to go out and be aggressive.”

To battle the Bulldogs, Montezuma-Cortez will try to slow down a potent running game.

“They will probably have nine or 10 guys in the box,” he said. “They will put five guys on the line. They’re going to stick a lot of guys in the box and try to force us to throw.”

When the middle is clogged, the Bulldogs will attack the outside with players like Kettle.

“When a team puts that many guys in the box, you need to get something on the edge,” Hafey said. “When they try to stop you in the middle, we will run everything from the tackles-out.

“That’s what we have to do to be successful and that’s where we have a chance to out-man them at the point of attack.”

============================
The Craig Daily Press
P.O. Box 5
Craig, CO 81626-0005
=============================

.

Football teams stay on top in divisional play

2009-11-04T20:36:00.000-06:00

By Jason Brisbois/jbrisboi@cnc.com
Wed Nov 04, 2009, 08:32 PM EST

CAPE ANN - Although Paul Ingram was talking about his team’s chances during this week’s matchup against Revere, the Gloucester High football coach may as well have been talking about both of Cape Ann’s football teams when he uttered the following:

“I think, at this point in time, the kids are going to play hard no matter what,” said Ingram after his team thoroughly dominated Lynn English last week by a 48-7 score. “It’s really irrelevant who we play.”

That seems to be the case as well for the Manchester Essex football team, which put together a 33-0 win over Greater Lowell at Bishop Fenwick High School on Friday night. The Hornets pitched their first shut out of the season, showing that the Hornets can play standout defense for an entire game, an issue that coach Mike Athanas was hoping to resolve after high-scoring affairs for the two weeks leading up to the Greater Lowell game.

“We executed very well on both sides of the ball,” said Athanas. “We’ve been trying to do that all year. It was a nice game for the kids, a nice shutout to go into this week.”

The Fishermen were able to do almost everything they wanted, and barely had to throw a pass to do so. In fact, Glouceser attempted one pass – a halfback option – as the offensive line of Gus Margiotta, Jeff Lane, Ryan Fulford, Andrew Mizzoni and Anthony Latassa paved the way for running back Conor Ressel, who set a school record with 257 yards rushing to go along with three touchdowns.

“We never went into the game anticipating not throwing the ball,” said Ingram. “It started out so well, and we blocked so well and ran so well, and we didn’t get penalties that essentially they couldn’t stop us. We just stayed with our game plan.

The defense did its part as well, holding dangerous Lynn English quarterback Tyllor MacDonald to under 160 yards of total offense on the night.

“Offensively, this was our best game blocking, and defensively, except for the first series and one pass play near the first half, our defense played flawlessly,” said Ingram. “He is quick, and we played that [quarterback Chris] Splinter kid from Masco. They’re both quick, so we know from past experience that we have to get used to the speed of the game and the speed of the player. The kids adjusted when they found out he is really quick, that you’ve got to take better angles and put a lot of pressure on him.”

Manchester Essex’s defensive performance helped the Hornets jump out to an 18-0 lead at the half. Brian Ciccone provided much of the scoring, punching in two touchdowns on the ground and one in the air, with Jack Bishop and Cooper Riehl also reaching the end zone. After the win, Athanas was asked if his team’s defense had turned the corner.

“It looked like it has, but we’ll find out this week,” said the Manchester Essex coach. “We have a tough game coming up, and we can only go off what we did last week. Hopefully, we can carry that over and it gives us some momentum for this week.”

This week, the Hornets (7-1) will host 8-0 Whittier Tech at Ed Field Field on Saturday at 3:30 p.m., while the Fishermen will take their 8-0 record up against Northeastern Conference Large foe Revere (7 p.m., Newell Stadium) on Friday night.

Whittier Tech is a formidable foe, a Commonwealth Conference Large very much in the same vein as Manchester Essex.

“They pose a good challenge,” said Athanas. “They’re 8-0, and they’ve pretty much steamrolled everyone they’ve played so far this year. I don’t think anyone has given them a game yet.”

Whittier runs the single wing, and is quite adept at passing the ball and running the ball. The single wing presents an extra challenge in the amount of time misdirection is used on the field to confuse the defense.

“You can’t get pushed around by them,” said Athanas. “You’ve got to hold your ground and make them bounce it outside. They want to take the ball and run it down your throat, and you’ve got to play disciplined defense, read what you’re supposed to do and make a play.”

Gloucester, meanwhile, will face a Revere squad that has struggled this season. But that doesn’t mean the Fishermen will underestimate their opponents this weekend.

“I was thinking the other day about when we went down to Salem a few years ago and it was supposed to be a lopsided mismatch, and we got out of there with a 7-0 win,” said Ingram. “It was one of those days where nothing went right for us. They don’t have the greatest record, but we respect everybody.”

The Fishermen may have to adjust to Revere’s ability to switch on the fly, whether it’s offense or defense.

‘They try to play a mixture of defenses, so I’m not sure what we’ll see,” said Ingram. “I hate going into a game like that, to have to adjust during the game. But their offense has multiple looks, too. Their number seven is a really good running back, a tall, lanky kid, and they try to get him the ball a lot. We’ll hope to stop him and let somebody else beat us.”

=============================
72 Cherry Hill Drive
Beverly, Massachusetts 01915
=============================

Victory worth the wait for Winston Academy's Moffitt

2009-11-02T20:31:00.000-06:00

WEST POINT — It was worth the wait for Winston Academy football team and Rob Moffitt.

Poor weather postponed the Patriots’ matchup against Oak Hill Academy from Friday night to Saturday afternoon.

When the game was finally played, Moffitt had to wait nearly three quarters before he touched the football.

But Winston Academy coach Wyatt Rogers decided to give Moffitt a carry with 26.9 seconds remaining in the third quarter.

The move decided to be a smart one.

Moffitt took a direct snap out of the Wildcat formation and scored on a 3-yard run that helped Winston Academy clinch a 15-3 victory and the Mississippi Association of Independent Schools AA, District 2 championship.

Moffitt was glad to give his team a lift and an insurance touchdown.

“It works well when we block it,” Moffitt said. “When (Rogers) calls that play, you’ve just got to be ready to get it done. It gave the defense momentum we could go out, get another stop, and gave the offense more points on the board.”

Rogers runs the single-wing package with Moffitt in short-yardage situations.

“I think a lot of people are going back to that,” Rogers said. “Our’s is more of a true single-wing. Our starting quarterback was running the ball really well (prior to Moffitt’s touchdown).”

After an interception by Cameron Paschal put Winston Academy (6-4, 3-0 district) in business at the Raiders’ 34-yard line, quarterback Tyler Sullivan rushed four times in a row for 22 yards to set up Moffitt’s touchdown.

Sullivan doesn’t consider himself fleet of foot, so he knew bringing in Moffitt would provide a nice change of pace after he softened up the defense.

“I don’t have any moves and I’m not fast,” Sullivan said. “In (muddy) conditions like this, that’s what we turned to and it was working. It’s hard to stop us when we go to the power offense.”

Oak Hill coach Leroy Gregg said the conditions caused his defense to become tired late in the third quarter and the Patriots snuck Moffitt into the game at a good time.

“They are good at that and we’ve seen it on film,” Gregg said. “We were worried about that in the game, but our defense became tired and our offense didn’t keep them off the field enough.”

Winston Academy scored on the second play from scrimmage on Zach Taylor’s 52-yard run. Taylor rushed for 71 yards on 15 carries.

The Raiders got on the scoreboard with a 26-yard field goal from Reid Posey with 7 minutes, 21 seconds left in the second quarter, but they didn’t score again.

Rogers was proud of the defensive effort, but hopes the Patriots get back to running and throwing effectively on offense when they play host the first round of the playoffs.

“It meant a lot for our guys to get home-field advantage in the playoffs after some earlier losses we had,” Rogers said.

Oak Hill Academy (3-8, 2-1) will travel to the Lamar School for playoff action, which Gregg calls “a big step for our program.”

=========================

The Starkville Dispatch

101 S. Lafayette St., Ste 16

Starkville, MS 39759

=========================

So, you think you know the wildcat?

2009-11-02T20:24:00.000-06:00

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Rex Ryan is not one to mince his words, so the Jets' tough-talking coach proudly admits he's made today's game against the Dolphins "personal."

Ryan is seeking revenge against the wildcat, which embarrassed him and his proud defense earlier this month in a 31-27 loss that was sealed with six seconds remaining on Ronnie Brown's 2-yard run out of the formation.

After the defeat, the Jets were stewing so much that linebacker Calvin Pace took offense to getting beat by what his team labels "a gimmick" offense.

But in reality, the wildcat isn't fueled by trickery. At its core, the run-oriented plays the Dolphins have used almost 10 times per game this season are successful because there's usually one more blocker close to the line of scrimmage than the opposition has defending.

On top of that, the play flows quickly because the triggerman is a running back receiving a direct snap.

"It's just a power formation up front that comes down to execution," said Brown, who usually serves as the wildcat's triggerman. "Everybody just has to beat their man for it to be successful."

Evolution

The wildcat is homage to the old school single-wing offense, which was created by Glenn "Pop" Warner in the early 1900s and later became the inspiration for the modern-day "shotgun" or "spread" formation.

"It's a throwback," said legendary Dolphins coach Don Shula, who served as the triggerman for the single-wing offense run by his Harvey High School team back in era when players wore leather helmets. "What goes around comes around. There really isn't anything new in football."

The Dolphins started using the formation in Week 3 of the 2008 season because they needed a strategy that put Brown and Ricky Williams, the team's two Pro Bowl tailbacks, on the field at the same time.

"That's smart football," said offensive coordinator Dan Henning, "get your best players on the field."

Last year, the Dolphins ran an unbalanced line, shifting both tackles to one side, and usually kept the quarterback on the field. This year the wildcat has evolved to a conventionally balanced line that often includes two tight ends and fullback Lousaka Polite primarily serving as blockers.

Sometimes the quarterback is included, sometimes he's not, replaced by a receiver or running back.

The biggest benefit of the wildcat? It eats up each opponent's weekly preparation time because defending it requires hours of film study and practice time.

"When you think about Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams, and the ability of those two backs, defenses have to work hard to prepare for them," Shula said. "They have [the wildcat] and their regular offense. They've got a lot of different ways to attack a defense."

End around

Here's the biggest misconception about the wildcat.

Many think the actual wildcat member of the scheme is the tailback receiving the direct snap, which is usually Brown.

Actually, the player running the end around, crossing the triggerman at the time of the snap to create an element of misdirection, is the wildcat.

The intent of the end-around fake, which is occasionally handed off, is to keep the defense somewhat honest, stretching the edges of their coverage, which spaces out the field. Putting a man in motion also helps the offense identify if the defense is in zone or man coverage. Ryan said it's the timing of the end around that makes the play so challenging to stop.

"He is at full speed, so he a lot of times will outrun [the defense]. You may have a [defensive] end that's wide and all that, but he immediately breaks containment because he's moving full speed," Ryan said. "Then, when he gets into the secondary, you may have a one-on-one matchup, but it's not a good one for you because you've got a smaller player trying to tackle Ricky Williams coming full speed around the corner. It's not a pleasant sight."

Zone runs

It's hard to ignore a running play that averages 6 yards. That's why the Dolphins' wildcat caught fire around the NFL last season, and has remained hot. This season nearly a dozen teams run their version.

No matter how teams decide to defend it, wildcat runs -- big and small -- eat up time of possession, convert first downs, and score in the red zone.

"We've seen defenses do everything against it," Dolphins coach Tony Sparano said. "We have seen pressure, we have seen people making a conscience effort to set the edges of the defense, and we have seen people stack the box. We have seen people leaving a safety in the middle of the field, thinking that's the answer is to us not throwing the football. And we've seen even fronts, odd fronts, over-shifted fronts -- everything."

The Saints limited the scheme's effectiveness last Sunday, holding the Dolphins to 30 rushing yards on 13 wildcat plays by blitzing the cornerbacks in the second half. Expect others to try that approach, and the Dolphins to have a counterpunch for it.

Wild throw

Before every wildcat play, Brown is responsible for scanning the defense and making sure he executes the optimal play.

Sometimes, like on the opening series of the first Jets game, the proper read calls for Brown, a lefty, to throw the ball.

Throwing out of the wildcat is a way of keeping defenses honest. When the Dolphins keep the quarterback on the field, they have the option of executing a double pass, as long as Brown's throw to the quarterback is a lateral. The Dolphins have scored two touchdowns in the seven throws made out of the wildcat since 2008.

The team practices passing out of the wildcat each week, and there have been instances when Brown participates in throwing drills with the quarterbacks.

"I'm a running back, so I haven't thrown many passes. I just try to take advantage of opportunities," said Brown, who has completed 2 of 6 for 40 yards and a touchdown. "I try not to think about it. If I see a guy open, I try to get him the ball."

===============
Cleveland Live
===============

.

Windber mauls Meyersdale

2009-11-01T19:56:00.001-06:00

The Tribune-Democrat

MEYERSDALE — Windber’s Jarid Cover ran for 159 yards and three touchdowns and Eric Soler returned a kickoff for a touchdown as the Ramblers held off Meyersdale, 46-34, in a wild WestPAC game on Friday night.

“I’m very happy about the win as far as the seniors are concerned,” Windber coach Phil DeMarco said. “They ended the season at 7-2, and we got the No. 2 seed for the playoffs. That’s a very good thing.

“But, I’m not happy about our defense. They didn’t play very well. We had some timely defensive plays. We recovered a fumble in our own end zone to stop one of their scoring drives. That was real big. But, overall, it was a win and I guess that’s what it was all about.”

Ben Lohr’s 1-yard touchdown run had pulled the Red Raiders (5-4) to within two scores at 34-20. They were about to close the gap even more but Meyersdale fumbled at the 1-yard line and Windber recovered in the end zone.

The Ramblers went 80 yards for a touchdown on the next possession with Cover capping off the drive with a 4-yard run.

From Meyersdale coach Chris Schrock’s vantage point, the fumble was the turning point in the game.

“I don’t want to say the fumble broke our back,” Schrock said. “It was the ensuing Windber score that did us in. That was the difference-maker. We were still playing.”

Meyersdale struck first in the game as quarterback Matt Bittner scored on a 1-yard sneak. Windber answered with a pair of second-quarter touchdown runs by Brandon Ulasky.

Ulasky, who kicked four extra points on the night, scored from 1 and 4 yards out for a 14-7 lead.

Meyersdale closed the deficit as Ian Edwards scored from 3 yards out. The kick failed, leaving the Red Raiders trailing by a point.

Windber answered, as Cover scored just before the end of the half for a 21-13 lead.

Soler broke it open with his 90-yard kick return.

“It was huge, but our kids hung in there,” Schrock said of the return for a touchdown. “They fought.”

DeMarco agreed.

“The 46-34 final score speaks for itself,” he said. “Meyersdale played with a lot of heart.”

Meyersdale’s Ben Lohr, who went over the 1,000-yard mark for the season with a 169-yard effort on Friday, scored from a yard out to get Red Raiders within striking distance.

Kyle Smith added a 4-yard scoring run for Windber while Edwards had a 1-yard touchdown for Meyersdale.

Bittner, who completed 10 of 17 passes for 148 yards, threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to Brandon Miller. Detrick Peterman had five catches for 112 yards.

Both teams finished with 18 first downs.

“We had 229 yards rushing, 148 passing,” Schrock said. “We outgained them in yardage. Our offense did well and our defense ... We just weren’t able to get in their way. Windber’s single wing was just too much for us.”

=========================
The Tribune-Democrat
425 Locust StPO Box
340Johnstown PA
15907-0340
=========================

.

Lakes flood small-school honors list

2009-10-31T19:45:00.003-05:00

By Brandon Veale - DMG Sports Editor

ESCANABA - The Great Western Conference was as great as its name implies this season, and as a reward, GWC players were well-represented in the All-U.P. Football Teams for 2009.

The local GWC honorees, selected at the U.P. Sportswriters and Sportscasters Meeting Thursday, include a school-record tying six Lake Linden-Hubbell Lakes, including Dream Team linebacker and U.P. Class D Defensive Player of the Year Brandon Sundblad (see related story).

Three Ontonagon Gladiators and a Baraga Viking also made the Class D unit.

Sundblad was one of two GWC players on the Dream Team, alongside defensive tackle Tim Martin of Forest Park.

The senior led a bumper crop from LL-H, the only team in the Upper Peninsula to go undefeated this season. The previous record was six Lakes in 1991 and 1992, with one of the 1991 selections being current LL-H coach Andy Crouch (at defensive back).

LL-H dominated defensively, allowing a U.P. best 34 points in eight games, including five shutouts. In recognition of that prowess, three Lakes linebackers were selected for the first time in school history. In addition to Sundblad, the panel selected junior linebackers Jordan Hahka (5-foot-6, 165 pounds) and Dano Goldsworthy (5-10, 175), a combination that had 202 tackles in the Lakes' eight games.

Crouch called Hahka "incredibly dedicated," and his work paid off. He recorded 87 tackles, with great performances in the Lakes' two biggest regular season games: 13 vs. Forest Park and 12 at home against Hurley, Wis. Hahka earned honorable mention at the position as a sophomore.

Goldsworthy had 52 tackles, and Crouch called him "an unbelievable hitter - ask our opponents."

In addition to the linebacking corps, junior defensive back Brett Gervais earned special mention.

On the other side of the ball, the Lakes had plenty of holes through which to run for big gains. Key to that effort were a pair of All-U.P. linemen, senior center Jake Killian and junior guard Stefan Liimatainen.

Both were picked for the All-Great Western Conference team, with Killian netting lineman of the year honors.

LL-H's strong line gave Travis Ambuehl a chance to shine at end, and the senior receiver took it, earning All-U.P. honors. Ambuehl, named the GWC's top receiver, had 19 catches for 389 yards and eight touchdowns on a team that threw only 42 passes all season. His hands were key in some of the Lakes' biggest wins, including a game-winning touchdown catch against Hurley and two TD catches against Forest Park.

Ontonagon travels to meet the Lakes today at Warner Field in a Division 8 pre-district game, and some of the Gladiators that were instrumental in the school's first playoff berth since 1996 were singled out for praise.

Senior running back Mike Schmaus racked up 1,182 yards rushing and 13 touchdowns on 43 carries. In coach Dave Linczeski's single-wing offense, Schmaus was a weapon with his arm as well, throwing for 378 yards and two scores.

Winner of multiple sprints at the Division 3 U.P. Track and Field Finals in May, Schmaus's blazing speed was deadly to any team that let him get the corner.

One of Schmaus's passing targets was Cameron Menigoz, who earned All-U.P. honors with 11 catches for 204 yards, but most importantly, a season full of key blocks to spring Schmaus and the rest of the Gladiator backfield.

Ontonagon's Tyler Roberts was the only sophomore All-U.P. selection this season, recording a team-leading 63 tackles at linebacker.

Baraga is represented by senior defensive lineman Matt Velmer. The two-year team captain recorded 50 tackles (10 solo), four sacks, four forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries.

===============================
The Daily Mining Gazette

P.O. Box 368, Houghton, MI 49931

===============================

Croze, Linczeski top coaches

2009-10-31T19:36:00.000-05:00

ESCANABA - Three special seasons netted a slew of special awards from the U.P. Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association at its annual meeting Thursday.

Calumet and Lake Linden-Hubbell capped sterling seasons with Team of the Year honors in Class C and D, respectively.

In Coach of the Year balloting, UPSSA voters honored Calumet's John Croze for leading an established program to new heights, while Ontonagon's Dave Linczeski earned recognition for turning a proud program in the winning direction again.

And in player awards, a tenacious defender on a dominant team, Brandon Sundblad of LL-H, earned Class D Defensive Player of the Year selection.

Calumet's 8-1 regular season was among the best in school history and its best record since 1997. The Copper Kings held complete control of the WestPAC this year, with their closest game being a 45-20 win at Stephenson in Week 1. Against local opponents, Calumet was completely dominant, outscoring the other 3 local WestPAC teams 166-6.

Croze, an All-U.P. selection for Ishpeming at end in 1985, earned Coach of the Year for the first time in his career. The award last crossed the Portage Lake Lift Bridge in 1996, when Croze's predecessor, Scott Boddy, was picked.

Croze has a 60-38 record in 10 seasons as the Copper Kings head coach, which includes playoff appearances in the last six consecutive seasons.

The Gladiators improved from 1-8 in 2008 to 6-3 this year after Linczeski took over and installed a single-wing offense like the one he played at Menominee High School. The five-game improvement was the most in the U.P. this season and was enough for the school's first playoff berth since 1996.

Sundblad led an elite LL-H defense that allowed only 34 points in eight games, shut out five opponents and did not allow any team more than 14 points.

He recorded 67 tackles this season and returned an interception for a touchdown. A starter for three-and-a-half years, he was named Great Western Conference Defensive Player of the Year.

The 5-foot-9, 185-pound senior joins Michael Goldsworthy (2007) and Tom Miller (1998) as recent selections for the award from Lake Linden.

Sundblad, an honorable mention selection in 2008, is the fourth Lake to make the Dream Team in the last decade, including Goldsworthy (2007), Casey DeMars (2004-05) and Corey Steinhoff (2004) and is the fourth Dream Team linebacker in school history.

All four Player of the Year awards were unanimously picked for the first time in recent memory.

The Class A-B-C Offensive Player of the Year was Mitch VanEffen of Escanaba, a dynamic athlete who holds school records for career receiving TDs, career TDs, receiving yards in a season, career total yards and TD catches in a season. The Class D Offensive Player of the Year award went to two-time Dream Team running back Mike Miller of North Dickinson.

The Class A-B-C Defensive Player of the Year went to Winston Larson of Kingsford, the heart of one of the U.P.'s best defenses, which has not allowed double digits since Week 3. The Flivvers also earned Team of the Year honors in Class A-B.

================================

The Daily Mining Gazette

P.O. Box 368, Houghton, MI 49931

===============================

Perfect Panthers on the right path

2009-10-30T19:30:00.000-05:00

By Ryan Boldrey
Published: 10.29.09
The Woodland Park Panthers sixth grade lightweight football team just concluded its season with a perfect 7-0 record.

According to the coaching staff of Brent Garretson, Shawn Manzo, Tom Ereon and Bill Zuspan, it’s the first time in memory that a Woodland Park team at this age group has gone unbeaten.

Three years ago there was a team that lost on the last play of the last game of the season, finishing at 6-1, said Zuspan.

This year the squad wasn’t even close to losing the final contest as they mercied their opponent 45-0, having the game called early for the third consecutive week due to holding such a lopsided lead.

“I think the kids had a very, very positive season and experience for the whole season,” Zuspan said. “Of course, every kid likes to win, but at this age, we are just trying to help them to improve.”

And when Garretson— a former coach at Sierra High School whose grandson Jymon is on the team— first started coaching the offense for this group last year they had a 1-2 record in their fifth grade league.

The team hasn’t lost since; finishing last year at 5-2 and going perfect this season.

Yet as Zuspan said, so much at this age group is just about improving.

“We spend an inordinate amount of time on technique and we do very little hitting [in practice],” Garretson said. “We do our hitting early in the year. I am a firm believer in not hitting much because then they get beat up and sore and aren’t ready to hit in games. Plus we are more concerned with injuries.”

Part of the reason the coaches spend so much time on technique too is because they want to see the boys be successful when they get to the high school level, and the best way for that to happen, according to both Zuspan and Garretson, is to learn the fundamentals and techniques at an early age.

“They are a smart group of kids, they learn quick and they execute,” Garretson said. “They are being taught what the high schools teams are being taught. It’s a little above what most kids their age are learning.”

The team ran a 5-3-3 defense with blitzing linebackers and stunting lineman and on offense the Panthers ran both the single wing and I formation.

“They had a lot to remember,” Garretson said. “They ran a lot of plays, and, we threw the ball a lot. We primarily ran it, but we also threw it. I’ve seen a lot of ninth grade teams that couldn’t run as many plays as they did.”

That was also likely part of the reason the team was blowing out its fellow sixth grade competition from around Colorado Springs from start to finish this season.

The help he had coaching was another main reason for the Panthers’ success according to Garretson, as were the parents.

“Shawn Manzo did a terrific job and just works great with the kids, and Bill helped out a lot with the line, the line drills and teaching the kids how to punch through the defense,” he said, adding that the parents were extremely supportive and understanding as well.

“Kasha Cox was outstanding as the team mother,” he added. “She deserves a lot of credit. She even made certificates for the boys at the end of the season and got little trophies for them.”

On the field, though, Garretson said he couldn’t ask for anything more and expects a lot from this group in the future as long as they stick together, and pick up the newcomers to their level in coming years.

“We had an outstanding quarterback [Matt Cox] that really came in at the end of the year, and he had to learn things that were a little above his age,” Garretson said. “Dominik Cunico and Eric Gonzalez both really ran the ball well, and the whole team just improved and got better as the season went along... Great kids and great parents that was the key.”

Panther victories

Week 1 Pinon Ravens 42-6

Week 2 Rudy Browns 30-6

Week 3 Rampart Chargers 31-6

Week 4 Pinon Panthers 32-6

Week 5 Widefield Raiders 34-6

Week 6 Broadmoor ‘Skins 39-0

Week 7 Police Athletics 45-0

===================================
Pikes Peak Courier View and Teller County Extra
1200 E. Highway 24
Woodland Park, CO 80863]
===================================

.

The Wildcat is more about a numbers game than trickery

2009-10-29T19:27:00.000-05:00

It replaces the quarterback with an extra blocker

Rex Ryan is not one to mince his words, so the Jets' tough-talking coach proudly admits he's made Sunday's game against the Dolphins "personal."

Ryan is seeking revenge against the Wildcat, which embarrassed him and his proud defense earlier this month in a 31-27 loss that was sealed with six seconds remaining on Ronnie Brown's 2-yard run out of the formation.

After the defeat, the Jets were stewing so much that linebacker Calvin Pace took offense to getting beat by what his team labels "a gimmick" offense.

But in reality, the Wildcat isn't fueled by trickery. At its core, the run-oriented plays the Dolphins have used almost 10 times per game this season are successful because there's usually one more blocker close to the line of scrimmage than the opposition has defending.

On top of that, the play flows quickly because the triggerman is a running back receiving a direct snap.

"It's just a power formation up front that comes down to execution," said Brown, who usually serves as the Wildcat's triggerman. "Everybody just has to beat their man for it to be successful." » Page 4

Sun Sentinel writer Omar Kelly analyzes the trendy Wildcat scheme that is averaging 5.9 yards per play for the Dolphins and dissects its bread-and-butter elements to explain why it's here to stay.

Evolution

The Wildcat is homage to the old school single-wing offense, which was created by Glenn "Pop" Warner in the early 1900s and later became the inspiration for the modern-day "Shotgun" or "Spread" formation.

"It's a throw-back," said legendary Dolphins coach Don Shula, who served as the triggerman for the single-wing offense run by his high school team back in era when players wore leather helmets. "What goes around comes around. There really isn't anything new in football."

The Dolphins started using the formation in Week 3 of the 2008 season because they needed a strategy that put Brown and Ricky Williams, the team's two Pro Bowl tailbacks, on the field at the same time.

"That's smart football," said offensive coordinator Dan Henning. "Get your best players on the field."

Last year, the Dolphins ran an unbalanced line, shifting both tackles to one side, and usually kept the quarterback on the field. This year the Wildcat has evolved to a conventionally balanced line that often includes two tight ends and fullback Lousaka Polite primarily serving as blockers.

Sometimes the quarterback is included, sometimes he's not, replaced by a receiver or running back.

The biggest benefit of the Wildcat? It eats up each opponent's weekly preparation time because defending it requires hours of film study and practice time.

"When you think about Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams, and the ability of those two backs, defenses have to work hard to prepare for them," Shula said. "They have [the Wildcat] and their regular offense. They've got a lot of different ways to attack a defense."

Wild throw
Before every Wildcat play, Brown is responsible for scanning the defense and making sure he executes the optimal play.

Sometimes, like on the opening series of the first Jets game, the proper read calls for Brown, a lefty, to throw the ball.

Throwing out of the Wildcat is a way of keeping defenses honest. When the Dolphins keep the quarterback on the field, they have the option of executing a double pass, as long as Brown's throw to the quarterback is a lateral. The Dolphins have scored two touchdowns in the seven throws made out of the Wildcat since 2008.

The team practices passing out of the Wildcat each week, and there have been instances when Brown participates in throwing drills with the quarterbacks.

"I'm a running back, so I haven't thrown many passes. I just try to take advantage of opportunities," said Brown, who has completed 2 of 6 for 40 yards and a touchdown. "I try not to think about it. If I see a guy open, I try to get him the ball."

End around
Here's the biggest misconception about the Wildcat.

Many think the actual Wildcat member of the scheme is the tailback receiving the direct snap, which is usually Brown.

Actually, the player running the end around, crossing the triggerman at the time of the snap to create an element of misdirection, is the Wildcat.

The intent of the end-around fake, which is occasionally handed off, is to keep the defense somewhat honest, stretching the edges of their coverage, which spaces out the field. Putting a man in motion also helps the offense identify if the defense is in zone or man coverage. Ryan said it's the timing of the end around that makes the play so challenging to stop.

"He is at full speed, so he a lot of times will out-run [the defense]. You may have a [defensive] end that's wide and all that, but he immediately breaks containment because he's moving full speed," Ryan said. "Then, when he gets into the secondary, you may have a one-on-one matchup, but it's not a good one for you because you've got a smaller player trying to tackle Ricky Williams coming full speed around the corner. It's not a pleasant sight."

Zone runs
It's hard to ignore a running play that averages 6 yards. That's why the Wildcat caught fire around the NFL last season, and has remained hot. This season nearly a dozen teams run their version.

No matter how teams decide to defend it, Wildcat runs — big and small — eat up time of possession, convert first downs, and score in the red zone.

"We've seen defenses do everything against it," Dolphins coach Tony Sparano said. "We have seen pressure, we have seen people making a conscience effort to set the edges of the defense, and we have seen people stack the box. We have seen people leaving a safety in the middle of the field, thinking that's the answer is to us not throwing the football. And we've seen even fronts, odd fronts, over-shifted fronts — everything."

The Saints limited the scheme's effectiveness last Sunday, holding the Dolphins to 30 rushing yards on 13 Wildcat plays by blitzing the cornerbacks in the second half. Expect others to try that approach, and the Dolphins to have a counterpunch for it.

Omar Kelly can be reached at okelly@SunSentinel.com and read regularly on the Dolphins blog at SunSentinel.com/dolphins

RB Ronnie Brown (23) is the triggerman of the Wildcat scheme. RB Ricky Williams (34) crosses Brown at the time of the snap to create an element of misdirection, making him the Wildcat. LG Justin Smiley (65) pulls right to help lead the blocking.

RG Donald Thomas (66) pulls to lead the blocking when Brown runs left. The Wildcat gives the Dolphins a surplus of blockers close to the line of scrimmage, often leaving Brown with a one-on-one matchup with a DB for additional yardage.

When Brown carries the ball in the Wildcat, the play typically goes between the tackles to the left or right. Brown fakes the handoff to Williams to add to the misdirection. When the play goes right, Smiley pulls to lead the blocking for Brown.

END AROUND
Run right
RUN LEFT

===========================
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
===========================

.

Chuck Carree - High school offenses get more variety over years

2009-10-29T19:13:00.003-05:00

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

=========================
StarNews
P.O. Box 840
Wilmington, NC 28402
========================

.

Whittier QB: 'We're flying high; there's more to come

2009-10-29T19:01:00.001-05:00

For the first time this season, Whittier seemed a little deflated — but not for long.

Offensive lineman Jordan Britton admitted that his team was stunned by a first-half comeback by Saturday's challenger, Shawsheen.

"It was tough," said Britton. "We knew we had to shake it off somehow and make up for the mistakes that we made."

After jumping out to a quick 14-point lead, the Wildcats saw the advantage disappear when Shawsheen scored its second touchdown with 41 seconds left in the half.

But resilient Whittier needed only 31 seconds to march down the field and retake command with a score as time expired, and went on to dominate the second half on its way to a 38-14 victory yesterday afternoon.

"We were down when they tied the game up," said Wildcats coach Kevin Bradley. "To drive it the length of the field with just a picture-perfect two-minute drill was huge. We work on the two-minute drill all the time, but we never work on a 31-second drill. Everything clicked and that was the momentum shift for the game."

Whittier (7-0) seemed to be in full control with a 14-0 lead. But Shawsheen (2-5) rallied back to tie the score with a score on offense and defense. At the same time, the Rams held the Wildcats to three straight three-and-outs.

Following the Rams' second score, however, Whittier answered.

After running the single-wing for much of the first half, the Wildcats went to the air and Dillon Ryan hit on all four of his passes, capping the drive off by rolling to the right and lobbing a pass left to a wide-open Ralph Hancock.

"After the first pass I had a good feeling," said Ryan, who had thrown an interception that was retuned for a touchdown earlier in the quarter.

"I started hitting receivers and we started moving the ball down the field. I knew we could do it. When we scored the touchdown it was amazing."

Following that score, it was all Whittier in the second half. The Wildcats rolled to 173 yards rushing in the final two quarters, compared to 79 in the first half.

The defense was just as dominant, allowing only 55 total yards in the second half, 33 of which on one long run against the Whittier backups. Cory Foss, who rushed for a whopping 394 yards against North Shore, was limited to 54 yards on 14 carries, and Hancock picked off a pass.

"Our defense was incredible," said Britton. "Nate Allen, Donny (Leighton) and the guys. They just make plays."

Nick Ferreira rushed for a game-high 126 yards on only 14 carries.

Ryan, who entered the day leading the area in touchdown passes (15), was 12 of 20 for 124 yards and three TDs.

"We're flying high right now," said Ryan. "And there is more to come."

On Saturday, Whittier will take on Chelsea, one of more than a dozen undefeated teams remaining. The game is at home and begins at 10:30 a.m.

Whittier 38, Shawsheen 14

Whittier (7-0):8’Ç14’Ç16’Ç0 — 38

Shawsheen (2-5):0’Ç14’Ç’Ç0’Ç0 — 14

First Quarter

W — Ralph Hancock 4 pass from Dillon Ryan (Paul Buccos run), 7:28

Second Quarter

W — Kobie Green-Jackson 31 pass from Ryan (rush failed), 8:32

S — Derek Steen 10 interception return (Nick Danas kick), 3:47

S — Cory Foss 1 run (Danas kick), 0:41

W — Hancock 5 pass from Ryan (Nick Ferreira rush), 0:00

Third Quarter

W — Ferreira 41 run (Ryan rush), 7:12

W — Nate Allen 14 run (Don Leighton rush), 3:04

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

RUSHING: Whittier (43-257) — Nick Ferreira 14-126, Mark Asemota 7-36, Paul Buccos 5-39, Nate Allen 4-30, Don Leighton 9-28, Jack Cressy 1-6, Andy Jacques 1-(-2), Dillon Ryan 2-(-4); Shawsheen (23-58) — Cory Foss 14-54

PASSING: Whittier — Ryan 12-20-1, 124; Shawsheen — Kevin White 2-11-1, 67

RECEIVING: Whittier — Steve Surette 6-47, Ralph Hancock 3-36, Kobie Green-Jackson 1-31, Ferreira 1-9, Jay Desjardins 1-1; Shawsheen — Robert Greenwood 2-67

15 unbeatens left

Whittier (7-0) is one of 15 unbeaten teams left in Eastern Mass. The Cats will host fellow unbeaten Chelsea (6-0) Saturday at 10:30 a.m.

The other unbeatens are Abington, Bridgewater-Raynham, Cohasset, Falmouth, Franklin, Gloucester, Holliston, Natick, Needham, Reading, Walpole, Westwood and Xaverian.

====================
Haverhill Gazette
P.O. Box 991
Haverhill, MA
01831-2499
====================

.

Triple threat

2009-10-29T06:10:00.001-05:00

Record-breaking QB Ryan as comfortable blocking as he is passing and running
Off Tackle
David Willis

HAVERHILL — While Whittier offensive lineman Chris Affannato isn't ready to give his quarterback an honorary jersey with number in the 70s quite yet, he had to credit Dillon Ryan for his play in the trenches.

"Blocking's a big part of Dillon's job," said Affannato with a smile. "We haven't worked with him too much, but he seems to do it well enough to get us some yards. The more blockers we have the better."

This season, Ryan has emerged from Whittier's run-heavy offense to lead the area in touchdown passes (18, tied for second in Eastern Mass.). It's the most for a Wildcat QB since The Eagle-Tribune began keeping complete records in 1984.

Whittier (7-0) now looks to push towards a Commonwealth Conference large title as it faces undefeated CAC Small rival Chelsea (6-0) and powerhouse Manchester Essex (6-1, 2-0 CAC large) the next two weeks.

But, while most quarterbacks drift far away from the action on running plays, Ryan's helmet is substantially dinged up from plowing into defenders.

With Whittier frequently employing an old-fashion single-wing attack, in which the ball is often snapped to other backs, Ryan is called on nearly as much as a fullback as he is as a QB.

"Last week at Shawsheen I made a big block that cleared up a whole for a big run for Nick Ferreira," said Ryan, now in his third year as the starting QB. "I take a beating, but it's worth it if we win."

A quarterback since he began in youth football, Ryan never ran away from contact in his early years. But blocking has not come easily.

"I played in the Haverhill junior league and it was all about hitting," said Ryan, hardly a waif at 6-foot-2, 195 pounds. "But I've had to work a lot on the footwork of blocking and finding the right guy to hit. It's a challenge."

The signal-caller's blocking duties have only increased as the Wildcats have shifted from a more traditional attack (similar to a straight-T), where he was first asked to pitch the ball, to the 1940s-era single-wing on about half their snaps.

"It is what is expected of me," he said. "The last two years I would go into the hole and go hit someone. But I am blocking a lot more this year. I kind of like blocking. I like the contact. I've even asked the coaches to put me in on defense a little, but they don't like that very much."

Behind the blocking of Ryan and the offensive line, Whittier has one of the most potent rushing attacks in the area, averaging 194.6 yards a game.

Ryan's versatility as both a blocker and runner (17 carries, 83 yards) have been key.

"Dillon does it all," said Wildcats coach Kevin Bradley. "He's a running back, quarterback, we have plays to throw to him, and he's a blocking back. He even runs the scout offense during practice. There's never a down moment for him. He'll be carrying the ball a lot more with the big games on the way."

When the ball is snapped into Ryan's hands in the traditional offense, he has been making almost every play.

"It's been a big change from my sophomore and junior years," said Ryan. "The coaches trust me with the ball and to air it out. A lot of the guys have progressed, and coach told me this offseason we'd be throwing more, and I was all for it."

Ryan showed potential as a passer right away as a sophomore, totaling 700 yards (on 43 of 96 throwing) and six touchdowns. He followed that up a year ago with 919 yards (59 of 131) and 10 TDs. But it was in Week 2 this season, a 30-6 win over Ashland, that it came together.

"In the Ashland game I threw for (112) yards and a score," he said. "Everything just started to click. I just thought, 'Alright, we can catch the ball a little.'"

He ranks fourth in the area with 899 passing yards on 53-of-85 passing for 899 yards. \He has also thrown just four interceptions.

Also a starter in baseball (.404 average, 74 strikeouts as a pitcher) and basketball, Ryan is looking to play baseball and/or football in college.

Family ties

The Ryan name is well know around football circles in Haverhill. Dillon Ryan said his grandfather, Paul Ryan, was the head coach of the Haverhill High squad that was 7-0-1 and won the Eastern Massachusetts Class A championship in 1955.

Dillon's father also spent two years as a starting quarterback for Whittier — also wearing No. 10 — and Dillon's uncle, also Paul, was a quarterback at the University of Rhode Island, lettering from 1972-74.

The week ahead

The battle of undefeateds between Whittier and Chelsea on Saturday isn't the only big game on the docket. On Friday, Central Catholic looks to strengthen its hold on the Merrimack Valley Conference large against Chelmsford.

One town over, in the Cape Ann League large, North Andover attempts to rebound by hosting Triton. Both are 5-1, but 0-1 in the CAL large.

Rifle-armed Ryan

With as many as six games left (if Whittier makes the EMass Division 4 Super Bowl) he could destroy the modern area single-season record (through the 1984 season).

Year%Name%School%TD passes

1999%Marc Hordon%Phillips%22

2008%John Hennessy%Andover%20

2007%Mike Pierce%Andover%20

2009%Dillon Ryan%Whittier%18

2004%Graeme Clohosey%Pinkerton%18

1986%Pete Chulack%Pinkerton%18

============================
Eagle Tribune Publishing Company
100 Turnpike Street
North Andover, MA
01845
============================

.

Holley defeats Marcus Whitman 20-14

2009-10-25T21:37:00.003-05:00

Advances to play Attica in semis
By Sara Dresser sdresser@batavianews.com
Published:
Saturday, October 24, 2009 6:35 PM EDT

HOLLEY — The Holley football team won their first ever sectional game in the program’s history, defeating visiting Marcus Whitman 20-14 Saturday afternoon.

The Wildcats had trouble stopping Holley’s tough run game, giving up over 100 yards on the ground in the first half and almost another 150 yards in the second half.

Sean Baylor scored early in the first quarter on a 28 yard touchdown run while Mike Pernicano punched it in for the two point conversion, giving Holley the 8-0 lead with 10:13 left in the first quarter.

After a three and out by Marcus Whitman late in the first half, the Hawks started at their own 43 yard line. Holley then drove down the field with two 10 yard runs by Baylor, and a four yard run from quarterback Guy Hills. Running back Mike Pernicano split the defense up the middle for a 14 yard touchdown run to give the Hawks a 14-0 lead going into halftime.

Alex Eddinger scored the first touchdown for the Wildcats on a 13 yard run. The point after kick was good, tightening the score to 14-7 last in the third quarter.

Pernicano went on to score his second touchdown of the game with 8:55 left in the fourth quarter on an eight yard run. The two point conversion run by Baylor failed, leaving the scored at 20-7 for the Hawks.

Marcus Whitman narrowed the score late in the fourth quarter as running back Scott Longyear scored on a three yard run with 1:24 left in the game.

The Wildcats attempted an onsides kick, but Tyler Winter recovered the ball for the Hawks. Hills ended the game by taking a knee, giving Holley a memorable 20-14 sectional win.

The Hawks will play Attica next Sunday at Auto Marina Stadium in Rochester at noon.

============================
The Daily News
Batavia Newspapers Corporation
2 Apollo Drive,
Batavia, NY 14020

.

Apopka devours rival East Ridge

2009-10-24T12:18:00.004-05:00

By Jeff Gardenour
October 24, 2009

APOPKA — Apopka's talented and speedy underclassmen made sure the Blue Darters' senior night was a memorable one on Friday.

With last year's regular-season loss to East Ridge perhaps still fresh in the minds of Apopka's players, the Class 6A, third-ranked Blue Darters zipped past the Knights 56-14 in a key District 5 game.

"I'm kind of surprised," Apopka Coach Rick Darlington said. "They are a heck of a well-coached team. It was a good night for us."

Led by junior quarterback Keon Brooks, junior running back Tom Smith and sophomore running back Quay Barnes, unbeaten Apopka (7-0, 4-0) utilized the big play in remaining undefeated and in first place in the district. East Ridge (4-3, 2-2) has now lost two consecutive games.

Smith rushed 18 times for 133 yards and two touchdowns and caught two touchdown passes, and Brooks ran seven times for 114 yards and completed 4-of-8 passes for 95 yards and two scores as Apopka forced a running clock midway through the third quarter.

"This was real big," Brooks said. "We came out with intensity and were excited to play."

Brooks threw touchdown passes of 41 and 37 yards to Smith, and ran for touchdowns of 71 and 4 yards.

"They just physically kicked our fanny the entire night," East Ridge Coach Bud O'Hara said.

Barnes' kickoff return followed a 92-yard kickoff return by East Ridge's Fred Maxwell and was part of a wild four-touchdown flurry in the final 1 minute, 45 seconds of the first half.

Apopka's scoring burst helped it overcome a brief 7-0 deficit.

Apopka (7-0, 4-0) and Olympia (5-2, 4-0) are now the two teams tied for first in 6A, District 5. They meet next Friday at Olympia.

Apopka 56, East Ridge 14

FIRST — ER: Payen 39 run (Seaman kick); A: T. Smith 41 pass from Brooks (Catron kick); A: Brooks 71 run (kick failed).

SECOND — A: Brooks 4 run (T. Smith run); A: T. Smith 63 run (Catron kick); ER: Maxwell 92 kickoff return (Seaman kick); A: Barnes 98 kickoff return (Catron kick); A: T. Smith 37 pass from Brooks (Catron kick).

THIRD — A: T. Smith 14 run (Catron kick).

FOURTH — A: Capobianco 32 run (Catron kick).

=========================
Orlando Sentinel
633 N. Orange Avenue
Orlando FL 32801

.

Wildcat offense not as innovative as some think

2009-10-23T17:24:00.006-05:00

Wednesday, October 21, 2009 2:46 PM
Anders Larson is a ThisWeek staff writer. He can be reached at alarson@thisweeknews.com

If you've watched at least one hour of ESPN's coverage of the NFL over the past week, you've probably heard that Miami Dolphins coach Tony Sparano is the innovator of all innovators.

Sparano, along with offensive coordinator Dan Henning, is responsible for implementing the now-popular Wildcat offense in the NFL.

The Dolphins began using the scheme last year, but they aren't the only team using it now. It seems almost every team in the league has some variation on the theme, which they use on occasion. More and more, the offense is getting widespread use at the college and high school levels.

By now, there are plenty of fans out there, including me, who are growing tired of all the hype. But no one is more frustrated than the good folks of the Single-Wing Sentinel, a blog for enthusiasts of the nearly-defunct offensive system. If there was any precedent for copyright infringement for football schemes, the Single-Wing Sentinel likely would be seeing the Dolphins' lawyers in court right now.

The blog, which finds and republishes articles from around the country about single-wing teams, recently featured a column by Ron Grillo of the Rocky Mount (N.C.) Telegram. Grillo pulled no punches:

"Folks, the "Wildcat" has been around for more than a century. It probably deserves the title as football's first offense. It has, however, before last season, been referred to as the single wing."

Oh, (shotgun) snap! Take that Sparano.

Grillo acknowledges that the modern Wildcat is not an exact replica of the single-wing, but he goes on to explain that the basic premise of both offenses is the same: snap the ball to your best runner, not your best thrower.

Upper Arlington coach Mike Golden said he sees the similarities, although he hasn't seen a team in central Ohio run a true single-wing consistently since Northland in the 1970s.

"I'm so old I can remember when a few teams ran it," Golden said. "(The Wildcat) is a little more sophisticated than that. The single wing was a little more of a lead. The quarterback would spin around and do all this stuff. But I think it's a fair comparison."

Regardless, there is no denying that the Wildcat, even if it is just a variation on the oldest offense in the game, has made an impact. Golden is one of many coaches around the area who have used a variation of the Wildcat this season. UA, in fact, used the scheme quite a bit last season with Alex Drake, normally one of the team's starting tailbacks, taking the snap.

"Last year, before our first game (starting quarterback Kyle Cassady) got hurt," Golden said. "We had three great running backs and we couldn't get them in there in the same set. So we would put Alex in at quarterback and kept Tommy Farwick and Isaac Wildermuth in the game at running back."

Gahanna, Columbus Academy and Thomas Worthington are among several other teams to use the system with success this fall. Thomas uses its variation, the "bad bird," about 10 percent of the time, with running back Eric Monfort taking the snap.

Academy broke the Wildcat out of its playbook for the first time in a 27-19 win over Newark Catholic on Oct. 2, with tailback Austin Peterman taking the snaps.

Gahanna has used the package to get the ball in the hands of Earl Cunningham, one of its fastest players. In a 42-31 loss to Lancaster on Sept. 25, Cunningham, who has played tailback and wide receiver this season, ran for 76 yards and a touchdown and also completed a 40-yard pass.

"For us, it puts an athlete in a position to do more than hand off or throw a pass," Gahanna coach John Snoad said. "It makes you more difficult to defend. With most teams, unless you're just running triple-option all game, the quarterback is just going to hand off or throw a pass."

Even Snoad labeled the term "Wildcat" as "just a catch-phrase," saying that this type of offense has been around for a while. Golden said he only looks to add a new wrinkle like this to his playbook if it doesn't significantly alter the blocking schemes already in place. The Golden Bears' standard wing-T offense has enough similarities to the Wildcat to make it work.

There has been some debate about how long the Wildcat will last before it fades away like many trendy systems of the past. Snoad and Golden said this type of offense certainly can work at the high school level for years to come. The talking heads at ESPN said they believe the next evolution is to incorporate the pass into the Wildcat more frequently. Eventually, the same player could take the snap every play if he was dangerous enough as a passer to keep the defense honest.

At that point, you would have a system with the team's primary runner taking a shotgun snap, using misdirection and fake handoffs and occasionally throwing the ball.

The guys at the Single-Wing Sentinel probably can suggest an offense that fits those criteria.

=====================
ThisWeek
7801 N. Central Drive
Lewis Center, OH 43035

.

Don Shula enjoys team, Wildcat

2009-10-23T17:05:00.001-05:00

BY DAVID J. NEAL

The man with the record for most career coaching victories in NFL history (and the NFL season record for fewest coaching losses) likes a lot about this year's Dolphins. And that includes the Wildcat.
What do you expect from a former single-wing tailback who loves physical running games that eat up yards and time on the way to the end zone?

While waiting to give blood at Tuesday's Touchdown for Life blood drive at Land Shark Stadium, Hall of Fame coach Don Shula couldn't help cracking a smile when talking about this year's Dolphins (2-3).

``I think we've got it turned around,'' said Shula, 79, whose offseason trip to visit U.S. troops in Afghanistan made him ineligible to be among the 1,003 blood donors. ``I like our running game and I like the young quarterback [Chad Henne]. [Quarterback Chad] Pennington going down was a severe blow because this guy was a great leader and a great teacher. Henne had a year to learn under him. That's going to show up. He had a great career at Michigan, having a year to learn here and then stepping in and winning that game against the Jets. Had to be one of the great Monday night games. It caught the attention of a lot of people. I think everybody around the league gained respect for the Dolphins.

``Now, they're back on track and they're going to win a lot from here on in.''

MEETS SHULA'S APPROVAL

Although The Wildcat is a departure from the standard set of formations in use over the past 50 years in NFL and college football, anybody expecting Shula to frown upon it as a gimmick doesn't know football history, or Shula history. As Shula pointed out, so much of the Wildcat comes straight out of Single Wing 101 -- the formation, the snap to the tailback, the motion from the wingback and the handoff, or fake handoff, by the tailback.

``In high school, we used to line up in a T and shift to a single wing,'' he said. ``I was the T-formation quarterback, and then I'd be the tailback in the single wing.''

``That was a long time ago. I don't think I could handle that now,'' he laughed. ``At one time, they called it the Delaware Wing-T or the Delaware offense. When I first started coaching at the University of Virginia, that was the offense we used, the Delaware Wing-T. It's about utilizing your personnel to the best of their abilities. You've got to analyze the personnel you've got, put them in a position where you can get the most out of their abilities and don't ask people to do what they're not capable of doing.''

Fans and media often forget that is what Shula did when he came to the Dolphins from the Baltimore Colts. In Baltimore, Shula had Johnny Unitas, so the Colts threw the ball more than was common in that pound-it-out era. When he came to the Dolphins in 1970, he found several good running backs (Larry Csonka, Jim Kiick, Mercury Morris), a smart, unselfish quarterback in Bob Griese and traded for a deep threat in Paul Warfield. The Dolphins spent the next five seasons battering defenses, throwing the occasional play-action pass and hogging time of possession.

So Shula figures, as the Dolphins coaching staff did last year, the Wildcat is just a way to get the ball in the hands of the Dolphins' best offensive players, running backs Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams.

`VERY GOOD' BACKS

``You'd have to spend a lot of time [preparing for it] because of what they do because of the talent they have doing it,'' said Shula, a defensive coordinator before becoming an NFL head coach. ``They have two very, very good running backs. Ronnie Brown can throw the football as well, I don't think Ricky can throw it, but Ricky can catch it and that gives them another threat, him going downfield to catch the ball thrown by Ronnie Brown.''

• The Dolphins confined their trade-deadline day activity to signing offensive tackle Lydon Murtha off Detroit's practice squad and waiving guard Shawn Murphy.

Detroit took Murtha, a 6-7, 315-pounder, in the seventh round this year out of Nebraska and signed him to the practice squad after he was a victim of the last round of training camp cuts.

This year's training camp turned out to be the peak of Murphy's Dolphins career. After being inactive for all 16 regular-season games last year, Murphy, a fourth-round pick in 2008, began training camp with the first team. But as Donald Thomas, selected two rounds after Murphy in 2008, recovered from his torn pectoral injury, he also began recovering the right guard spot he had won in the 2008 training camp.

By the time the season started, Murphy was back to inactive status, where he remained for all five games.

==========================
Miami Herald Media Company

.

Miami Dolphins Coach Tony Sparano's Oct. 21 teleconference

2009-10-23T16:53:00.002-05:00

By The Times-Picayune
October 21, 2009, 6:20PM

Provided by the New Orleans Saints, here is the transcript of Miami Dolphins Coach Tony Sparano’s teleconference with the New Orleans media.

A lot is being made of the Wildcat. What makes it so effective for you guys?

“I think the people that are handling the football for us. Certainly with Ronnie (Brown), Ricky (Williams), Pat (White), with any of the people handling the football, Pat Cobbs before his injury … Any of the people handling the football for us were people that we trusted, and second of all that I think are pretty good players. I also think that there’s some misdirection involved in the Wildcat. It helps create a few blocking angles for the people up front.”

Is it the single wing or a derivative of the single wing?

“No. I would say it’s an offshoot of the single wing. I think that some of the things we are doing are a little bit different than the good old single wing. I would say it’s a little bit different.”

Do you guys take pride in that a lot of teams try to replicate and duplicate this offense, but you guys are the most successful?

“I don’t think we take great pride in anybody else running it, particularly when it shows up against us at times. I do think from our end, the guys take great pride in it. It’s something that we’ve been able to put our arms around here. It’s a small part of what we do. It’s not everything we do, but it certainly gets a lot of attention.”

What went through your mind in deciding to run it?

“I think we are just looking for a little bit of an identity at the time. We were 0-2. We had just gotten beaten pretty badly by Arizona at Arizona and this was something that we had spent some time working on at OTAs in the spring, no different than probably anybody else spends some time working on some things they’re not sure that they’re going to run during the season. At that time, Ronnie Brown was coming off of an ACL, Ricky coming off of a shoulder surgery. We weren’t sure if we had the pieces or not. After the Arizona ballgame we knew a little bit more obviously about our team. We were trying to get Ricky and Ronnie on the field at the same time, and this was the way to do that and at the same time help our offensive line create a little bit of space.”

Did the success of the package in college get you and your staff thinking about running it?

“Sure, if it was something that had no success, I wouldn’t be all for it one way or the other. I’m one of those guys that needs evidence. I need to see it to believe it. We studied the tape; we look at some of the options we thought we might have had to get this thing run. Our problem was we had no idea about how people were defending it and we still don’t have any idea how people defend it, meaning every week, there’s something different. We’re trying to stay ahead of the curve.”

Since repetitions are at a premium at a practice, is part of the strategy to force an opponent to spend practice time on it?

“Sure. I think you have to spend some time on it no different than the time we have to spend on the amount of play-action pass that people might have in any of those things that people are doing. You take a look at what the opponent is doing and how much they’re doing it, and that’s the amount of time you can afford to spend on it. Just because we run the Wildcat and maybe we run it nine or 10 plays, doesn’t mean you can devote 30 or 40 reps during the week at it. I think it’s a little bit hard to do that, but you do have to spend time on it.”

While you watch other teams try to defend it, do you also have to stay ahead of the curve offensively?

“Yes, the nice thing about it, and I think one of the things that helped us this year, is that we had about 100 plays whereas it was on film for the whole league to see last year. They were studying it, which I’m sure everybody did in the offseason as we went out in preseason and some of these things. The more people you see running it across the league, the more evidence there is on tape of how some people might do something against it. When we get in a game for whatever reason it never quite looks the same.”

Are you surprised or do you have a response to when some analysts knock it or say it isn’t real football?

“Nothing surprises me anymore. I think that what I’ve learned in this league is yards are hard to come by, so are wins. Any way we can get yards and get closer to wins, we’re going to do it. I really could care less about what anyone else has to say.”

When you put on the tape and watch the Saints on offense and defense, what is the one thing that jumps out at you?

“I think their team speed is one of the things that jumps out at you, also the fact that they are a very physical team on both sides of the football. I think their front on defense is very, very physical. I think their front seven people do an outstanding job against the run, and they get after you pretty good in the pass game. I think on the other side of the ball that offensive line is really a physical group. They do a nice job in there, a good hardball run game that they got going and do a great job of protecting the passer. I think those are the things that jump out at you, never mind the weapons. I think they have so many weapons down there, and to me it all starts with the quarterback. He’s an outstanding player.”

How has Chad Henne handled the transition into the starting role? Did him starting for four years at Michigan help?

“I hope so. I think it did. I think that one of the things is, it’s more with these college kids coming out of these big programs like Chad has, they’ve played in some big football games before, so the first time you roll them out there and they’re in front of a big crowd. That is really the issue. What might be the issue is the team speed you’re playing against, certainly the level of player. Even there, with Michigan playing Ohio State or any of those people you would think it’s a pretty darn good competition out there on the field. I think that’s been certainly a help, but I think one of the biggest helps that Chad Henne has had here is that I think he is really well coached, and I think Chad Pennington did a marvelous job in helping with this process.”

What helped lead to your team’s turnaround?

“I think our players have done a good job of staying the course and keeping their head down. They understand that hard work is what gets you there. They understand that the way to turn things around is to put your head down and keep grinding. Out on the practice field there are some things we know we need to get better at as a football team. We continue to try to do that each week as we go along. Some of those football games, could have, should haves, would haves, all those good things. We felt like we did some decent things in some of those games, but we didn’t win, and at that time as I told them, we’re a 0-3 football team. You are what your record says you are. You’re a 0-3 team. We had to do something to change it. These guys to their credit, just kept grinding away and never lost focus on what we were trying to do, never worried about the second guessing and all those things, just kept their head down and concentrated on one win at the time, and that was against Buffalo.”

What does a happy and healthy Ricky Williams mean to your program?

“It means a bunch. I think first of all, the relationship that Ricky and Ronnie (Brown) have back there is outstanding. The fact that Ricky, since the day I walked through the door here, my slate was clean with him, as I said, it was 0-0 kind of coming into this thing, and Ricky has done nothing but be an outstanding professional since the day I walked through the door here, so I think what it does for our football team is it gives us another veteran leader on this team that has been through some of this before and sets a real good example for our young players.”

Is he playing at the best level you’ve been at right now?

“Yes, he really is. A long time ago, I had a chance to play him in Thanksgiving day when I was in Dallas. Sean (Payton) was with me on that staff at the time. Ricky ran up and down the field that day, just killed us. Getting a chance to see him right now with two full offseason programs under his belt, certainly I think he’s in the best shape he’s been in an awful long time. I think that this right now that time is the best I’ve seen him.”

You spent time with Sean in Dallas. Is there too much made sometimes of coaches that have a lot of familiarity with each other?

“I’m sure it is. Sean, first of all, I have a great deal or respect for him, and I know he knows that. I have not been with Sean in a few years and he has not been with me in a few years. They’re doing different things. He has his team going one way. I’m trying to get my team going in that direction. We have been together for a little while. We’re good friends, but I think some of that stuff can get overplayed?”

What’s one memory that stands out about Coach Payton?

“Sean and I. There’s a few. I should keep those to myself.”

If I forced you to use one word to describe him, what word if you were describing him to another person that had no idea who he was, what would the word be?

“Brilliant.”

Would you consider him an evil genius on offense?

“I consider him an evil genius, yes.”

You look at the New England game last year and that’s when the Wildcat burst on the scene. Are there games where you haven’t used it?

“Yes. There’s been some games that we haven’t used it. Maybe we didn’t think via film we had the right look, those types of things, but usually if we’re preparing it, we’ll put it out there for a player to see how people do. It just depends on how things are going in the course of the game and how people defend it with whether or not we use it. We might have two plays worth, we might have 15 plays worth. We might have no plays.”

Do you want to tell us how many plays you’re going to run it against New Orleans?

“Definitely not.”

Last year Miami might have snuck up on teams. Do you see teams treating you any differently?

“I don’t really think so. I think the last year, coming off a 1-15 season and trying to get things going in the right direction, whether we snuck up on people, we didn’t sneak up on people. It’s my feeling initially that if you show up and your teams not prepared to play than shame on you. I just think that in some of those ballgames our guys really had to grind into the fourth quarter to win games. I don’t want to take anything away from my players. I think that my players do a tremendous job in doing that to change the culture. You guys went through it down there yourselves and now you’re sitting in a situation that’s pretty darn good. When you’re trying to change a culture, you need to give your players some credit. I don’t do it very often, but in that case, I will. The NFL set them up for us and we were able to go out and play the games and do what we needed to do and win some football games. Here we are a year later and whatever they say, toughest schedule, whatever the case is, that’s what you do this for. We’re in the business of trying to win football games. Whatever it takes for us to do that, we’re going to try to do that and we’re not really worried about who we’re playing or any of those things.”

Is one of the benefits of the Wildcat being able to maximize what you have playerwise?

“Sure. Anytime I can get Ricky (Williams), Ronnie (Brown), any of those people out there at the same time, that helps me instead of worrying about how many touches somebody’s going to get here, there or any of those types of things. So, I have Ricky, Ronnie, my quarterback. I have all of those people out there. That helps me.”

========================
The Times-Picayune

.

Conery Carries Load With 202 Yards And Four TD's

2009-10-23T16:42:00.003-05:00

Conery Carries Load With 202 Yards And Four TD's Against Winless Marines
An obvious game plan heading into Saturday’s 103rd M & M Game for the Menominee Maroons would have been to pass all over Marinette’s inexperienced defense.

Marinette’s admitted weakness was, in fact, their pass coverage, and the Maroons had an ever-so-dangerous aerial combination in Keefer Conery and Erik Hines.

But after Marinette showed they were capable of putting together scoring drives, the Maroons had to try to keep the Marine offense off the field as well as move the ball on offense.

The result was a 314-yard rushing performance from the old-fashioned single wing offense and a 27-20 Menominee victory.

Menominee held the ball for 22 more plays than Marinette (72-50) and racked up a total of 407 yards.

Conery was a big part of the offense, but it wasn’t his arm.

The junior speedster carried the ball 33 times for 202 yards and scored all four of Menominee’s touchdowns.

Some of his runs were designed passes that turned into scrambles, and some were designed draws to deceive the defense.

Either way the ability to throw and the speed to hit the corner allowed Conery and the Maroons to control the tempo, the clock and eventually the ball game.

“They got success early on and we just couldn’t slow them down,” admitted Marinette coach Joel Hanner. “They just kind of teed off. We tried to move our kids a little bit but Menominee just came off (the ball) and took it to us.”

It was no easy task beating the winless Marines.

“We had to keep the ball because they were moving the ball well against us,” recalled Maroon coach Ken Hofer.

Marinette gained 295 yards on just 50 plays, a hefty 5.9-yard per play average.

When Menominee scored early in the first quarter, Marinette didn’t bat an eye and responded with a scoring drive.

The Marines held a 14-13 lead at the half and were up 20-19 halfway through the third quarter.

The game was as close as the final score indicates, if not even closer.

But Menominee, perhaps due to Marinette players fatiguing or maybe because of just an attitude of success this season, won a standstill of a fourth quarter and got back on the winning side in the classic.

Marinette, trailing 19-14 at the half, put together 13-play, 5:39 drive to take a 20-19 lead.

A couple of crucial penalties and a 4th-and-2 conversion kept Menominee’s drive alive, and the Maroons regained the lead with a 14-play drive of their own.

Marinette went three-and-out on their next possession and committed a pair of unnecessary personal foul penalties to set Menominee up with a short field.

The Maroons turned the ball over on downs deep in Marinette territory, but the Marines again shot themselves in the foot and never could get back into Menominee territory.

“Marinette’s not an 0-7 team,” Hofer said of the Marines, who fell to 0-8 on the year. “They are an 0-7 team because they made crucial errors that cost them a lot of opportunites.”

Marinette made their share of errors in the game, especially late in the first half.

After the Maroons had taken a 19-14 lead, Marinette was driving nicely, picking up 32 yards on six plays.

Facing a 3rd-and-7, Marine quarterback Cody Murphy faced a heavy blitz and fired an off-balance throw that was intercepted by (who else?) Conery in a diving effort.

Conery would give it back to the Marines after rolling out of the pocket and throwing one over Hines and right to Kyle Johnson, but two plays later Isaac Jones stripped Murphy and the Maroons recovered.

Both Marinette turnovers in the game came in a tight ball game in the second quarter inside the Menominee 30-yard line.

Four plays into the first quarter, the Maroons looked poised for a blowout victory.

Conery found Hines on second down for 11 yards to move the chains, and two plays later broke the arm tackles of the Marinette defense on his way to a 51-yard touchdown.

The kick failed but just 1:46 into the contest, the Maroons held a 6-0 lead.

It was put up or shut up time for the Marines, and they responded nicely.

Sophomore Kyle Keller, whose season has been mired by injury and illness, made his presence known in his first-ever M & M game.

He was a key part of Marinette’s 8-play, 2:39 drive that tied the game.

Fellow sophomore Matt Mayhew picked up 11 yards on first down and Keller followed with five.

A rare senior to senior combination followed as Murphy found Steve Oman for a 21-yard gain and another first down.

Murphy picked up five yards on the next play before Keller bounced off several tackles for a 24-yard gain.

With the ball at the Menominee 19, Keller bulldozed his way through more Maroon defenders to the Menominee 7.

Three yards later the Marines were facing a second-and-goal from the four and freshman Dakota Vanidestine got his first carry and punched it into the endzone.

The kick failed but just 4:27 into the M & M Game it was obvious defense was not going to be the main focus of either team.

Menominee put together another scoring drive despite committing a pair of false start penalties.

Tyler Uecke grabbed 11 yards on first down and got 12 more two plays later to move the Maroons near midfield.

Conery picked up two yards before a false start moved the Maroons back, and Uecke got four to set up 3rd-and-9 from the Menominee 49.

Conery went to the air and connected with Erik Gilbert for 19 yards, and the two would hook up on a 35-yarder later in the drive down to the Marine 2.

Conery needed two plays to get the remaining two yards, and Luke Vincent’s extra point made it 13-6 in favor of Menominee.

Before scoring from a yard away, Conery fumbled the ball out of the endzone but it was ruled he stepped out of bounds before losing the ball, and Menominee retained possession at the Marinette 1.

Marinette again wasted no time scoring and Menominee once more showed no ability to stop them.

On the drive’s first play, Murphy pitched to his right to Vanidestine, who stayed in the backfield and unleashed a pass to another sophomore in Calvin Michiels, who had gotten behind the defense.

Michiels ended up picking up 42 yards on the play down to the Menominee 19.

Keller got 15 yards over the next two plays, Vanidestine was stopped just short on first-and-goal from the four, and Murphy punched in despite being mobbed by the Maroon defense on a quarterback sneak.

Murphy threw a perfect fade route to the 6-3 Oman in the corner, and the senior tight end outjumped Menominee’s Jeff Martin (5-7) for the conversion and a 14-13 Marinette lead.

Menominee was able to move the ball once again but a holding call thwarted the drive and the Maroons were forced to punt.

Marinette was flagged (18 penalties were called in the game) for a chop block on the return and was forced to start from their own 10.

Vanidestine got 11 yards on first down, but three runs after that the Marines were punting.

Tanner Maccoux got pressure on Marinette’s Heath Rowe (who took a bit too long to get the kick off) on the punt and blocked it. The ball traveled just 10 yards on the block and Menominee had tremendous field position at the Marinette 35.

Conery picked up 10 yards on a tailback draw on the drive’s second play, and he gained just about nine yards on 3rd-and-9 to set up a 4th-and-1 from the Marine 15.

Uecke easily got the first as he gained seven yards and Marinette gave him half the distance to the goal on a personal foul call.

Conery scored three plays later from two yards out, his third score of the game.

Marinette sophomore Scott Eldredge picked off the conversion pass and Menominee held a 19-14 lead with 5:21 to play in the half.

All three of the game’s turnovers occurred over the next 3:29, and Menominee ran the clock out holding onto their lead.

Marinette fired just one pass on their 13-play scoring march to open the second half, and it didn’t come until a 3rd-and-7 from the Menominee 17.

It was a steady dose of running from the powerful young backfield, with a little Murphy sprinkled in.

Keller started the drive with runs of nine, three and three, before Murphy got four and Vanidestine got the first down on a three-yard run.

Keller’s 16-yard burst moved the Marines to the Menominee 35, before Vanidestine got eight yards and was barely tripped up by Conery, saving a score.

Keller got two yards on the next play before Murphy executed a quarterback sneak for five yards and a first down.

Keller was stuffed to gains of one and two before Murphy found Oman over the middle for a 15-yard gain.

Vanidestine scored from the two on the next play.

On the conversion, Marinette again tried to find Oman in the corner but Miller was in better position to bat the ball away.

Menominee took over with 6:21 to play in the quarter and burned 6:11 of it on their drive.

Conery got five on first down and Uecke got three the next play, but a questionable five-yard facemask penalty gave Menominee a first down.

Conery picked up another 20 yards on the next two plays, before Uecke got another first down with an eight-yard run.

Conery for four, Marinette gave them five by jumping on a hard count, and Uecke got five more the next play.

Mike Johnston saddled Conery for a two-yard loss on first down and Austin Belongia tripped him up for a four-yard loss on the next play, setting up a 3rd-and-16, but another offsides penalty and Conery’s nine-yard pass to Jacob Gerdt made it an attainable 4th-and-2.

Conery got five yards to easily pick up the first, and after two Uecke runs got nine yards, scored from three yards out.

He hooked up with Gerdt for the conversion pass to make it 27-20, and neither team scored from there.

Marinette’s next drive was quickly stalled. Mayhew got three yards, Jordan Miller deflected a pass near the line, and a fumbled snap netted a loss of three.

Menominee ate up over four minutes of clock and pinned the Marines deep, and despite an 18-yard gain by Murphy, the drive went nowhere.

Menominee’s final drive ate up 4:07 of the clock and the fatigued Marinette defense couldn’t get off the field.

“They had more people going both ways than we have,” Hofer recalled. “That might have helped us somewhat.”

Hanner doesn’t know if fatigue was the reason, but his defense’s inability to get off the field really hurt them late.

“We can’t stop a lot of people with our defensive line,” admitted Hanner. “They have a nice ball club, but we just can’t slow anybody down. It’s not a lack of effort. Any time you play freshmen or sophomores, you’re gonna have issues. (But) they are some of the better football players we have. We’re not very deep with depth or experience.”

It wasn’t the aerial attack much were expecting, but more of a smashmouth run attack for both teams.

“You had to have your chin straps strapped,” Hofer opined.

“A couple of times, I didn’t think somebody was gonna get up,” Hanner added.

Neither team was sharp in terms of discipline as both teams were flagged nine times for a total of 139 yards.

“The flag was really flying Saturday and both teams suffered from it,” Hofer recollected. “We always had to make more than ten yards.”

Marinette shored up their secondary but just didn’t have an answer for Conery and Uecke (22 carries for 99 yards).

“Our secondary did a pretty good job,” noted Hanner. “They tried to roll out the quarterback a few times and he either threw the ball away or ran for it.”

But with the success of the running game, Hanner said the Maroons “didn’t have to think twice about passing.”

Keller was very impressive in just his second game back from a lengthy absence due to mononucleosis.

“He’s still out of shape,” Hanner admitted. “Can you imagine him if he’s in shape and he’s been around for a while this season? You can see how we missed him.”

The now 0-8 Marines weren’t supposed to have much of a chance against a young but talented Maroon team that qualified for yet another playoff berth with Saturday’s win.

“They came out and played some inspired football,” Hanner said. “Even just watching last year’s game film helped their confidence. They left everything they had on the field.”

“It went about as we anticipated,” Hofer said of the battle the Marines gave his Menominee squad. “We felt it was going to be an extremely tough game because they had nothing to lose.”

The win makes Menominee 6-2 with a game to play, and it guarantees them a spot in Michigan’s playoffs that are set to begin next week.

“That was big,” Hofer admitted. “We aren’t going into the last game wondering if we are going to make the playoffs. That’s very important for the Maroons.”

Menominee plays down state at Kingsley Saturday afternoon at 5 p.m., and a win may get them a home playoff game.

“If we win this week I think we have a good opportunity to have a home game,” Hofer insighted. “It’s gonna be one of those situations. Who ends up with the most bonus points.”

It is back to the drawing board for Hanner and the youthful Marines, who will look to salvage their season by getting a victory over an up and down Hortonville (2-5) team at home Thursday night.

“They’ve had their ups and downs this year,” Hanner said of the Polar Bears, who use a rare zone-blocking scheme along the offensive line that isn’t seen much at the high school level. “So maybe we get some confidence (from Saturday’s game) and hopefully play a step higher.”

=========================
Peshtigo Times
841 Maple St
PO Box 187
Peshtigo, WI 54157

A View from the Other Side: A Miami writer's look at the Dolphins

2009-10-23T16:22:00.003-05:00

06:51 AM CDT on Friday, October 23, 2009
Bradley Handwerger / WWL-TV.com Sports Writer

When New Orleans travels to Miami on Sunday, you’ve likely read as much about the Saints as you possibly can.

But what do you know about the Dolphins?

That’s where A View From the Other Side comes in. Every Friday during the Saints' season, WWL-TV.com will ask five questions to at least one beat writer covering the Saints’ opponent that week.

Today we welcome David J. Neal of the Miami Herald. Neal covered the Dolphins daily as a summer 1989 Miami Herald intern, usually managed to avoid covering them after becoming a Herald staff writer in the fall of 1989 and returned to covering them daily in 2004. You can check out his work at the Miami Herald.

WWL-TV: The Dolphins started out 0-3, but have won the past two games. What has changed and allowed Miami to turn things around?

David J. Neal: They played a Buffalo team with a banged up defense and an injured quarterback (a healthy Trent Edwards). That was like slapping around Ironside. Against the Jets, they ran the ball successfully, slowing the Jets pass rush and allowing Chad Henne the time to play flawlessly. Defensively, they still allow too many big plays.

WWL-TV: Chad Henne didn’t start the season as the No. 1 quarterback, but has come off the bench to give the team a lift. What has he done well the past three games that have given Miami life on offense?

DJN: He's got a bigger arm than Chad Pennington, so the ball gets there quicker on the short and medium routes and gets there, period, on the long routes. Twice this year, it looked like Pennington overthrew speedster Ted Ginn Jr. when Ginn actually misjudged Pennington's ability to get the ball there and shifted into top gear too late.

Anyway, what's helped Henne most of all is the success of the running game. It takes so much pressure off of him and sets up the passing game so well. Also, he hasn't made mistakes. After four years as a starting quarterback at Michigan, he's used to being Mr. Man in the huddle as well as big games in front of big crowds.

WWL-TV: I’d be remiss if I didn’t ask about the Wildcat. Why does it work for Miami in the long run while it’s not all that successful for other teams in the NFL that try to use it?

DJN: Defenses have to respect both Ronnie Brown going between the tackles or to the left and Ricky Williams sweeping in the direction of his motion as well as a reverse as a standard play. There's often a moment of defensive hesitation -- Brown and Williams are two high quality ball carriers -- while the offensive linemen are getting into their blocks.

The way the Dolphins run the Wildcat pretty much answers how the single wing would do in today's NFL. As former Dolphins coach and single wing tailback Don Shula said Tuesday, the Wildcat is just the single wing.

WWL-TV: Miami’s pass defense is ranked No. 18 in the league. New Orleans’ Drew Brees, meanwhile, is being mentioned as an MVP candidate. What must happen in the Dolphins’ secondary for Miami to be successful against the pass on Sunday?

DJN: Cornerback Vontae Davis, the Dolphins most physical corner, has to beat the Marques out of Colston off the line when he's covering him and 6-foot-3 Sean Smith needs to be draped over Colston when he's covering him. What must happen in the rest of the secondary against everyone else? A prayer circle asking for a serious pass rush or for Brees to suddenly come down with a bad case of JaMarcus Russell.

WWL-TV: How healthy is Miami coming off the bye week and will the Dolphins be getting anyone back that could be a game-changer?

DJN: Outside linebacker Matt Roth, a starter on the strong side last year, practiced with the team for the first time since minicamp, but don't expect him to be ready for Sunday. Even after returning from missing a game with a hamstring injury, outside linebacker Joey Porter felt hampered against the Jets. Porter wouldn't say (Wednesday) that he was 100 percent, but did say he felt better than he did in the Jets win or the Week 3 San Diego loss, when he played only a few plays (one of which was a fumble-causing sack).

=============================
WWL-TV
1024 North Rampart Street
New Orleans, LA. 70116-2487

.

Sam Shiley scores five TDs in victory

2009-10-17T22:19:00.002-05:00

By Ben Brooks -- sports@nvdaily.com

BERRYVILLE -- Clarke County High School continued to run roughshod over its regular-season football foes Friday.

On a cold, rainy Homecoming night in Berryville, George Mason became Clarke County's latest victim. The unbeaten Eagles got five rushing touchdowns from senior running back Sam Shiley, and Clarke's defense posted its third straight shutout with a 48-0 victory over the Mustangs in the Bull Run District opener for both schools.

Clarke County (7-0, 1-0) scored on six of its first seven offensive possessions to put the game out of reach. The one drive the Eagles failed to score on, they surrendered the ball on downs at the Mustangs' 1-yard line.

Shiley finished with 232 yards on just 15 carries, pushing him well over the 1,000-yard mark for the season. He also leads the area with 22 rushing touchdowns.

"I just take the ball when I can and run behind the big boys," said Shiley, who scored on runs of 10, 3, 60, 1, and 31 yards in Clarke's single-wing offense, all in the first half. "We knew they were 5-1, and we wanted to send a statement to the rest of the district."

Consider the message received.

"This may be the best Bull Run District team I've seen," said Mason coach Tom Horn, now in his 14th season, whose team came into the game allowing just less than 14 points a game. "They're just so big and physical. This wasn't totally unexpected, given what we've seen of them on film. But it's still surprising to see it live."

The Eagles amassed 308 of their 387 yards in the first two quarters on their way to a 42-0 halftime lead. The Mustangs, meanwhile, had minus-1 yard of total offense and just one first down in the first half.

Clarke finished with 362 yards rushing. In addition to Shiley, Grant Shaw had 115 yards on the ground, including a 48-yard touchdown run. Zach Shiley accounted for the second half's lone score with a 5-yard touchdown run late in the third quarter. Not to be outdone, Clarke's defense recovered four fumbles and gave up just 97 yards of offense, 41 of it coming on a late pass play.

"We try to get a shutout every week if we can," Eagles senior two-way lineman Hilton Morgan said. "If it doesn't happen it's no big deal, but it's nice."

Mercifully, the second-half clock ran continuously as rain got heavier. By the end of the third quarter, Clarke's starters were on the sideline.

"It's a good problem to have," said Clarke County coach Chris Parker, whose Eagles have outscored their first seven opponents 344-20. "I'm all about sportsmanship. But we've also got to make sure our guys are in game condition. Somewhere down the road, they're going to need to play four quarters."

=======================

The Northern Virginia Daily

152 N. Holliday St.

Strasburg, Va. 22657

FOOTBALL PREVIEW: 6th win, bounce back on Lynx agenda

2009-10-17T17:11:00.000-05:00

WC can lock up no worse than No. 3 seed with road victory over Cadets

By Troy Banning, DFJ Sports Editor

WEBSTER CITY - With a golden ticket to the postseason already in its back pocket, the Webster City football team will head out on the road Friday night looking to match last season's regular-season win total.

A sixth win would be big for a number of reasons when the Lynx jump into the trenches with Class 3A District 2 and North Central Conference rival Iowa Falls-Alden at 7:30 p.m. For starters, it would clinch the No. 3 seed in the district and still give them an outside chance of winning the district championship. It would also erase that bad taste in the players' mouths following last week's 24-7 loss to Charles City Webster City's first setback in more than a month.

"Six wins is a heck of a lot bigger than five wins," Webster City head coach Bob Howard said. "And getting beat by Charles City is one thing, but Iowa Falls is a conference school and (our kids) are going to see these kids all the time, so they should be excited to play."

The Lynx (5-2, 4-1 District 2) currently sit in a second-place tie in the district standings with Charles City (4-3, 4-1), but the Comets own the tiebreaker because of the head-to-head win. Both are chasing second-ranked Clear Lake (7-0, 5-0), which boasts a 21-game regular-season win streak heading into its match-up this week with Hampton-Dumont (4-3, 3-2).

Webster City and Clear Lake will meet in Week 9, just five days before the postseason will begin.

Iowa Falls-Alden (3-4, 1-4) is not in the postseason picture, but that doesn't mean the Cadets won't be motivated when they step onto the field Friday night. After starting the year with a pair of non-district wins, IF-A took steps backwards in each of the first three weeks of the district season before finally getting in the win column against Algona. It dropped a 42-0 decision to Clear Lake last week.

Howard expects to see a solid offense from the Cadets and he hopes his squad will be able to bounce back after it was handled by Charles City a week ago.

"We had a real good week of practice. They didn't come out flat or pouting about (the loss)," Howard said. "(IF-A) is pretty good on offense. They've got a good offensive line and a good back that runs behind them.

"We do not want to back into the Clear Lake game or the substate game. We need to be playing good football."

The Cadets rely on sophomore running back Scott Hartema (673 yards, 8 touchdowns) to move the chains. Hartema - a speedy and powerful back - had four consecutive 100-yard games during one stretch this season, one of those a 200-yard effort.

Quarterback Nate Adams (57 of 96, 703 yards, 5 TDs, 5 interceptions) also has to be respected. But his favorite target when the season began - senior speedster Mitch Wagoner - has been out since Week 3 with a broken arm. Wagoner still leads the Cadets' receiving group in receptions (20), yards (260) and touchdowns (3).

The Cadets problems haven't been on the offensive side of the ball though. They averaged nearly 30 points per game in their first four district games, yet lost three of them. District foes are scoring 37 points per game against them.

That could play right into Webster City's hands with its single-wing scheme and balanced rushing attack. If things are going well, then expect to see tailback Ben Rasmussen (791 yards, 10 TDs), spinback Dalton Keane (469 yards, 6 TDs) and wingback Clay Nessa (320 yards, 2 TDs) all receive ample carries.

The Lynx rushed for 409 yards in last year's 50-14 beating of the Cadets. Known for its aggressive and stunting defense, IF-A may change things up this week, Howard said.

"They may completely change their defense for the single-wing, and I hope they do," he said. "I hope they put all their kids in positions they're not used to playing."

This will be the 96th all-time meeting between the two programs, dating back to 1904. Webster City holds a 65-26-4 upper-hand.

========================

The Daily Freeman Journal

P.O. Box 490

Webster City, IA 50595

There is nothing new about football's formation-du-jour: the Wildcat.

2009-10-15T22:24:00.003-05:00

Jim Rapier, The Times-Picayune, October 15, 2009 12:28 a.m.

At some point, you always come back to the basics.

No matter how people may try to spin it, there is nothing new about football's formation-du-jour: the Wildcat.

If you have watched a few games in the past few seasons, you've likely seen teams line their best offensive playmaker (running back/receiver) up where the quarterback would stand in shotgun formation. The quarterback splits wide in the formation, and the player in the backfield takes a shotgun snap and can run, handoff or pass. Most teams seem to favor running out of it.

It's clever and unique-looking and effective, but all the Wildcat formation has done is really put football in a time warp -- back to the basics, back to its roots.

Welcome to single-wing football, which was invented by Pop Warner in the early 1900s.

The offense consisted of an unbalanced seven-man offensive line and three players -- fullback, tailback, quarterback -- lined up in the backfield and a wingback off the strong side end. Plays began with a shotgun snap to the tailback, fullback or quarterback, and each one had options to run, handoff, pitch or pass. There was misdirection, trap-blocking, sweeps, and option reads.

Sound familiar? Ask Ehret Coach Billy North, whose team used the Wildcat formation and faced it in last week's game against Chalmette.

"It's the single-wing, " North said after the game. "It's been around for like 50 years. It isn't some new invention. We have great player in (running back) Anthony Garrison, and we're sure to put the ball in his hands when he takes the direct snap."

So, the next time you see the Wildcat formation or even the spread-option offense -- more than likely at this week's prep games -- enjoy your trip through time and don't forget to thank Pop Warner.

=====================

Times-Picayune

New Orleans, LA

Pete Carroll & The Single-Wing

2009-10-15T22:01:00.006-05:00

Oct. 13, 2009

Click to Watch P. Carroll Press Conf. (20:00)

Single-Wing Discussion Starts at the 5:45 mark.

COACH CARROLL: Well, it's fun to get back going here in game week with a good break. We come back a little stronger and feeling good about that and have some guys returning that we haven't had. Kind of livens up things on the practice field, which is nice.

We look forward to this heck of a challenge that we're getting ready to go to Notre Dame. A trip that we're going to leave early, leave on Thursday to get out there and get situated and see if we can't put together a really good game for these guys.

This is the hottest Notre Dame team we've seen in a couple of years. All phases are hammering at you. Their offense is loaded. Defense is attacking and aggressive and making things happen. They've just had an extraordinary start to the season with great wins and drama everywhere, and big plays. All kinds of things.

I know they're going to be as pumped as they've been in a long time. We'll anticipate when we arrive on campus here on Friday. I'm sure we'll have a nice little crowd to welcome us, and we'll be gracious as always and look forward to it. So it's going to be a great weekend, and really just fired up about being in the middle of the preparation for this game.

Q. Where would you rank Notre Dame's passing attack among all the teams you've played this year?

COACH CARROLL: You can't be much better than they are. The efficiency he's throwing at right now, Clausen's on it. He's finding receivers. They're protecting him well. He's keeping the negative plays down. Only two picks in all the plays he's made so far. These guys are loaded.

I haven't seen the rest of the schedule, but up until now, this is the best passing team by far that we've seen. They pose the biggest challenge, and they've got big play guys either coming out of the back field or the tight end spot. Of course, Golden Tate is just having a ridiculous start to the season. So this is a very, very good attack, and they're challenging the heck out of us.

Q. You've got a lot of injuries. What does it mean to have Brian Baucham back after that terrible auto accident?
COACH CARROLL: Yeah, he just personally inspires the heck out of me. The screwball that he is, to be able to bounce back from this thing and tell the doctors I'm okay, I can practice. He's got marks and, you know, things all over him that could be attended to. He didn't care. He was just practicing. He had a great day yesterday.

So he's ready to go if he can manage it through the week. Just an inspiration, one, that he's alive, and two, that he's just kicking and fighting to get back out. Pretty cool story about this guy. So he'll be available to us if that works out. Just to have him back on the practice field is pretty cool.

Q. How do you prepare the team to play in different weather conditions? It's really cold at Notre Dame and the possibility of playing in snow?

COACH CARROLL: Couple of our guys have a little more impact on the spiritual side of things. They've worked it out so we'll get some rain today and tomorrow, and that is the best we can possibly do, you know.

Other than that, it's raining on their side, too. It's snowing or whatever it is. Of the temperature's going to be the same. We understand that. It's just how you deal with it in terms of what you can control. The weather isn't one of those things. Though we've had a little help this week.

I think it's what you make of it, you know. We can't control what they do. We can't control what the weather does. We can't control what the officials are going to do. Of we can just control our own stuff and that's where we're going to maximize our focus on that.

Q. How can you try to simulate weather conditions in practice though?

COACH CARROLL: We ask for it to rain and it does (laughing). We're not going to hose them down though if you're wondering. We thought of turning the sprinklers on, but we're not going to do that.

Q. (Indiscernible) what's the evaluation?

COACH CARROLL: They've played against some pretty good offensive players and schemes and things. Guys that have made a lot of things happen in their games and made some dramatic finishes to make it close, you know. So the drama's been on both sides of the playing field. They've had the benefit of playing a bunch of games at home and that's helped them, I know.

They have found a way, you know, to be involved and make it close and make it wild and all that, but also being on the top end of that thing. So I know that their defensive side of the ball are very aggressive. They are getting after you, they're trying to force the issue. Sometimes in doing that, you do get exposed a little bit. There have been some plays made against them. All in all they've caused people problems for the most part.

Q. Does their running attack complement their pass attack at all?

COACH CARROLL: They're a team that's interesting. They're willing to throw the ball a bunch if they think that's what's necessary in the game plan. Sometimes they'll go the other way. They're not a set style that you can tell what they're going to do in a game plan.

The Michigan State game they came out and played empty the whole first quarter, you know, ran the ball like twice or something and were moving the ball up and down the field. They adjusted from there and did some other things.

This is a team that you have to see what they think of you. It's going to take a while. We have to be flexible early in the game and adapt. See if we can get situated once they declare how they want to play it from that side of the ball.

That's how they've always been. It is kind of a wait and see what they think they need to do to win every time we play them.

Q. Have they had a running game or the running has been so so?

COACH CARROLL: Yeah, Armando Allen is a good football player. When they put Golden Tate back there, they run like crazy. They have a good running back, an experienced offensive line. They have all the schemes.

If anything, they're riding the strength of what Jimmy Clausen brings to them. They're such a high efficiency throwing game, why not? They're putting up big time yards and all that, so.

But the running game is definitely there. One that has enough variations to it, it taxes you scheme wise. They do enough that they're not just a zone team. They do a lot of things. So, they're fairly, deeply committed to the whole wildcat system and all of that. With Allen and with Tate back there, they've got a lot of different things that they can do. They give you a very difficult spectrum of things to prepare for.

Q. We've seen a lot of Wildcat teams this year. Is that something that you guys have ever considered?

COACH CARROLL: We've done it before. The last time we did it, we lost (smiling). That was Oregon State. So we haven't done it since. It's a terrific system. It's single wing football. Those of you guys that go way back, you can appreciate what that is, you know. It's a great system of offense if you have the right guy at the trigger position back there. It's interesting to see that it's not just a factor in college football, but the NFL's very much in tune to it as well. So it's just another phase of ball that we're going through.

We know all about it. We practice it, we understand how it works and all that, we just haven't felt the need to go to it yet.

Q. From a technical standpoint, what happened to the single wing from what it was in those days and UCLA?

COACH CARROLL: I think I would guess that there wasn't enough terrific players to play the tailback spot. That position is so demanding. Gary Beben was the guy probably in the early part of his career one on one were they done by then? That's the kind of guy that you need. You need a great football player that can run it and throw it.

If it's just a running game, then you have to load it up and stop it. But if you have a guy that can run and throw the thing, then it really becomes something. Right now it's a change up mode of offense. I would bet we're going to see in the next couple of years that shift. There will be some guys that will take over.

You can see what Tim Tebow's doing. He's a guy that has been able to do it all of it. Run the ball up inside, run it on the edge and throw the football. That makes it a championship offense. But there aren't many guys like that around.

Q. Was Vincent at Oregon like that?

COACH CARROLL: Yeah, he could have been. They didn't use it as much in the same fashion it was being used now. It's more of an option type of an offense. In the old days it was a very power oriented offense, where a quarterback was like another fullback, two fullbacks in essence that led plays. It was really a difficult offense. I happen to know because I used to be a single wing tailback, so...

Q. When you talk to your high school coach, would you talk to him about some of the stuff defending him?

COACH CARROLL: No, not necessarily. No. But if it continues to be a rage and people start to mix it in all situations, the variation of the spread offense, the fact that there are people in the shotgun is an offshoot of it. But until that guy becomes the downhill runner and the thrower it's not quite the same system.

The cool thing about it was the variations that came out of that offense because of the intricacies of numbers of backs in the back field. And Florida's pretty close with some of the things that they're doing right now.

Q. How do you prepare for a guy like Golden Tate?

COACH CARROLL: It's really a challenge. Really a challenge because they move them in all their receiver spots, and then he winds up behind the center getting the football. He is like a running back at receiver. He's a bigger, stronger, more physical guy when the ball's in his hands. So they have realized that. They've used him all over.

So we just have to keep track of him and know the tendencies when he moves. There are so many things you can do it's very difficult. They've done a really good job of utilizing their special guys, and he's the beneficiary of that.

Q. Any changes this week?

COACH CARROLL: We moved a few guys around. Curtis McNeal is the best guy to put back to force, you know. We use him to simulate the speed when he's in the back field. Other than that we're using different receivers to try to match them up.

Q. So much focus on that offense, how about their defense? Is this the best they've been in the last couple of years?

COACH CARROLL: They're the most aggressive they've been. Last year they started really coming after people, and this year they've picked up on that. They're pressuring well over half of the time which is a tremendous percentage of pressure from the defense. In certain games they'll get it up higher than that.

So what that causes is they're taking chances to come after you. It's very aggressive, and they cause bad plays. You can protect really well, then there are some are opportunities, because the coverage is more limited.

It's just whether or not we're able to handle the heat that they bring. If we can, we can have a chance at moving the football. If they can't, they can control the game and cause some bad things and create some negative plays and give you issues that you don't want. They're doing a nice job now. It's difficult.

Q. As they blitz so much, does that open them up to get blown for a big play?

COACH CARROLL: Yeah, there's risk and reward here. That's part of it. When you're committing people to the line of scrimmage, there is more space in the secondary. That's why protection is so important and the rhythm of the quarterback is so important to get the ball out so you don't get hit and disrupted.

The whole point of pressuring is to disrupt the offense. If you can minimize that there are opportunities to make plays, and we have to create some space and see if we can do that.

Q. Are Matt Barkley and Ronald Johnson where you want them to be right now?

COACH CARROLL: No, they've hardly worked together. (Ronald's) missed six, seven weeks. And that's not there right now. Ronald is a great worker, he'll stay late and come early and do all of that. But there's no way these guys are as sharp as they will be in time. They'll be better.

Q. Talk about Mitch Mustain's improvement? I think I read in the paper --

COACH CARROLL: Yeah, I've been surprised a couple of different times with Mitch. He's really on it right now. He's throwing the ball beautifully. I just don't know why he can't explain why. He just feels so much more comfortable now and better prepared and more confident throwing the football. There was a time there where he was struggling. That's why he was in the position that he was in, but he's just elevated.

So this has happened a couple of times. We've seen between Aaron Corp and Mitch they've kind of changed spots. So it's clear. This is not hard to see it. Mitch has just elevated his play. He's in position to get in the game a little sooner than Aaron this next time out.

Q. Do you have the feeling that there is an additional sense of urgency on their side that maybe this is the one they almost have to win?

COACH CARROLL: I don't know about have to win. But I know that this is the team that they've had the most success with coming into our game. They know they've got experience. We know they've got fire power. They have the confidence of being able to hang in very difficult games and come back and win and all of that. All that just adds to your mindset. They've got to be just about as strong as they've been in years.

With that, I would think that they're anticipating their best chance to be on top of this thing. So I don't know about have to at all. I know that they would love to. It's a big deal. I'm sure it's been a long time for them. So they'll give us everything they've got. This will be a tremendous match up. Hopefully we'll be ready.

Q. How's Stafon Johson doing and how's the dynamic changed on the team?

COACH CARROLL: Well, I just talked to his mom before coming in. He's really doing well. He's sleeping extremely better than he did when he had some of the equipment in him. And really looking forward to quite possibly getting out tomorrow if everything works out right.

That's a great accomplishment for him. He's going to be pretty comfortable and free to do a lot of stuff. He's in such good shape right now. There is still a process for all of the recovery of all of the intricacies here. But he's going to be out and about and all of that, so we're thrilled for him.

All of the guys that have had a chance to see him and been around him have been uplifted by his spirit. He's amazing. He's amazing. He's blown away the doctors with his ability to recover and his strength and courage and toughness and all that. It's just accelerated everything.

So hopefully he'll come out of here feeling pretty good. In the next couple of weeks it will be really important to see where his recovery goes and what stage he's at. The main thing is he's feeling better. He's going to start exercising. He's just about back with us. So we can't wait to see him.

Q. Where is he with his voice?

COACH CARROLL: He's not able to do anything yet with that. This is something that they're waiting for. I don't have any idea what the timeline is on that. It's something they're not allowing him to even test in any way.

I've asked him in the middle of the night are you whispering to see? And he's been very disciplined about it. He's done a great job in the preparation and the rehab. Hopefully he'll get extraordinarily good results, soon.

Q. (Indiscernible)?

COACH CARROLL: Yeah, I think it's going to turn out. We'll wait to see in the next couple of days, but I think it's going to turn out to be a medical whatever that's called, a medical situation so that he can get out of having to finish these classes.

He's going to have a choice what he wants to do next year. So we'll figure all that out in time. But I'm glad he's got options whether to come back or go on to the NFL. We'll wait and see on that one.

Q. So he's going to get a medical red shirt?

COACH CARROLL: There is a big process to go through. But he does fall into the category where he's eligible to get his year back.

Q. It seemed that you got settled into Joe McKnight and Allen Bradford which is kind of a nice push.

COACH CARROLL: We've been looking towards that for a couple of weeks now to see how that fits. We've always liked the change in guys and the different dimensions that players bring. Allen certainly does run downhill, and he's physical and all of that. He has great speed to get in good places.

Joe's off to a great start this season I've had the one two punch. The one, two, three punch. Whatever it takes. So I still feel like we're developing and we're still kind of in progress, a work in progress and putting it together.

There is a chance that that could take hold here, you know. I'm anxious to see how C.J. Gable comes in, and what Curtis McNeal can do as well, so we're working on it.

Q. Bradford was asked last game and he said he didn't think he was productive. He's missing cuts or something?

COACH CARROLL: Yeah, he can get better. I think that's a good assessment for him. Just being humble and all of that. He had a good game last week out. But he'll continue to get better, you know. He's trying to find his style.

We really want him to be aggressive and attack the line of scrimmage. As he's seeking that out, sometimes he's making the decision to run in, and guys run over guys. So that's what we're talking about there. He's still a fairly young running back for us. He hasn't carried the ball that much. He's only going to get better. And we're jacked that he does bring some real special dimensions, you know.

He certainly can score, and when he's coming downhill at you, he's a load. So we're hoping this will turn into a really big factor for us.

===========================

FastScripts by ASAP Sports

Dolphins ran over Jets and humbled Ryan

2009-10-15T21:56:00.002-05:00

The way Miami runs it, the "Wildcat" formation is no gimmick. It's a straight power running game, and a defense better bring hard hats, work boots and sledgehammers or risk getting run over at the point of attack the way the Jets did in their 31-27 loss to the Dolphins on Monday night.

A week earlier, you could hear the confidence in the voice of Jets coach Rex Ryan when he suggested the Fish were beating up conventional defenses, but it would be a different story against his blitzing schemes. But as he watched the Dolphins run through his pride and joy to regain the lead for the third time in the fourth quarter alone, Ryan was in such a state of disbelief that he neglected to use his timeouts to stop the clock and leave time for his offense to respond.

When Miami's Ronnie Brown ran past Jets linebacker Bart Scott for the winning touchdown, only six seconds remained on the clock. Looking back, Ryan admitted to reporters in a conference call Tuesday afternoon, "I would have handled it differently. But I do have a lot of confidence in that group. I assumed we'd stop them ... I should have been more mindful, but I knew we could stop them."

Except the Jets didn't come close to stopping the Dolphins in the fourth quarter. Ryan said he could recall something like that happening to his powerful Baltimore defense once against Cincinnati. "I'm mad," he said. "That's unacceptable…Absolutely, it was a humbling experience."

A little dose of humility for Ryan and a serving of anger directed toward his defense in practice this week might turn out to be the best thing that could happen to the 3-2 Jets, who were full of themselves after a 3-0 start that included a win over New England. Now, they're in a tough division race with the Patriots and Dolphins and have a division game coming up against Buffalo on Sunday at home.

Ryan plans to ask his team to go full speed in practice for a better picture and better preparation. What he needs to ask from his defense is a greater commitment to physical play.

Just loading up to blitz by scheming to create a numbers advantage isn't enough. The Jets haven't sacked a quarterback in two weeks, which is one reason a backup like Chad Henne was able to look as good as New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees did a week earlier. They might get the ball away quickly, but somebody has to get enough pressure to hit them in the act.

Same thing against the run. Ryan noted the Dolphins' 151 rushing yards actually were more than 30 yards below their average. The "Wildcat" is a version of the old single-wing and is effective because the quarterback is replaced by an extra blocker at the point of attack. Ryan was loathe to admit that the Dolphins' offensive line flat-out handled the Jets defensive line physically, but that's exactly what happened. They got pounded on Miami's winning drive, and that has to change.

On the bright side, wide receiver Braylon Edwards dazzled a few days after the traded that brought him to the Jets, and rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez bounced back from a bad game, though he often holds the ball too long while searching for a receiver. But as heartening as that might be, the Jets are going nowhere unless their defense backs up Ryan's bluster.

connections New York Jets Miami Dolphins NFL Chad Pennington Rex Ryan
That means winning the physical battles that were lost in Miami. Ryan's guys better work it out the next two weeks against the Bills and out in Oakland because they have less than three weeks until the rematch with the Dolphins at the Meadowlands.

As Ryan said, "This is a setback. We take one step back to make a huge leap forward. The proof will be in the pudding to see how we perform these next several weeks."

=====================

Newsday
235 Pinelawn Road
Melville, NY 11747

Conway Springs-Garden Plain preview: Game of the century? Probably not.

2009-10-15T21:46:00.002-05:00

By Tracy McCue
GateHouse News Service
Thu Oct 15, 2009, 02:52 PM CDT

Wellington, Kan. - Conway Springs head football coach Matt Biehler made an interesting comment.

"Oh, it's another game on the schedule," he said of the upcoming home game with Garden Plain.

Friday night's district opener between No. 1 rated Conway Springs and No. 2 Garden Plain is anything but "another game on the schedule," and he knows it.

But if one looks at this rivalry from a long-term perspective over the past decade, this game really isn’t that much different than the Conway Springs vs. Garden Plain games of years’ past.

It seems it doesn’t matter when these two teams play, it is "always" a big game. It's has almost become a cliche.

There are plenty of high school rivalries across the Kansas landscape. But rarely is there one where both teams are this good this close together.

"I can only think of one, Rossville and Silver Lake," Biehler said.

The history bears no repeating. Both have won the last two state championships, and have resulted in ending each other's long winning streaks during this decade.

The kids know each other, marry girls from the opposing towns, have family get togethers with one another. And on that one given Friday, perhaps twice, they want to bash each other's brains in.

And as always, it's hard to distinguish just who might be a favorite going into this game.

Little has separated the two as far as the schedule and statistics are concerned. No other Central Plains League team has been able to challenge the twin towers for years — with the exception of the 2008 season opener when Cheney upset Conway Springs.

Again this is the district opener and both teams are 6-0. No other Central Plains League opponent has come within 20 points of these two in 2009.

Both schools have big kids and lots of depth. They all are well entrenched with how they do things.

As always, statistically, both teams are running roughshod over people.

The Owls, in particular, are averaging 53 points per game and has allowed just 42 points this season.

They run a variety of backs with Seth Klausmeyer, getting the bulk of the carries. He has rushed for 600 yards so far this year. Against Wichita Trinity, he sprinted for 202 yards on 18 carries.

Quarterback-wise Garden Plain is led by Thomas Bugner, who has passed for 768 yards this season and 11 touchdowns. He averages 130.7 points per game.

"He is a good big-sized quarterback and has the ability to make the big plays," Biehler said. “The key is to contain him.

Biehler said the game will be won on the line. The team that has the advantage in the trenches should win this game.

For Garden Plain, that means stopping Conway Springs’ misdirection in the single wing.

The last time these two met, Garden Plain didn’t come close.

In the state semifinals, Conway Springs avenged an earlier 21-7 loss to Garden Plain, with a 45-25 throttling. Conway Springs ran for big yards — 464 of them to be exact — and five different backs rushed for good yardage. It was a blowout of mammoth proportions.

For two programs that had little separating them, there was plenty of separation that night.

It's been a streaky series.

Conway Springs dominated Garden Plain with nine straight wins dating back to 1998.

But in 2005, there was a shift that saw Garden Plain win five straight.

Last November in the playoffs, Conway Springs broke the streak.

But is Friday's game really that big between these two? After all Conway Springs lost the 2008 regular season game only to win the state championship more than a month later.

Of course it is. It always is. It's that darn town down the road thing, dang it.

But aside from all the statewide attention and the intense rivalry, at its core is a district loss. A loss makes things more difficult for the loser.

Last year, Conway Springs was thrown in a tougher playoff bracket than Garden Plain and ended up playing Wichita Collegiate, Beloit and others before getting back to the Owls.

Still the Cards got the last laugh.

"It's a fun game to play," Biehler said. "The kids are excited and there's a lot of buzz in the community.

"Throughout the season, the kids have really been good at focusing on one game at a time. But, preparing for this game, I must admit is always a lot more exciting."

Belle Plaine head football coach Brian Seba said the Dragons are looking forward to next season.

It was a joke, but there is some truth to it. The Dragons play, no doubt, the hardest district schedule in 3A.

The Dragons play Medicine Lodge which is 4-2 this Friday. Then it's Conway Springs and Garden Plain, No. 1 and 2 in the state.

Medicine Lodge may be the easiest team of the bunch.

"They have a new coach and like to run a spread offense, which is typical for young coaches under the age of 40," Seba said.

Belle Plaine just got off losing to Cheney 57-0.

"That was the first time this season where I felt we truly got beat," Seba said. "Usually we play really tough defense, but tend to make mental mistakes in certain situations and give up the big play.

Friday we were beat for all four quarters."

Tyler Jantz, the starting wide receiver, is expected to be out with a hip flexer. Four players have missed practice this week because of sickness. But are expected back by game time.

=======================
Wellington Daily News
113 W. Harvey
Wellington, KS 67152

/

Davis runs Wild(cats)

2009-10-15T21:32:00.002-05:00

By Russell Korando

On a night better suited for waterfowl, the rain and mud of Luxembourg Field rolled right off the Wildcats' backs and they barged their way into the state record book.

After rain saturated St. Charles County for 48 hours last week, Wright City traveled to Orchard Farm to meet the Eagles in an Eastern Missouri Conference game. The field was a soggy mess, and just lifting a foot out of the quagmire took a lot of effort. Players tackled in the middle of the field splashed water a few feet high.

It was a running team's worst nightmare, right?

As it turned out, the pass-orientated offense of the Eagles got bogged down, while the Wildcats ran their single wing to perfection. Junior running back Trent Davis followed fullback Joey Quesenberry's seal blocks on the edge on several plays, and the offensive line of Wyatt Mohrmann, Jake Zumwalt, Andrew Sherman, Kyle Lewis and Nick Reese opened the door for Davis to have a record-setting night.

Davis carried the ball 43 times and gained 466 yards rushing and the Wildcats bludgeoned the Eagles 42-20. Davis' rushing total was the fourth best single-game performance in state history. CBC's Rayon Simmons holds the state record with 533 yards, set in 2007.

"They did a great job of focusing in and doing a great job of making holes," said Wright City coach James Weir. "I told them before the game that the team that won would be the one that did not care that it was cold and wet."

There's an old saying, 'even the longest journey starts with a single step'. Davis' record-setting night started with a 1-yard gain. The Eagles had already scored a touchdown and led 7-0. But then Davis gained four yards . . . then six. His longest run of the night was a 77-yard touchdown that gave the Wildcats a 20-7 lead in the second quarter.

"It was raining all day, but we weren't going to let that stop us," Davis said. "We were having fun out there. The line did a great job and made the holes for me. It was slippery, but we somehow managed to keep our footing and get everything we needed."

Davis has scored 26 of his team's 34 touchdowns this year. He's rushed for 1,769 yards and averages more than 9 yards per carry. He broke Jed Hill's single-season rushing yards record of 1,423, set in 2002.

Twice, the Wildcats had 1-play possessions because of a combination of Davis' running and his teammates' blocking.

"It is nice, but we do not get too excited about individual accomplishments until after the season," Weir said. "The most important thing is that we did what we needed to do to win the game."

Early this season, the Wildcats started using the single wing formation, and the offense has clicked ever since. The single wing is so old an offensive concept, that it was on the critically endangered offenses list. But if the Wildcats' success gains a foothold, other teams are sure to follow, just as they did with the spread offense.

"I don't know what it's called, but it's powerful," Davis said smiling on Friday.

Weir said Davis' success is because he's an unselfish person who works hard in practice and trusts his teammates. And he's not alone. Quarterback Zac Kaibel and receiver Deon Bradshaw are also talented offensive players who excel in their roles. Kaibel had a 40-yard run on the Wildcats' opening series Friday.

The Wildcats' four-game winning streak and all of those yards Davis gained last week won't mean much if they lose their next three games. They begin play in Class 2 District 5 this week against Centralia, which Weir said was the No. 1 football team in the state, classes 1 through 3.

"I told them you have to win two of three (district games) - plain and simple," Weir said. "Survive and advance!"

========================

Suburban Journals
14522 South Outer Forty Rd.

Town and Country, MO 63017

Blue Darters hold on

2009-10-10T16:37:00.002-05:00

Apopka loses 3 fumbles but manages to top Miami Jackson
By Sam Gardner

Staff reporter

October 3, 2009

APOPKA — Apopka had a hard time holding onto the ball, but they were able to secure a victory Friday night at Roger Williams field, defeating Miami Jackson 29-15 to advance to 5-0 on the season.

The Blue Darters put the ball on the turf six times in the victory, losing three fumbles in the first half.

"We played about as bad as we can play, but we ran 40 offensive plays," Apopka Coach Rick Darlington said. "We knew if we could keep running plays we might be able to wear them down, and the defense played a lot better in the second half."

Junior running back Tom Smith muffed the game's opening kickoff, and the Generals (4-1) recovered the ball at the Apopka 18. Five plays later, an Alejandro Davila field goal put Jackson up 3-0.

Smith finished the game with 119 yards and three touchdowns on 18 carries.

On the second possession, the Blue Darters drove 76 yards in 13 plays, but quarterback Keon Brooks fumbled the ball at the Jackson 2-yard line to hand the ball back over to the Generals.

After forcing a Jackson punt, the Blue Darters offense took the field. This time, Quay Barnes coughed the ball up on the first play of the drive for the third Apopka turnover in as many possessions.

"We've only turned it over like once on a fumble all year, but today we struggled," Darlington said. "It's just fundamentals."

Jackson jarred the ball loose again on the next Apopka rush, but Smith recovered his own fumble, and seven plays later took a Brooks handoff six yards for the Blue Darters' first score.

A halftime jersey switch may have helped the Blue Darters to victory. After playing the first half in alternate black jerseys, Apopka came out for the second half in blue.

"Whenever we play in the black we're a little bit shaky, so at halftime I decided that's it they're retired," Darlington said. "We may burn them at midfield."

The Apopka offense finally got moving in the fourth quarter. A Donte Williams interception set Smith up for an 8-yard touchdown run, and after a Generals punt, Smith scored again from 28 yards out to put the Blue Darters up 29-15.

Barnes had 86 yards rushing and Brooks had 83 on the ground for Apopka.

Apopka 29, Miami Jackson 15

FIRST — J: Davila 28 FG. SECOND — A: Smith 6 run (Brooks run); J: Jasper 99 kick return (kick failed); A: Griffon 8 pass from Brooks (Catron kick); J: Mintz 5 pass from Therezie (kick failed). FOURTH — A: Smith 8 run (Catron kick); A: Smith 28 run (Catron kick).

==================
Varsity Orlando

.

Single Wing the building block for Wildcat system

2009-10-10T14:52:00.003-05:00

By RON GRILLO
Telegram Correspondent

Sunday, October 04, 2009

There’s one thing in football, college and pro, that makes me gag, and it’s hearing someone refer to the “Wildcat.”

That is supposedly the newest creation on the offensive side of the ball.

The always over-the-top Mike Tirico on Monday Night Football gushed unabashedly, intimating the “Wildcat” was the most innovative imaginative aspect in football in recent memory.

Folks, the “Wildcat” has been around for more than a century.

It probably deserves the title as football’s first offense.

It has, however, before last season, been referred to as the Single Wing.

Jim Thorpe was a Single Wing tailback for the Carlisle Indians nearly 100 years ago.

The essence of the Single Wing is you put your best runner, usually not your quarterback, and have him take a direct snap.

It’s based on raw power.

Nobody has lined up strictly like the old Single Wing, but there’s a close facsimile. Some teams split the player who would be the wingback. The ends both can be split.

We ran the Single Wing untra-successfully for two years in grammar school when I attended St. Charles Borromeo in suburban Philadelphia.

I was the fullback in the formation, standing a yard in front of tailback Larry Sullivan. I could be standing to his right or left depending on the formation called, which could be as simple as “Off-tackle smash left.”

Our quarterback Doug DeCarlo called the plays. He usually was situated as close to the line of scrimmage as conventional quarterbacks are, but usually in the gap between the guard and tackle.

Besides calling plays, Doug’s most important role was as a blocker.

The other person in the backfield was our wingback, Bob “Hoagie” Haggerty. The wingback always lined up one yard behind and one yard outside the end on whichever side the formation was called.

The wingback could go out for passes, block for the tailback and fullback or run the ball himself on reverses, inside and outside. There was never anything prettier in our offense than the wingback winding up with the ball on a reverse.

There was plenty of misdirection but most of all, the focus was on stuffing the ball down our opponents’ throats with power running and blocking. I could get the snap from Richie Boyle, plunge into the line and hand the ball to Doug who could then pitch it wide to Larry or hand it off to Hoagie.

The year we were in eighth grade, St. Charles went through a regular season nine-game schedule unbeaten and unscored upon. The aforementioned were aided nobly by talented players such as Warren “Butch” Winterbottom, Nick Robak, Joe “Bozo” Bozone — and the three Frannys- Gallo, Cosello and Lake.

The next time you hear someone refer to the “Wildcat,” prove how superior you are by saying out loud or to yourself, “It’s the Single Wing, stupid.”

======================
Rocky Mount Telegram
P.O. Box 1080
Rocky Mount, NC 27802

.

Tigers defense devours Warriors

2009-10-10T14:40:00.003-05:00

Edwardsville forces five turnovers in homecoming win
BY CAMERON HOLLWAY
Special to the News-Democrat

Contrary to what you might have heard, the Edwardsville Tigers did not have their homecoming dance in the Granite City backfield. It just seemed like it.

The Tigers had three sacks, forced five turnovers and consistently put a body on Granite City's biggest weapon, Lavonce James, in a 34-6 homecoming victory Friday night.

Senior linebacker Bryan Reller was a one-man wrecking crew, with an interception, a fumble recovery and a sack; and fellow linebacker Ryan Knight had a sack and a fumble recovery for the Tigers, who limited Granite City to 167 total yards.

Edwardsville improved to 4-2 overall and 2-2 in Southwestern Conference play on the strength of a defense that limited James to 12 yards rushing on 11 attempts. James, who had a team-high 455 yards rushing before Friday, was caught in the backfield or for no gain on six of his 11 carries.

"The defensive line did a really good job on him," Reller said. "We considered him their best player, so we focused on bottling him up. We also had linebackers spying on him on every play, and we did a good job with that."

Four of Edwardsville's five touchdowns were the result of turnovers, three of those on drives following a Granite City (1-5, 1-3) turnover -- the final one a fumble recovery in the end zone by Sean Keasey.

"We put the ball on the ground and dropped it all night long," Granite City coach J.D. Lorton said. "It was a recurring theme, and you can't win ball games doing that. ... We were caught on our heels most of the evening. They definitely were the aggressor and we weren't."

The Tigers built a 21-6 halftime lead on three short drives, each set up by a turnover.

Midway through the first quarter, Reller positioned the Tigers for a one-play drive by intercepting a James pass at the Granite City 44 and returning it 38 yards to the 6. From there, Reggie Box scampered into the end zone, and Sam Fink's kick made it 7-0.

Edwardsville's next drive wasn't much more difficult, as Box recovered a Cody Spanberger fumble at the Granite City 28 to put the Tigers in motion. Box did it all from there, going 20 yards on a draw play, then overcoming an illegal procedure call with a 13-yard draw when he ran through the middle, bounced left and raced to the pylon.

Fink's strong leg on kickoffs and a stout Edwardsville defense kept the Warriors pinned deep for most of the first half. In fact, Granite City's first snap on Edwardsville's side of the field was with 4:30 remaining in the second quarter. As if they knew they wouldn't get many chances, the Warriors made the most of the opportunity, Spanberger going 39 yards around the left corner and into the end zone.

Knight blocked the extra point, and it appeared Granite City would go into the half trailing by only eight points. But with 1:29 remaining, a bad snap in a shotgun formation hit James around the ankle, and an alert Knight pounced on it at the Granite City 37.

Edwardsville, a single-wing team that relies on a lot of deception in the backfield, had completed one pass for zero yards to that point, but junior quarterback Chase Westra proved he can throw the ball if he needs to. On three successive plays, he connected with Mason McBride, Josh White and Kaleb Schlueter for 7, 10 and 12 yards. Two plays later, on third-and-goal at the 5 and with 12 seconds left, Westra rolled right to look for a receiver, turned upfield and powered just over the goal line for the 21-6 halftime lead.

"We're working on the passing game," Westra said. "I'm not happy with how I'm throwing yet, but we're getting there. On the touchdown, I was rolling out and looking to hit an out route in end zone, but I saw an opening and then just took it."

Edwardsville didn't have an especially prolific offensive game, rushing for 227 yards on 47 carries and managing 32 yards through the air. But 240-pound junior running back Rodney Coe didn't play on offense because a hand injury has his left hand in a large cast. Box had a team-high 99 yards on 14 carries, Eric Vinyard added 56 yards on 10 totes, and Westra tallied 56 yards on 16 attempts.

Spanberger, a 185-pound junior, accounted for 75 percent of Granite City's offense, rushing for 125 yards on 17 carries.

The Tigers closed the door on any Granite City second-half hopes with an epic drive to open the third quarter. Keeping the ball exclusively on the ground, Edwardsville marched 71 yards on 12 plays, eating 4:50 off the clock and taking a 27-6 lead when Westra plunged in from 1-yard out.

Most of the damage in the drive was done behind the right side of the line, with center Brandon Bradford, right guard Andrew Ellington, right tackle Ethan Buford and tight end Garrett Jensen blowing the Warriors off the ball.

"We just methodically moved the ball down the field after making a couple of adjustments at halftime," Edwardsville coach Mark Bliss said. "We can throw if we have to, but it's just one of those things where we like to control the clock if we can and keep the ball in our hands."

=====================

Belleville News-Democrat
120 South Illinois

PO Box 427

Belleville, IL

62220

Smith leads Heights to rout

2009-10-10T14:29:00.002-05:00

BY matt browning
Eagle correspondent

After blowing a late lead to Great Bend a week ago, the word "finish" was used quite a bit in practice this past week for the Heights football team.

Finish plays. Finish drives. Finish tackles. Finish everything.

Following a 35-6 rout of North at Carpenter Stadium on Thursday, the Falcons were able to breathe a little easier and ease some of the pain from last week.

And did they ever finish.

Heights pounded out 372 yards of offense and scored on five of nine possessions, while holding the Redskins to 160 yards.

"We felt like we did everything we could to put us in position to win last week and we didn't do that," Heights coach Rick Wheeler said. "But I'm proud of how the kids prepared this week and we haven't had this kind of record in a while and the kids showed real maturity to bounce back the way they did."

Dreamus Smith led Heights powerful single-wing offense with 196 yards on the ground. He capped the Falcons' first two drives with touchdown runs of three and eight yards.

Along with Smith was Delmonte Ross, who added a 102 yards on just eight carries.

"The key for us was following our blocks and doing what the coaches have been telling us in practice," Smith said. "They told us all week that everybody blocks on offense and we did that tonight."

The focal point of North's offense is mobile quarterback Grail Brewster, but the only running Brewster did Thursday night was trying to escape Heights' dominating front seven.

Despite scoring the Redskins' only touchdown, Brewster was held in check by the Falcons, rushing for 10 yards on 12 attempts before being knocked out of the game at halftime with an undisclosed leg injury.

"They like to run to the inside the tackles, which was good of us because we can close up the middle fast," Heights defensive linemen Dominique Henderson said. "We were always right there and didn't let them go anywhere."

Heights (2-3) 7 13 8 7 — 35 North (1-4) 6 0 0 0 — 6

H—Smith 3 run (Zimmerman kick)

N—Brewster 2 run (kick failed)

H—Smith 8 run (Zimmerman kick)

H—Strand 29 pass from Moreland (kick failed)

H—Moreland 2 run (Taylor from Moreland)

H—Moreland 1 run (Zimmerman kick)

Individual Statistics

Rushing—Heights, Smith 25-196, Ross 8-102, Moore 4-33, Taylor 1-15, Deshazer 3-14, Moreland 7-9, Reed 1-3. North, B. White 12-80, Davis 10-17, Brewster 12-10, Dukes 1-5, K. Wright 1-(-5).

Passing—Heights, Moreland 3-9-51-1. North, Brewster 3-6-31-1, B. White 1-8-22-0.

Receiving—Heights, Strand 1-29, Taylor 1-15, Smith 1-2. North, Gray 1-22, C. Wright 1-17, B. White 2-14.

================

The Wichita Eagle

825 E. Douglas

P.O. Box 820

Wichita, KS

67201-0820

Dragons head south to Dickson

2009-10-10T14:24:00.002-05:00

Madill’s triplets as advertised in 35-7 romp at Conger Field
By John D. Montgomery Jr. - The Purcell Register
Published: Thursday, October 1, 2009 9:01 AM CDT

Purcell will take its show on the road to Dickson Friday night trying to right the ship after two straight losses.

The Dragons need to find their offensive groove, something that has been missing the past couple of Friday nights.

Dickson will operate out of the single wing when they have the football.

“It’s a really unusual offense,” head coach Mike Wilson admitted.

“But where we’ve got to get going is our offense and our offensive line. We haven’t blocked anyone for two weeks.

“We are who I said we were at the first of the year,” Wilson continued.

“We are pretty athletic. We can run a little bit but we lost some really good linemen that we have to replace.

“The first two games it looked like we found them. But the last two weeks we’ve regressed. I just hope its because of the people we’ve been playing.”

Last Friday night at Conger Field Madill’s triplets in Darryl Fields (5), Spencer Bond (8) and Kevin Roberts (2) put on quite an offensive show and thumped the now 2-2 Dragons, 35-7.

Fields didn’t wait very long before dancing in the Purcell end zone.

He took the games’ opening kickoff back 90 yards for a touchdown, giving Madill a 7-0 lead just seven seconds into the game.

He also scored on a 28-yard run in the second half and finished the night with 223 all purpose yards.

Bond scored on runs of three and 43 and he hit Roberts with a 17-yard touchdown pass.

Purcell trailed 28-0 when Damian Shea burst through the line for a six yard touchdown run followed by a Saul Ibarra PAT.

Purcell was limited to 60 yards rushing, led by Shea with 37.

Sophomore quarterback Cole Swayze completed five of 12 passes for 97 yards while rushing for 27.

“Technically, when you look at the film,” Wilson said, “it wasn’t as bad this week as it was the previous week at Lexington.

“We were much more aggressive. We hit better. We had guys where they were supposed to be. We just couldn’t make a play on their three stars.

“The little guy out on the edge (Roberts) and the two big guys (Bond and Fields) ran through our tackles repeatedly. We were rarely out of position. We just couldn’t get it done.

“Five and 8 are better players than we are,” Wilson said.

“We weren’t able to get anything going offensively. We played hard on defense and would keep them in check. Then they would big play us.”

Madill turned a fourth and 12 into a 13-yard gain. They faced a fourth and five and make six.

Late in the first quarter with Madill still leading only 7-0, the Wildcats again faced a crucial situation.

The made a fourth and four and just into the second period turned that into a 14-0 lead.

Fields finished with 124 yards rushing on 12 carries.

For the most part he was contained by the Dragon defense, but if he got into the secondary it was Katie bar the door.

“Until he went out I thought Garrett Goldsby was having one of his better games,” Wilson said.

Goldsby was battling illness and finally was too ill to continue.

Jon Chavira also left the game due to an injury and Dylan Wilson was only a part time player due to an injury.

“Todd Hudson played well. Cedric Polk played pretty well and (Micah) Estep did a pretty good job on defense,” Wilson said.

“As far as getting to where we needed to be, our secondary guys were there. They just couldn’t get him (Fields) to the ground,” the coach said.

“There’s a reason he’s a Division I guy. He’s 6’2” tall and 220 pounds and is the state sprint champion in the 100 and 200.”

Kickoff Friday at Dickson is set for 7:30 p.m.

The Comets are 3-1 with wins over Tishomingo, Kingston and Northeast. Their lone loss came at the hands of the Plainview Indians, 34-12.

Dragon notes:

The was no nominee for Offensive Player of the Week.

Mike Wilson nominated Cedric Polk as the Defensive Player of the Week.

Polk made 11 tackles against Madill.

The Defensive Lineman of the Week nominee was Shawn Madden, with four stops.

Micah Estep, who graded out at 82 percent, was the nominee for Offensive Lineman of the Week.

Polk was credited with the big hit of the week while Tanner Bell got the special teams player of the week.

===================
Purcell Register

P.O. Box 191

Purcell, OK 73080

Wheaton rides ups, down

2009-09-30T18:35:00.003-05:00

Saturday, Sept. 26, 2009

Defensive stops lift Knights to 2-2 record, 14-12 win over rival Kennedy on Friday
by James Peters Staff Writer
In a roughly 3-minute span of Friday's road contest with Kennedy, the players and coaches on the Wheaton High football team experienced a roller coaster ride of emotions. The coaster stopped at the top: the Knights' second win of the season, by a 14-12 score.

First, there was the thrill of halting the Cavaliers (1-3 overall, 1-1 Montgomery 3A Division) at the Wheaton 15-yard line with 2 minutes, 52 seconds left while clinging to two-point lead. Then came a fumble by running back Ricardo Mcleod, who had an otherwise strong game, on the Wheaton (2-2) 26 that gave the Cavaliers the ball right back.

A Kennedy penalty — one of many — and four plays later the Knights wore broad smiles, as Peter Ngoh's fourth down pass was batted down with 56.5 seconds left to seal Wheaton's victory.

"Those guys sucked it up big there," said Wheaton coach Joe Ortega of his defense, which sacked Ngoh for an 8-yard loss on third down to set up fourth and 19. "There were a couple of big plays there. … Josh Ramos came up and really slowed [Ndubisi Ezekoye on second down] before he got around the corner. That was really big. I was really proud of my defense sucking it up. They bailed us out at the end."

Wheaton's stand followed a rather sloppy game that saw both teams move the ball up and down the field but fail to score because of penalties and turnovers. Two of the bigger miscues came late in the third quarter and early in the fourth.

Trailing 14-6, Ngoh hooked up with Prince Alex Dawkins for a 70-yard touchdown; Dawkins got wide open behind a defense geared to stop Ezekoye. However, he was penalized 15 yards for taunting on the play, after he pointed his finger at a defender for the final 10-15 yards of his run to the end zone.

The penalty forced Kennedy to try its potentially game-tying 2-point conversion from 18 yards away instead of 3. The ensuing pass play failed, with Ngoh throwing too high for an open Nicolas Merriman in the end zone.

"We preached all week that the only way we're going to lose games is if we beat ourselves," said Ezekoye, who was held to 14 yards on 11 carries while playing quarterback, running back and wideout. "And as captain, I take that on myself. It was mental mistakes. It was very sloppy."

Wheaton, exclusively using its single-wing, unbalanced rushing attack, rambled 68 yards to the Kennedy 1-yard line, but on fourth and goal, the snap was too strong and was eventually recovered by Dawkins at the 18 with 8 minutes, 5 seconds left. The Cavaliers drove back to the Wheaton 15, but Ngoh's pass fell incomplete on fourth and 11.

That was followed by Mcleod's fumble and then the Wheaton defensive stop. Before that fumble, however, Mcleod was having a stellar performance, rushing for 211 yards and both touchdowns on 20 carries.

The first score was a 26-yard touchdown run that saw Mcleod bowl over lineman Rodrique Andele en route to the end zone with 7:43 left in the first quarter. The team's 2-point conversion failed.

After Kennedy tied the contest on a 6-yard run by Ngoh with 9:47 left in the second quarter, Mcleod raced 75 yards down the visitor's sideline for a 12-6 lead. Rayshawn Taylor followed with the 2-point run roughly a minute into the second half.

"The line did a great job of blocking for me and I just took the hole I was presented," Mcleod said. "This gives us a place in the playoffs now. This is what we want to do; go to the 2A state championship."

===================

The Gazette

9030 Comprint Court

Gaithersburg, MD
20877

Thompson, Perkins lead Valparaiso's domination of Crown Point

2009-09-26T20:18:00.003-05:00

PAUL JANKOWSKI - Times Correspondent Posted: Saturday, September 26, 2009 12:00 am

CROWN POINT When Matt Hittinger picked off Crown Point's Joe Hopman on the first play from scrimmage, one could sense it might be Valparaiso's night.

But no one could have expected the onslaught that followed Friday.

Valpo's powerful running game was in fifth gear in a 56-21 Duneland Athletic Conference victory over the Bulldogs.

The Vikings, again using multiple offensive formations, including the single wing, totaled 369 yards rushing, with seniors Michael Perkins and Nick Thompson picking up right where they left off last week against Chesterton.

Thompson carried 11 times for 168 yards with four touchdowns, the highlight a 65-yarder on the first play of the second half. Perkins carried 10 times for 166 yards with three rushing touchdowns and another on a 6-yard pass from Paul Andrie.

"Our line blocked extremely well and our running backs did what they do best," Valpo coach Mark Hoffman said. "Our two-headed monster did well today.

"Perkins is a thoroughbred from California and Thompson is a stallion who once lived in South Central. Electrifying, wasn't it?" Thompson's first touchdown came on an 8-yarder when he dove to the left pylon of the end zone, one play after Hittinger's game-opening interception. Thompson scored two more touchdowns, from 13 and 10 yards, running toward the same pylon.

"It became my best friend," Thompson said.

On his 65-yarder, Thompson appeared to stopped on the sidelines near the line of scrimmage. But he suddenly emerged from the scrum and raced to the end zone yet again.

"I felt their guys just kind of slowing down and I took the opportunity to give it everything I had left," Thompson said. "We're playing with passion now and we're finishing. I hope we're not peaking."

Valpo (3-3, 2-2) scored on its first eight possessions and led 42-7. The Bulldogs (2-4, 1-3) added two late touchdowns against the Vikings' reserve defense, including a 57-yarder by Pete Parks.

"It was ugly," C.P. coach Chip Pettit said. "But our kids are working at it. We'll get back to work."

Valpo again played without senior quarterback Zach Livovich, who has missed every game since the season opener against Penn.

"We've had a lot of adversity this year," Hoffman said. "But with our overall program and the leadership of our seniors, our kids give it all they have. Our seniors have played this season with a lot of ambition."

PREP FOOTBALL

Valparaiso 56, Crown Point 21

Nick Thompson and Michael Perkins scored four touchdowns apiece for the Vikings.

======================

The Times

601 W. 45th Ave.

Munster, IN 46321

======================

'Unique' offenses to collide

2009-09-22T20:57:00.003-05:00

Prep grid preview

By Dennis Grall ESCANABA - The antiquated single-wing collides with the new-fangled spread offense Friday in a battle of high-powered football offenses.

The No. 2 Gladstone Braves, who unveiled their spread version last season, host No. 3 Menominee and its' vaunted single-wing in the Great Northern Conference opener for both teams. It is Menominee's first game against a Michigan opponent this season.

Another GNC opener occurs at Escanaba, where the top-ranked Eskymos (3-0) host Marquette (0-3). In the Mid-Peninsula Conference Friday, Manistique (1-2) visits Norway (3-0).

At Menominee, coach Ken Hofer has claimed three state championships using an offense he has operated since 1964, posting an overall 293-118-3 record.

There is not much difference between the single-wing and the spread, the shotgun, run-and-shoot or the NFL Wildcat for that matter. They basically try to spread out the defense to open more seams and bigger holes for the backs and receivers.

Glenn (Pop) Warner is given vast credit for the single-wing, if not perhaps for inventing it but for popularizing it at Carlisle Indian School, which gained notoriety with legendary Jim Thorpe running wild nearly 100 years ago.

With Warner's version, and the one used by Hofer, slick backfield ball handling occurs behind pulling linemen operating in an unbalanced line.

The quarterback, primarily a blocking back who lines up several yards behind the line, is one of three or four players who can receive a direct snap from center.

Gladstone's spread snaps the ball directly to quarterback Ryan Jacques, who is about five yards behind the center, and either hands off to Kollin Jensen, runs the ball or passes.

"They are kind of unique offenses," said Gladstone coach Josh Mileski. "The spread has been the fad lately. The running game is blocked differently, but the cut back run is what both teams are looking for to get to the edge. Both (offenses) are trying to play games with numbers."

Mileski said the single-wing is difficult to defend "because they try to out-number you. It is all based on personnel. Their sweep and power is number one, our zone read blocking is number one. Everything is based off that."

Menominee, which usually relies more on power football, is 2-1 after a 35-14 loss to No. 6 Marshfield, Wis. last week. The Maroons beat Wrightstown, Wis. 21-7 and Spooner, Wis. 42-7.

The Maroons graduated six All-U.P. players from a 5-5 team and are starting four sophomores, virtually unheard of in Hofer's tenure. "It's sort of a mystery what we're going to do this year," Hofer said in the preseason.

Several running backs are being used, and after graduating the top five receivers, the Maroons lost a key returnee for the season with an ACL knee injury to James Graham.

Erik Hines is the prime receiver for the Maroons, who managed just 41 yards passing on six completions last week, from four throwers, and had three interceptions. Tyler Uecke ran for 68 of Menominee's 142 yards.

Jensen has already piled up 526 rushing yards as Gladstone's main weapon. Jacques, who primarily employs a vertical aerial game, has thrown for 302 yards and run for 107.

"They're not one dimensional, but most of the emphasis is on Jensen," said Hofer. "He has excellent balance, good speed and he finds the hole. They have four excellent receivers. They spread it around. Jacques is getting better and better."

At Escanaba, the Eskymos come off a rousing 24-21 victory at Antigo, Wis. that was not secured until Mitch VanEffen returned a punt 77 yards for a touchdown with 3:10 to play.

He also ran out of the backfield for the first time this season, gaining 160 yards in 23 carries.

The Eskymos, starting an easy two-week stretch of a weak schedule, face a Marquette team that finally hit paydirt last week in a 35-8 loss to Cheboygan after losing 33-0 to 1-2 Sault Ste. Marie (which visits Esky next week) and 48-0 to Petoskey.

Jared Wales ended the point drought with 2:05 to play with a 6-yard run. The Redmen had 48 yards rushing and 19 passing.

Second-year coach Chris Soha said that 15-play, 53-yard drive could be a key for the Redmen. "Our players did not give up, they didn't lay down," he said.

Manistique beat Gwinn 34-13 last week on a pair of 99-yard scoring drives. Norway will provide a much stiffer test Friday.

Justin Fila had a game-opening 90-yard kickoff return in a 35-0 pasting of Newberry last week and also had TD runs of 29 and 16 yards. The Knights had four sacks, recovered two fumbles, intercepted a pass and blocked a punt for a touchdown.

=======================
Daily Press
600 Ludington St.
Escanaba, MI 49829
======================

.

Wildcat: An old offense with a new name

2009-09-22T20:39:00.002-05:00

CHESTERTON — They call it the Wildcat formation now. But for many Valparaiso High School football fans, it’s an old offense with a new name.

When Michael Perkins lines up behind center and takes a direct snap and then picks his hole as a couple of blockers fan out in front of him, it’s just like the single wing offense that Tom Stokes made famous with Valparaiso. Stokes, one of the last coaches to regularly employ the single wing, led the Vikings to the state title in 1975.

When he retired after the 1976 season, the single wing went with him.

Valparaiso coach Mark Hoffman was an assistant under Stokes. Perkins rushed for 231 yards in the 35-23 victory.

Can’t stop them both

It’s fairly common knowledge that Portage features two dynamic players in junior running back Jake Dixon and junior quarterback Zach Huston.

Crown Point focused much of its defensive effort on Dixon, and largely contained him in Portage’s 43-22 victory. Dixon had 54 yards on 13 carries, with 29 of those yards coming on his final three carries. His last attempt resulted in a 6-yard touchdown run with 1:02 left in the game.

Perhaps Dixon’s most impressive run of the game went for only 3 yards. After the Indians had taken possession following a safety, Dixon’s dive as time expired in the first half came up just short of the goal line. The play had started at the 4-yard line, he ran left almost to the sideline, was hemmed up well behind the line of scrimmage, reversed field and nearly made it all the way back around the right side to the pylon.

Huston ran for 148 yards and a 78-yard TD on 18 carries, and completed 3-of-9 passes for 92 yards, including a 72-yard score. On the other side, the Bulldogs didn’t put up huge offensive numbers.

“The offense is still maddeningly inconsistent, because you can see in spots good things are happening,” Crown Point coach Chip Pettit said.

==================

Post-Tribune

1433 E. 83rd Ave.
Merrillville, IN 46410

==================

Monday Night Football: single-wing versus no-huddle

2009-09-22T20:25:00.003-05:00

By Gregg Easterbrook

Ever wonder what would happen if a single-wing team from the 1950s met a high-tech no-huddle team of 2009? What would happen is Indianapolis 27, Miami 23.

There cannot be a greater contrast in styles than what happened on "Monday Night Football." Miami played much of the contest with no quarterback on the field, rushed 49 times for 239 yards, kept the Indianapolis offense on the bench, tired out the Indianapolis defense with an incredible 45:07-to-14:53 edge in time of possession, yet lost. The incredible time-of-possession edge allowed Miami, despite a run-oriented game plan, to pass 10 times more than Indianapolis did; the Dolphins had the ball so long, they led in every statistical category save points. Indianapolis played the entire contest in hurry-up mode, called offensive plays at the line of scrimmage, ran the ball a mere 11 times, pressured the Miami defense with lightning strikes, and prevailed. Not by much, though, obviously. The Colts benefited from good luck on several big plays -- luck is a greater factor in sports than generally recognized -- plus Ted Ginn Jr. of the Marine Mammals had both hands on the ball in the end zone with 22 seconds remaining for what could have been Miami's winning play. (It was no easy catch, though.)

So 1950s-style single-wing football almost came out on top. Because Miami rushed so well, all the Dolphins needed was for Lucky Charms receivers to drop a couple of Peyton Manning throws, and Miami might have cruised to victory over an exhausted Indianapolis defense. But Manning's throws weren't dropped, nor were any blocks missed in an extremely efficient offensive line performance. Single-wing style, Miami's longest gain from scrimmage was 21 yards. Indianapolis had gains of 24, 48, 49 and 80 yards. This is a reason time of possession can be a deceptive stat: A team that scores really fast has poor time of possession, but don't you want to score really fast? Even though it wasn't on the field much, by the fourth quarter the Dolphins' defense looked tired, at least mentally, from the relentless Colts pace. In the fourth quarter, the Dolphins' defense folded, allowing the Colts to go 79 yards for a touchdown in 3:17 and 80 yards for a touchdown in a mere 32 seconds, as Miami's coaches panicked and started calling blitzes, which only made matters worse. The no-huddle offense doesn't exhaust a defense when it's not working. But when the quarterback has a 133.9 rating on the night, as Manning did, the no-huddle spooks defenders.

Peyton Manning is praised so much, I hesitate to stack another accolade on the pile. But egads, this gentleman is good. Nobody throws as accurately off the back foot -- the ability to throw accurately while your body is moving backward enables a quarterback to frustrate a pass rush. Nobody throws precise sideline routes as well as Peyton, and right-on-the-sideline is the hardest point for the secondary to defend. Obviously, Manning excels at calling plays at the line of scrimmage. Miami tried to confuse him by showing one front, then backing out of it after he made his call, then returning to the original front. He didn't fall for it. Except for on two snaps, Manning's read of what Miami was about to do was right -- and on the game-winning throw to Pierre Garcon, he read the Dolphins' defense perfectly.

Setting single-wing versus no-huddle aside, the rest of the contest came down to calls, coaching and individual performances. What were the Dolphins doing in a standard 3-4-4, rather than a nickel or a dime package, against a team that always splits out three receivers and often sends the tight end downfield? On tight end Dallas Clark's two huge gainers, of 80 and 49 yards, he was covered by a linebacker -- both times by an inside linebacker (once by Channing Crowder, once by Akin Ayodele) -- because Miami didn't have a nickel package on the field. A defensive game plan in which football's best pass-catching tight end is covered deep by an inside linebacker is a strange game plan.

Why when Miami got the ball trailing 27-23 with 3:13 remaining did the Dolphins run a play, let the clock go down to 2:26, and then burn a timeout? With six seconds left, Miami was on the Indianapolis 30-yard line -- add back the 25 wasted seconds and maybe Miami wins. Why did Miami's defense bite hard on a play-fake on the game's first snap? Coming into Monday night, the Colts had rushed for 32, 64 and 71 yards in their last three games. They're clearly having trouble running the ball. So don't fall for their play-fakes unless they prove they can run! Yet not only did the Miami front seven bite on Manning's play-fake on the first snap, so did safety Yeremiah Bell. Watch the tape -- as Clark cuts down the center of the field and Manning's pass arcs toward him, Bell is running forward toward the Indianapolis line of scrimmage to stop a run. Bell goes right past Clark, totally ignoring him, while a throw that would end up as an 80-yard touchdown is in the air. That's how hard he bit on the play-fake. Bell was also the last defender on Garcon's winning touchdown, and failed to make the play. Let's put the sports-talk world's campaign for a Pro Bowl slot for Bell on hold, please.

Indianapolis' winning play was a study in tactics and performance. Second-and-10 on the Miami 48 with 3:29 remaining. The Dolphins show a seven-man front against the Colts' three-wide formation, with only one safety, Bell, deep. Manning goes into his chicken dance, calling assignments at the line. Immediately the Dolphins back off into a 3-4-4. But Manning wasn't fooled and kept the play the same -- and sure enough, Miami jumped back into the seven-man front. That front meant that in the double-receiver set to the right, there was a cornerback on Garcon, safety Gibril Wilson on the slot man, and safety Bell was the sole deep defender. Manning's call was a hitch screen to Garcon. Not just a hitch, a hitch screen -- the offensive line deliberately let the pass rush in. Miami big-blitzed, just as Manning hoped. Don't throw me into that blitz patch! When will the league catch on that Peyton Manning wants to be blitzed? The hitch action enabled Manning to release the ball very quickly, before any blitz could reach him. Six blitzers meant Miami had five players to cover four receivers; the four were each singled, with Bell the only one on the last line of defense. Garcon catches the hitch with two defensive backs nearby. But remember, it's a hitch screen, offensive linemen are coming! Undrafted and future Hall of Fame center Jeff Saturday, long a TMQ favorite, hustles downfield and blocks the cornerback near Garcon. Guard Mike Pollak hustles 20 yards downfield and hits Bell. Garcon spun, and was gone. When you put eight guys up on the line and blitz six, you better get to the quarterback or make the first tackle, because one broken tackle means a game-winning 48-yard completion.

==================
ESPN.com
==================

Lynx and their rarely-seen single-wing offense had piled up 329 rushing yards

2009-09-22T19:25:00.004-05:00

Indian gridders trip on the road

By Bob Fenske
Of The Summit

WEBSTER CITY - Chad Moore stood on the empty Webster City football field last Friday night and told it like it was.

“They told everyone - their newspaper, their radio, everyone - that they were going to come right at us and win it up front,” he said. “And you know what? That's exactly what they did. They beat us up front.”

When it was over, the Lynx and their rarely-seen single-wing offense had piled up 329 rushing yards on their way to a 34-20 win in the Class 3A, District 2 opener for both teams.

Truth be told, though, it wasn't so much the offense Webster City ran, it was the way they executed it.

“They pushed us around, and that was disappointing,” Moore said after his team fell to 2-1 overall. “It's why we emphasize the weight room so much, but tonight just wasn't pretty.”

The fifth-year coach tried to coax himself into a smile, but it was a minute one.

“It's one game and there's a lot of football left,” he said, “but we've got to get better. I know we set the bar awfully high [in a 48-23 season-opening win over Crestwood], but we've taken a step back each week. We've got to get it together.”

The irony is that for those not at the game who only saw a stat sheet - sans score, of course - it looked like a pretty even game.

Both teams finished with 369 total yards, and Forest City quarterback Andrew Rosacker ran for 111 yards and threw for 183 more while Zeke Kasper had 68 hard-earned yards on just 10 carries.

But on this night, the yards on the stat sheet weren't much of an indicator of what happened on the field.

The Indians were done in by three things - the Lynx running game, their penchant for turnovers and their inability to cash in on scoring opportunities.

Forest City threw three interceptions and lost a fumble, but maybe the key moment in the game came on Forest City's opening drive that began when Tyler Harmon recovered a fumble near midfield.

The Indians marched to the Webster City 15-yard line, where they faced a third-and-1. Two plays later, the Lynx had stuffed Forest City and had taken over on downs.

“Who knows if scoring there would have made a difference,” he said, “but I sure would have liked to find out.”

By the end of the first quarter, Forest City was looking at the wrong end of a 14-0 score and the Lynx went up 20-0 midway through the second quarter on the second of Dalton Keane's three touchdown runs.

Still, the Indians didn't go quietly into the night. Kasper set up his 16-yard touchdown run with a bruising, breaking-tackles-everywhere 25-yard run.

“That's the kind of heart we've got to get 11 guys playing with,” Moore said. “Talk about refusing to go down. That was Zeke.”

But Webster City scored on its first possession of the second half, and after another Kasper TD run at the end of the third quarter, the Lynx put the game away with a Keane touchdown pass early in the final quarter.

Forest City would add a late touchdown when Andrew Rosacker hit Tyler Harmon in the game's final minute, but it was too little, too late.

“We didn't quit, I'll give our kids that,” Moore said, “but we've got to get better and we've got to get better in a hurry. There are no easy ones in this district.”

The good news for the Indians is that they come home for two straight games - hosting Charles City Friday before playing Iowa Falls-Alden a week later.

Moore, though, spent a good 10 minutes Friday night challenging his players to return to the form they showed in that season opener.

After the Indians headed to the locker room, he stood alone on the field.

“It's time for the leaders on this team to step up and be counted.”

===========================

Forest City Summit

105 South Clark Street

Forest City, IA 50436

===========================

Apopka defense stifles Edgewater

2009-09-21T17:15:00.006-05:00

By Buddy Collings Staff reporter
12:36 AM EDT, September 19, 2009

APOPKA — Host Apopka came up empty three times in the red zone Friday. But in a game where two fierce defenses bowed up with their backs to the goal line, the Blue Darters needed only two scores to prevail against rival Edgewater 15-6.

Blue Darters senior Bradley Gallon punctuated his strong performance at middle linebacker by breaking up a fourth-and-goal pass early in the final quarter with unbeaten Apopka (3-0) leading by 15.

Edgewater (1-2) scored on its next possession to close the gap, but Apopka covered an onside kick try and then chewed up the final four minutes, 54 seconds.

"It was about what we thought it would be," Apopka Coach Rick Darlington said. "We have a lot of respect for those guys [Edgewater]. Our defense played outstanding and our offense took great care of the ball."

Apopka came in averaging 37 points and marched into the red zone on six of its first seven possessions that weren't stopped by the clock. But Edgewater's defense stonewalled two drives that reached the 6-yard line and another that stalled at the 19.

The Blue Darters won early field position for the only score of the first half — a 5-yard keeper by quarterback Keon Brooks.

Apopka, ranked No. 2 in the Sentinel Super 16 and fourth in the Class 6A state poll, went up by two TDs when Tom Smith scored with 2:57 remaining in the third quarter. Smith, a freight train of a fullback, gained 118 yards on 26 carries. Sophomore Quay Barnes (7 carries, 71 yards) set the TD up with a 31-yard dash.

Class 4A Edgewater, ranked No. 7 in the Super 16, was led by elusive quarterback Kent Gainous. The 6-2, 190-pound senior completed three passes after scrambling for 18 on the Eagles' fourth quarter TD drive. He threw to Saun Raigne for the score.

"That's what high school football is all about. Two teams battling all the way through," said Edgewater Coach Bill Gierke.

Apopka 15, Edgewater 6

SECOND – A: Brooks 5 run (Beary kick). THIRD – A: Smith 1 run (Smith run). FOURTH – E: Raigne 5 pass from Gainous (kick failed).

==========================
Orlando Sentinel
633 N. Orange Avenue
Orlando FL 32801
=========================

.

Galion escapes Upper Sandusky after 5 Brooks TDs

2009-09-21T16:12:00.003-05:00

PREP FOOTBALL

By Aaron Korte, Sports Writer
Tigers' coach says he is disappointed, thinks team might have looked ahead to TC

UPPER SANDUSKY - The last time Cartel Brooks scored five touchdowns in one game, he was in junior high.

And while Upper Sandusky is not a junior high team, Brooks and his Galion teammates may have approached Friday night's Northern Ohio League opener like the Rams were an eighth-grade squad.

The mindset could be understood. Both teams came in with zeros, albeit in different columns, with Galion cruising out of the gate this year to 3-0.

But neither team played like their record indicated as Galion escaped Upper Sandusky with a 34-27 victory.

So it was understandable why Galion head coach Chris Hawkins was a little upset with his team after the victory.

"I've been doing this for 15 years and I don't think I've ever been this upset after a victory," said Hawkins, who stressed he meant no disrespect to the Rams. "Our coaches said when we walked in, 'We're not ready to play.' We didn't see that burning intensity in their eyes like last week. I was very disappointed."

The explanation: The Tigers host traditional NOL power Columbian next week.

"We tried to guard against that but the kids read that stupid J.J. Huddle and all that," Hawkins said. "Of course, Tiffin is a huge game. Did we talk about that? Yes. But did the kids read about that? Absolutely. I know that's what happened. But what I'm (upset) about is that the seniors, and we have 16 of them, allowed that to happen. We did not come out ready to play football."

On the other sideline, new Upper Sandusky boss Jake Moyer saw his team fall to 0-4 on the year, but that is not the approach he and the staff are taking. In their minds, the Rams are just 0-1.

"If I were them, I wouldn't have been too worried about us (coming in at 0-3)," he said. "But I think we're going to be somebody to be reckoned with toward the end of the year. I want us to try to be a very formidable opponent and I don't want people to overlook us. I want them to give us their best shot."

If the Rams continue to play like they did for most of the game Friday night, that goose egg could be cracked soon. Upper Sandusky rolled up 353 yards of offense, between the punishing running of Trevor Thornton and Wyatt Garber (132 combined rushing yards) to the heady play of Cale Sandridge, who threw for 148 yards and ran for another 51.

"Sandridge is developing nicely but he has a ways to go, but he'll get there. We have some compliments that will help him out," Moyer said. "Our running game came alive tonight. We went back to the mother's milk a little bit. We went back to the old school and that's me (and my style)."

Moyer said it was the best effort of the season, despite coming up short.

"Both offensively and defensively, but especially offensively (it was the best of the year)," Moyer said. "Defensively, that single wing really gave us problems, but what killed us was their speed (particularly Brooks). Speed stabbed us in the heart tonight."

Upper Sandusky led, 14-0, with 4:58 to go in the first half on two Cale Sandridge 1-yard touchdown plunges.

The Brooks show began about a minute later when he scored the first and maybe most electrifying touchdown of his five-score night, a 68-yard zig zag through the Rams defense for a touchdown.

After forcing an Upper Sandusky punt, one of only two on the night, Brooks was at it again with a 10-yard TD run. The kick was blocked, leaving Upper Sandusky with a one-point lead with 46 seconds left.

Thornton came back with a solid return to give the Rams good field position, their own 44, to start the drive with 40 seconds to go. With no timeouts to use, Sandridge guided his team to the Galion 17 by working the sidelines and connecting with his favorite target: Chase Kenner.

On third and five with nine seconds left in the half, Sandridge found himself flushed from the pocket and sacked by Steve Vanvliet to end the threat and the half.

The Tigers (4-0, 1-0 NOL) didn't mess around in the second half, but the scoring was the same. Brooks this time took flight to snag a Jack Nicholls pass for an 18-yard score and a 19-14 lead after a failed two-point conversion.

Upper Sandusky took its final lead of the night on the ensuing drive. Wyatt Garber scored on a 4-yard plunge with 5:50 to go in the third. The Rams fumbled the snap and Sandridge was stopped on the two-point conversion attempt but still led, 20-19.

Galion drove 67 yards on the its next drive, with Brooks closing it out with a 1-yard plunge for the score. Ryan Harsh smashed it up the middle to give Galion two more points and a 27-20 lead it would not relinquish.

The Rams stalled out on successive drives inside the red zone, sandwiched around Brooks' final score of the night, an 11-yard TD run with 6:34 left in the contest.

Attempting to run the clock out, Galion's Antwan Wallace put the ball on the turf, one of three Galion turnovers, and Aaron Renner came away with it to give Upper Sandusky life again with 2:15 to go. It took just four plays for Upper Sandusky to find pay dirt with Thornton scoring on a 5-yard run to cut it to 34-27.

Galion recovered Upper Sandusky's onside kick attempt and went to the genuflect offense to close out the game.

Brooks, who rushed for 164 yards on just 13 carries and had another 54 yards through the air, said the line was solid for him all night.

"Everybody blocked and did their job and the holes were there," he said.

Brooks also said his team may have been caught looking ahead.

"We didn't have our mind set the right way," he said. "I don't know what was wrong tonight. We were not hyped up like we should have and we came out dead."

Brooks said his team has been playing with a chip on its shoulder because no one has respected them this year after spending many years as an NOL cellar dweller.

"We have a good class. We're tired of losing and we want to get our program turned around and Coach Hawkins is helping us doing that," he said. "I know they're not respecting us. That's what makes me so angry and makes our team so angry. That's why we're trying to get this turned around so we can change everybody's mind about that."

Hawkins said if his team is going to garner the respect it desires, it starts next week with Columbian.

"Nobody is going to fear us. We haven't done anything. We have to earn that," he said. "When we play and mix that talent with desire and intensity, we're a pretty good football team. When you just try win football games on talent, you're not going to win championships. (Next week) is huge. That has always been our No. 1 goal. When you think of the NOL the last eight, 10 years, you think of Tiffin. They've raised the bar in this league. In order to win the league, it goes through Tiffin."

===============================
The Advertiser-Tribune
320 Nelson Street
P.O. Box 778
Tiffin, OH 44883
==============================+

Galion vs. Upper Sandusky (9/18/09)

Delsea's ground attack leads win over Kingsway

2009-09-21T15:56:00.004-05:00

September 19, 2009

By MICHAEL RADANO
Gannett New Jersey

Chris Jackson is comfortable with his role in the Delsea football team's offense.

The Crusaders have never been a passing team. It's simply not what head coach Sal Marchese preaches or expects from his version of the Single-Wing attack. When necessary, Delsea can put the ball in the air but on a good night, when there is a slight chill in the air and this collection of high school talent is hitting on all cylinders, rarely is there a need to go up top.

"We didn't punt tonight," Marchese said. "That shows you we're doing well, and for us, that means running it."

"That's fine with me," Jackson said. "I know what my role is. I know what I'm expected to do."

Still, it was a 63-yard completion for a touchdown on Delsea's second possession that took the wind out of a charged up Kingsway team on Friday night and Delsea never looked back.

The No. 1 team in the Courier-Post rankings, Delsea (2-0 division, 2-0 overall) rolled up 460 yards of offense, 397 on the ground, in a 34-7 win at Kingsway (1-1, 1-1). Sean McPherson carried the ball 19 times for 154 yards and a pair of touchdowns and Austin Medley rang up 105 yards on 19 carries with a touchdown.

It was clear the Dragons were hungry for an upset and that added energy was evident on the opening kickoff as Rasheed Williams maneuvered through the Delsea special teams 64 yards to the Delsea 25-yard line. Four plays later, 6-foot-1, 256-pound fullback Enoch Clark pounded his way in to the end zone for the first and only score of the night for Kingsway.

"It's definitely harder when you have a short field and someone like that coming at you," Delsea linebacker Mike Straubmuller said. "Sometimes you just need a kick in the butt and that represented just that too us. It woke us up and definitely after that, we shut them down and that's a very good offense."

"We're too experienced to allow something like that to get us down," Marchese said. "I wasn't worried about how we would react. We made a mistake on special teams and we gave up some points but I wasn't concerned."

Marchese's point is well taken and the Crusaders marched right down the field on Kingsway with their first possession before a fumble by Jackson. The brief glitch proved just that as the defense held Kingsway and on the second play of the second quarter, Jackson hit Darius Convery down the middle of the field for a touchdown. For statisticians everywhere the touchdown made for very simple calculations since it was the only pass of the night for Jackson and Delsea trailed 7-6.

"It was there and we took it," Marchese said.

With Kingsway now on its heels, Delsea unleashed its ground game and scored on four of its next five possessions with the lone hold coming at the end of the first half. McPherson put an exclamation point on the evening when he went 47 yards for a touchdown with 3:54 left in the third quarter. His run was the only play of the drive and gave Delsea an insurmountable 28-7 lead.

"(The opening kickoff) was a big wakeup call," McPherson said. "You can't start off the game that flat. You have to start better with special teams but I think when we picked up the pace, I think they got a little fatigued."

Additional Facts
DELSEA 34 KINGSWAY 7
Play of the Game: A 63-yard touchdown pass from Chris Jackson to Darius Convery on Delsea's first possession took the wind out of Kingsway.

Player of the Game: Delsea's Sean McPherson carried the ball 19 times for 154 yards and a pair of touchdowns and Austin Medley rang up 105 yards on 19 carries with a touchdown.

Stat of the Game: The Crusaders rolled up 460 yards of offense, 397 on the ground.

==============================

Courier-Post

301 Cuthbert Blvd

Cherry Hill, NJ 08002

Spartans hold on to beat Green Wave

2009-09-21T15:41:00.003-05:00

By BRIAN WOODSON
Bluefield Daily Telegraph

PEARISBURG, Va. — The Giles single wing offense rolled to a perfect seven, but Narrows nearly washed those hopes away.

Justin Gautier scored a pair of second half touchdowns, and added a game-preserving interception in the final seconds, as the Giles Spartans made it seven straight wins over county rival Narrows with a hard-fought 21-16 win on Friday night at freshly renovated Steven C. Ragsdale Field.

It was a typical Giles and Narrows contest, with the crowd so large that the winner of the 50/50 drawing took home $1,142.

“You’ve got to understand in this game, you throw the records out, you throw everything out, it’s just kids from both schools playing their hearts out,” Giles head coach Jeff Wlliams said. “That’s what this game has been about ever since I can remember.

“It’s just about two teams playing their hearts out and just playing hard.”

Giles (2-2) overcame a 10-7 halftime deficit to take a 21-10 lead before Brock Lusk led the Green Wave back, throwing for one touchdown, and nearly doing it again before Andrew Eppling picked off the pass a pass the end zone.

Gautier picked off Lusk again in Giles territory with 5.1 seconds left on the clock. “We were very fortunate to win this game,” said Eppling, who led the Spartans with 115 rushing yards, including a 71-yard scoring run in the opening quarter “It’s always been a really crowded game and everybody comes. Lucky for us, our line blocked and we came out to play.”

So did the Green Wave, but Kelly Lowe’s squad came up just short in a rivalry that Narrows last won in 2002.

“I am extremely proud of them. Our kids fight an uphill battle every daggone day and they came out and battled their guts off and I am so proud of this group of kids,” Lowe said. “They battled. I’m just tickled to death with them.

“It would have been great if we had won, but I can’t ask for any more effort than that.”

The teams used the big play to get on the board in the first quarter, starting with Eppling, who dashed through the middle with the football, ran over several Narrows players and an referee and didn’t stop until he was in the end zone 71 yards later. Zach Keaton added the extra point for the 7-0 lead.

“I got hit by the linebacker, but I just kept my legs going and I just didn’t stop until I got to the end zone,” Eppling said.

Narrows answered behind Lusk, a junior quarterback, who completed 16-of-22 passes for 240 yards and two touchdowns. The first score came after the Giles score, connecting with Jake Craft on a perfect over-the-shoulder catch for a 48-yard score. Hunter Light followed with the extra point for the 7-7 tie. The Green Wave took a 10-7 lead into the break when Narrows took advantage of Giles penalties and drove 50 yards in 14 plays, finishing the drive with a 35-yard field goal by Light with 1:23 left in the half.

While Narrows was held to just 43 yards on the ground, Giles ran for 299, including 162 in the second half. Gautier added 86 yards to Eppling’s 115 behind on offensive line led by 6-foot-4, 290-pound Greg Ray and 6-3, 290-pound Dustin Farmer.

The Spartans scored on a 3-yard run by Gautier to take a 14-10, a drive set up when Tyler Thorne recovered a fumble by Narrows’ Wesley Ferguson at the Wave’s 34. Giles then rumbled for seven more in the fourth quarter, starting with a pair of 15-yard runs by Gautier and Eppling, and another 16 yards from Eppling.

Gautier then finished off a 9-play, 81-yard drive with another 3-yard run. The Keaton extra point gave Giles the 21-10 lead with 8:43 left in the game.

“People know we want to run the football and in the second half I thought we did just a great job right there,” said Williams, whose Spartans travel next Friday to George Wythe. “We challenged the kids at halftime and told them it’s time to be competitive, and we came out and competed, and started chewing up some ground there.” Narrows didn’t go away, with Lusk connecting with Tyler Wilson from 37 yards out for a touchdown with 5:46 left in the game. The two-point conversion failed, leaving the Green Wave five behind the Spartans.

Daniel Armstrong got the ball back for Narrows with 4:57 to go, recovering a Giles fumble at their own 48. Lusk completed four passes to put the ‘Wave at the Spartans’ 28, but his next pass sailed past Light in the end zone and was picked off by Eppling.

“He got a little pressure and couldn’t quite step into it all the way, but he pounded his guts out,” said Lowe, whose ‘Wave host Auburn next Friday. “He had a great night.”

The ‘Wave got one more shot with the ball at their own 33 with 19.5 seconds left, but Gautier picked off the final Lusk pass to secure the victory.

Seeing that play certainly brought a smile from Eppling.

“That was good,” he said, with a smile.

—Contact Brian Woodson

at bwoodson@bdtonline.com

at Steven Ragsdale Field

Narrows…...............................7 3 0 6 — 16

Giles……….............................7 0 7 7 — 21

First Quarter

GL—Andrew Epling 71 run (Zach Keaton kick) 6:02

NR—Jake Craft 48 pass from Brock Lusk (Hunter Light kick) 3:54

Second Quarter

NR—Hunter Light 35 field goal 1:23

Third Quarter

GL—Justin Gautier 3 run (Keaton kick) 3:11

Fourth Quarter

GL—Gautier 3 run (Keaton kick) 8:43

NR—Tyler Wilson 37 pass from Lusk (pass failed) 5:46

———

First Downs: NR 12, GL 12; Rush-Yards: NR 28-38, GL 43-299; Passing Yards: NR 240, GL 20; Comp-Att-Int: NR 16-22-2, GL 1-6-0; Fumbles-Lost: NR 1-1, GL 1-1. Penalty-Yards: NR 6-55, GL 6-57; Punts-Avg: NR 3-36.0, GL 3-41.0.

Individual Statistics

Rushing: NR Light 8-23, A.Blankenship 6-14, Conley 10-12, Craft 1-8, Lusk 3-(9); GL Epling 11-115, Gautier 23-86, Robertson 11-78, Bane 4-9.

Passing: NR Lusk ; GL Epling , Robertson .

Receiving: NR Wilson 2-52, Conley 4-65, Craft 1-48, Light 6-37, Ferguson 2-24, A.Blankenship 1-17; GL Ratcliff 1-20.

================================
Bluefield Daily Telegraph
P.O. Box 1599
928 Bluefield Avenue
Bluefield, W.Va. 24701
===============================

.

Colts to face Dolphins' wildcat offense

2009-09-21T14:48:00.002-05:00

Unusual formation turned around Miami's season last year

By Phil Richards
phil.richards@indystar.com

Miami was coming off a 1-15 season. It was 0-2 and had scored only 24 points. Desperate times, coach Tony Sparano decided, called for desperate measures.

In Week 3 last season, he introduced the Dolphins' version of an offense quarterbacks coach David Lee had run at Arkansas. Six plays, all direct snaps to running back Ronnie Brown, produced 119 yards and four touchdowns to batter New England 38-13 and snuff the Patriots' 21-game regular-season winning streak. Brown scored on runs of 2, 5 and 62 yards, and threw a 19-yard pass to tight end Anthony Fasano for the fourth touchdown.

The world met the wildcat. Brown's No. 23 jersey now resides in the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a memento of the game.

"To be honest, when we introduced it, there were a lot of people mocking it," said Sparano, whose Dolphins play the Indianapolis Colts on Monday night at Land Shark Stadium. "Now I think a lot of people are trying to run it."

Miami wanted to get Brown and running back Ricky Williams on the field at the same time. So it put Brown in the shotgun formation, Williams in the backfield, moved quarterback Chad Pennington outside and shifted an offensive lineman from one side of the ball to the other. That created an unbalanced line, and mismatches.

The ploy triggered a turnaround that helped the Dolphins to an 11-5 season.

The wildcat derives from the old single-wing formation conceived by Pop Warner shortly after the turn of the century and used by Knute Rockne at Notre Dame. Its appeal is obvious. It brings option football to the NFL. Defenses have to account for the player taking the snap not only throwing or handing off but as a runner.

"Every defensive coach hates the option," Colts president Bill Polian said. "And one of the nice things about our league is you never had to play against it because quarterbacks get beat up so bad, teams didn't run it."

When the 2009 NFL season opened last weekend, Carolina used it with wide receiver Steve Smith taking the snap. Cleveland kick returner Joshua Cribbs, New York Jets running back Leon Washington, Miami's Brown and backup quarterback Pat White and Jacksonville running back Maurice Jones-Drew also took direct snaps in the wildcat or one of its variations.

Jones-Drew took a shotgun snap on a two-point conversion attempt, faked to wide receiver Nate Hughes, then charged into the middle. He was swarmed under well short of the goal line, preserving the Colts' 14-12 win.

The Colts were prepared. They had practiced it little but planned for it and discussed it during the preseason.

The wildcat's effectiveness waned late in the 2008 season as teams prepared responses. Miami scored eight touchdowns out of the formation the first seven games it was used but none over the last seven. When the Dolphins and Patriots met during Week 12, eight direct snaps to Brown yielded 25 yards.

Miami has a new element this season: White, a rookie second-round draft pick. As a 31/2-year starter at West Virginia, White passed for 6,049 yards and rushed for 4,480, an NCAA record for a quarterback.

The Dolphins used him on three snaps during a 19-7 loss at Atlanta last week: a sweep for no gain, a deep play-action pass on which he overthrew wide receiver Ted Ginn Jr. and a reverse handoff to Ginn on which Ginn had the option to pass but ran for 1 yard.

The Colts have given the wildcat and the spread out of which White operates more attention this week, but they haven't overdone it. They don't "chase ghosts."

"It wouldn't make sense if they did it 1 percent of the time," Colts coach Jim Caldwell said, "and we practice for it 98 percent of the time."

Whether the wildcat becomes an enduring NFL staple or a ghost remains to be seen.

"Red Hickey came out with the shotgun at San Francisco (in 1960). That hasn't gone away," said Polian, who has been involved in the NFL for almost a third of a century. "I think it's possible for the wildcat to remain."

Colts-Dolphins injury report

Rookie cornerback Jerraud Powers, tight end Gijon Robinson and guard Jamey Richard did not practice Saturday and are questionable for Monday night's game. A look at the entire injury report:

Colts

• Out: S Bob Sanders (knee), WR Anthony Gonzalez (knee), TE Tom Santi (ankle).

• Questionable: OT Charlie Johnson (back), G Jamey Richard (shoulder), S Jamie Silva (abdomen), CB Jerraud Powers (groin), TE Gijon Robinson (back).

Dolphins

• Questionable: LB Akin Ayodele (back).

==========================

The Indianapolis Star

307. N. Pennsylvania St

P.O. Box 145

Indianapolis, IN

46206-0145

=========================

Housy stops Tech in first varsity home game

2009-09-21T08:54:00.003-05:00

By PETER WALLACE

TORRINGTON — Both teams had a right to walk away happy from a 34-20 Housatonic High School football win over Wolcott Tech Saturday afternoon in Torrington.

For the Wildcats, in their third year as a program, everything looked good except the score (and sometimes an errant scoreboard) at Tech’s first-ever varsity home game.

“They were 100 percent better than last year,” said Housatonic coach Deron Bayer.

“The biggest difference is the amount of work the kids put in this summer; more than half the kids worked out,” said Wildcat coach Jamie Coty, whose team had just one year of JV experience, then suffered through an 0-11 season against some premier varsity teams last year.

Saturday’s results for Tech were at least as positive as the points they put up on the scoreboard, maybe more.

“I didn’t feel that they really stopped us all day,” said Coty. “We killed ourselves with costly turnovers and missed tackles that led to big plays.”

For Bayer and the Mountaineers, the final score was a reward for their own hard work, but also a genuine relief for a coach who insisted his team came in as underdogs.

“I just realized last week how young we are,” Bayer said. “In practice, I asked anyone who started last year to line up behind me. There were just seven guys; Tanner Brissett is the only one who started all 11 games last year (the Mountaineers went 5-6). Basically, we’re a first-year program.”

If so, both teams’ fans have a right to be happy. With the exception of those few glitches by Tech, it was a tough, well-executed grind-it-out game on both sides — with an experienced grind-it-out leader at each forefront.

That was Brissett, a junior, for Housatonic, who did it all in Housy’s single wing offense, in which two backs take direct snaps with multiple options for each. Brissett, as the experienced go-to guy, alongside sophomore Donyell Williams, made the Mountaineer passing game a surprise payoff feature in Coach Bayer’s normal run-run-run offense. Brissett (15 rushes for 150 yards) and Williams (18 for 81) did rumble for a combined 231 yards on the ground on 33 carries, but Brissett’s passes were the bullets for three of five Housatonic touchdowns.

“The passing comes with experience,” smiled Brissett, quick to dismiss the idea that Williams won’t also eventually throw passes in the do-anything Housy offense. Brissett completed 6 of 13 passes Saturday for 85 yards.

“It was more than I could have expected,” he said. “In fact, I didn’t really expect to play as much as I did last year as a sophomore.”

Wolcott Tech’s iron man to match Brissett was junior Isaiah Harrington. If Brissett’s game was sometimes a guessing game between run and pass, everybody knew that Harrington was going to pound at and around them from the Wildcat line of scrimmage. At 5-fot-6, 175 pounds, Harrington carried 31 times for 164 yards.

“He’s our horse,” said Coach Coty. “He’s been with us since freshman year and he’s done everything we asked.”

“He killed us on cutbacks because of our lack of experience,” said Housy’s Bayer.

Harrington wasn’t happy with the day, despite his own performance.

“I was anticipating a win because we worked so hard,” he said.

It’s the kind of work guaranteed to make both teams look good this year, regardless of future scores.

Saturday, after nearly a whole quarter of probing each other’s good-sized lines, Housy sophomore Williams made the big runs — 32 and 16 yards — that led to the Mountaineers’ first score. Perched on the Tech 12, Brissett passed to Will Perotti for the touchdown, with 2:30 left in the period. The point after failed.

Tech quarterback Tom Notchick marched the Wildcats down the field in response; then a dropped pitch-back gave the ball back to Housy at its own 25.

The Mountaineers are young, but they pounce on mistakes. Eleven plays, moving into the second quarter, methodically chewed up turf, then Brissett capped it with a 10-yard pass to Zach Williams. Forrest Hayden kicked the extra point for a 13-0 Housy lead with 10:20 left in the half.

Wolcott Tech worked too hard to let a shutout stand this week. Especially Harrington. He carried on nine of 14 plays moving toward the half, then finally carried it in from the Housy three, 33 seconds left. The kick failed, so the teams went into the locker room with a ball game, 13-6.

On the first play from scrimmage in the second half, Brissett put his ultimate stamp on the game. From his own 36 yard line, he appeared trapped behind the line by a swarm of Wildcat tacklers. Instead, he burst out for a 64-yard touchdown, then passed to Rick Johnson for the two-point conversion, 21-6.

For the Wildcats, that was one shoe dropped. The other hit the ground just seconds later with a fumble on the first play from scrimmage after Housy’s kickoff. Mountaineer senior lineman Barrie Richardson recovered it the fumble on Tech’s eight yard line. Three plays later, sophomore fullback Forrest Hayden punched it in for an add-on touchdown. Housy’s bid for a two-point conversion failed, but Tech was in a 27-6 hole thanks to two game-changing plays.

Notchick (10 rushes for 39 yards in the game) and Harrington worked down the field for eight points on a 10-yard Harrington touchdown and two-point conversion run, but 27-14 was too wide a gap in the final quarter.

Brissett had one more nice pass (15 yards), to Zach Williams, for a Housatonic touchdown midway through the fourth.

Notchick found his own passing range with a 20 yard throw to Patrick Higgins, then a 20-yard scoring strike to Stephen Oakes with just 24 seconds left in the game. The kick failed, leaving the final score at 34-20.

It was a game in which Housy coach Bayer found his youngsters pretty grown up.

Coty’s Wildcats face tough Avon and Coventry teams in the next two weeks, but based on a solid first-ever opening day at home, a first-ever program win is actually possible, thanks to all that work.

If it comes as a stunner, the taste will be all the more sweet.

=========================

The RegisterCitizen
190 Water St.
Torrington, CT 06790

.

BLOG: High School Football Holley at Pembroke

2009-09-21T08:40:00.003-05:00

By Alanna Stage astage@batavianews.com
Sunday, September 20, 2009 8:34 AM EDT

Welcome to a beautiful Week 3 of the Section 5 high school football season! I'm reporting live from the back of a pickup truck in Pembroke for Holley versus the Dragons.

1:42 p.m. — The Hawks have wasted no time putting Pembroke in an early hole. Running back Guy Hills scored then converted a two-point conversion with six minutes remaining in the first quarter to give Holley a 8-0 lead.

1:47 p.m. — Pembroke has been limited offensively, but they will have the ball to start the second quarter.

1:54 p.m. — Pembroke moved the ball down to the Holley 40-yard line, thanks in part to a big first down run by Josh Phillips, but a fumble foiled the Dragons efforts. Holley took over and almost immediately, Hills picked up a first down on a 10-yard rumble down the far sideline.

1:57 p.m. — Didn't catch the Friday night scores yet? Here's a link to Friday's football roundup: here

A turnover would come back to haunt the Dragons. After stopping Holley on a third-and-long, Pembroke QB/DB Matt Phelps came up limping and was taken to the sidelines. On the next play, the Hawks converted the fourth down.

2:05 p.m. — Four downs later, Holley's Sean Baylor scored on a nine yard run up the middle. Tyler Winter's two-point conversion run gives the Hawks a 16-0 lead.

2:11 p.m. — Pembroke goes three and out on their next possesion. Holley takes possession on their own 30-yard line, but quickly get a first down behind Baylor, moving the ball to midfield with 2:44 left in the half.

2:15 p.m. — I've added links to the recap of the Albion and Medina games from Friday night. Albion got their first 'W' of the '09 season, while Medina continues to struggle.

2:20 p.m. — Holley converts another fourth down to keep their drive alive then goes no huddle with the seconds ticking away in the quarter. Baylor goes in for his second TD, pushing the pile with his 6-foot, 225-pound frame. The two-point conversion fails. With under a minute remaining, Holley leads 22-0.

2:30 p.m. — Halftime: Holley 22, Pembroke 0.

2:32 p.m. — Some first half totals: Hills 1 TD run, 1 conversion run; Baylor 2 TD runs, 1 conversion run.

2:41 p.m. — Phelps appears to be out for the rest of the game. Senior Ben Marien will take over quarterbacking duties for Pembroke.

2:45 p.m. — Cadizsh Norford fumble the kickoffs, but recovers and takes the ball 15 yards to the Pembroke 45-yard line to start the second half.

2:48 p.m. — Three plays later, Norford finishes what he started. The freshman was off to the races up the far sideline for a 40-yard score. Holley made the PAT, going up 29-0.

2:51 p.m. — The Dragons have one more home games at the Pembroke Town Park field before moving to their new field for homecoming on Friday, Oct. 9. That means a press box for myself and scorekeeper Ed (whose truck we're all sitting on)!

2:53 p.m. — Pembroke turns the ball over for the fourth time with 6:30 left in the third quarter.

2:58 p.m. — After forcing Holley to go three and out, Pembroke takes over. With three minutes remaining in the quarter, Pembroke goes for it on fourth-and-10, Marien attempts to get the yards throught the air, but misses his target. Holley takes over on the Pembroke 40.

3:07 p.m. — Holley starts the final quarter of play on a third-and-10. Tyler Winter makes it a 35-0 game, scoring on the first play of the fourth quarter. Jon Penna sends the PAT through.

3:13 p.m. — From the out of town scoreboard, Alexander leads O-A 21-0.

3:19 p.m. — Three minutes into the fourth, Pembroke takes over deep in their own territory after a failed Holley field goal.

3:23 p.m. — Another Pembroke turnover.

3:25 p.m. — This time, the Dragons do a good job of holding off Holley's running attack. Pembroke bottles up Holley on four straight run attempts, getting the ball back on their own 20-yard line.

3:27 p.m. — The Dragons will run out of time to get any points today. Final score: Holley 36, Pembroke 0.

***************************

The Daily News

Batavia Newspapers Corporation

2 Apollo Drive

Batavia, NY 14020

Football's Subversive Side

2009-09-16T00:24:00.004-05:00

How the 'Wildcat' infiltrated the pros' offenses and what it means for the game

By CHARLES SIEBERT

Football, for allof its brute force and ferocity, is a game of guile and gamesmanship. This is especially true today, when the space in which the sport is played has been foreshortened by the size and speed of the athletes playing it, and outcomes are increasingly decided as much by the quality of a team's game plan as they are by the level of play. Football has essentially become hour-long sessions of high-speed, crash-helmet chess, and more fun to watch because of it. Even the biggest and most heavily favored juggernauts can on any given day be suddenly undone by a group of scrappy upstarts with a wealth of passion and a well-wrought stratagem: some riotous, rhythm-ruining array of timely defensive blitzing packages, or a stunningly inventive attack formation such as the new "Wildcat" offense.

The NFL, with its dizzying speeds and hard hitting—to say nothing of its preponderance of high-salaried stars—has long had a way of tempering the more fanciful, free-wheeling schemes of high school and college ball. And yet all that seemed to change last year, when the then-struggling Miami Dolphins overwhelmed the mighty New England Patriots in game three of the season with a sudden, whirlwind display of Wildcat wizardry. Six times in the course of that game, the Patriots' defenders suddenly found themselves standing opposite an odd-looking offensive alignment. Rather than the traditional front line of a guard, a tackle, and a tight end on either side of the center, the Dolphins now had a guard, two tackles and a tight end all stacked on one side. More disturbing still, standing a few yards behind the center, awaiting the snap in the quarterback's traditional "shotgun" position, were two running backs, the dual run-and-pass threat of Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams. As for the Dolphins' quarterback, Chad Pennington, he was positioned up on the overstacked side of the line, just outside the tight end, now an entirely misplaced and therefore unknown proposition.

This is the most subversive, the nearly mutinous aspect of the Wildcat, and the very essence of its explosive potential: the way in which it wholly bypasses the quarterback, the traditional pillar and field general of the offense. Among the things that a defense likes to see when an offense lines up opposite them before the start of play is the quarterback at his traditional post, either directly under center or a few yards behind center in the "shotgun." This gives the defense an edge, some would say an 11-on-10 advantage. Because, unless the quarterback is that exceptional dual run-or-pass threat in the mold of Vince Young or Michael Vick, or the 2008 champion University of Florida's Tim Tebow, then a defense can focus less on him and more on the action that he, through either a hand-off or a pass, is about to set in motion.

The most fixed figure in an offense, the middleman, the interlocutor of each play, the quarterback is the guy through whom a defense—via the lean of his body or the direction of his gaze—often gets the best fix on where a play is going. By removing the quarterback from his predictable hand-off, passing-machine role and enfolding him into the larger offensive mix, the Wildcat makes him one more variable for the defense to consider, and thus neutralizes their tacit one-man edge. The Wildcat is, in effect, a classic instance of eliminating the middleman and cutting, or snapping, directly to the chase. That could be a straight run behind a phalanx of blockers, or a hand-off to another back or roving flanker or "wingback," who was set in motion behind the line before the snap. Or it could be just pulling up and passing the ball down field to an open receiver, possibly even to the quarterback—a dizzying array of options that tends to slow a defense down, give them pause.

In chess, even in speed chess, one has time to ponder a response to a new formation. In football, even the slightest hesitation equals loss. In fact, before the Patriots' vaunted defense was able to get a read on what was going on around them that day, the Dolphins would score four touchdowns with the Wildcat (three rushing and one on a pass from Brown), abruptly ending the Patriots' 21-game regular-season winning streak with a 38-13 drubbing. Over the next 11 games, the Dolphins went on to average seven yards per play from the "Wildcat" and qualified for the playoffs. They have since acquired West Virginia's multitasking quarterback, Pat White, in the draft, a potentially lethal move that has teams around the league including the Eagles (with the newly acquired Michael Vick), the Baltimore Ravens, the Atlanta Falcons, the New York Jets and even the New England Patriots dreaming up Wildcat packages of their own.

There's something at once sleekly high-tech and decidedly throwback, nearly sandlot, about the Wildcat: an elaborate and well-honed version of that basic backyard-pick-up-game ethos of "let's just get as many of the best players on the field as we can and then wing it." Winging it is, after all, increasingly difficult to do within any organized field of endeavor. But this is especially so within the parameters of a football field. While nuns may not fret their convent's narrow room, as Wordsworth wrote in his famous sonnet about the paradoxically liberating powers of the sonnet form's strictures on the imagination, offensive coordinators are forever scratching about for ways to pry open and fly the confines of a 100-yard gridiron.

In this regard, the Wildcat is an inspired bit of football poetry, affirming as it does that there are still an infinite number of new ways to re-imagine inherently finite spaces. And when one considers the growing number of big, fast, multidimensional, run-and-throw style quarterbacks that high schools and colleges are now churning out—to the extent that some pro scouts are lamenting the imminent extinction of the classic drop-back, field-general style—then the Wildcat formation begins to look less like a passing fancy and more like something permanent.

Still, for all the talk of the Wildcat representing football's future, it is, in fact, a direct derivative (some would say a near carbon copy) of an early offense formation known as the "Single-wing," which might well have faded into extinction if not for a few high school coaches who kept it percolating in their playbooks. One of the game's very first attempts to fly its own inherent confines, the "Single-wing" was the brainchild of the University of Pittsburgh's Glenn Scobey "Pop" Warner, the father of modern football, and it was advanced by football inventors like Notre Dame's Knute Rockne, and Warner's protégé at Pitt, Jock Sutherland.

After the ploddingly crushing rugby-like scrums and somewhat oxymoronically named "Flying Wedges" of yore were outlawed, in the interest of safety, back in 1905, Warner took advantage of new rules allowing, among other things, the forward pass and arrived at a scheme that should by now sound familiar: an unbalanced offensive line with a quarterback positioned just behind one of the strong-side tackles, a pair of running backs waiting in the quarterback's shotgun position to take the snap from center, and off beyond the strong-side end, the roving, multipurpose "wingback," who gave the Single-wing its name. The best athletes of their day, wingbacks are now the stuff of football legend: George Gipp of Notre Dame, Michigan's Tom Harmon, Nile Kinnick of Iowa and Western Reserve's Steve Belichick, father of New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick.

The Single-wing would dominate college football right up through the 1940s and then gradually yield to newer formations. As the forward pass and freer substitution rules became ever more prominent in pro offenses of the 1950s and '60s, formations began to accommodate and codify the quarterback's emergent field-general stature, placing him directly under center and the running backs behind him in a "T" or "I" formation. The "T" and the "I" soon morphed into the "Wishbone" and from there into more widely dispersed formations, designed to make use of every inch and angle of football's blank page—offenses that, in name alone, "Flexbone," "Triple Option," "Veer," and "Spread," suggest the evolution of some huge, flightless bird struggling to free itself from the confines of its own proscribed shell.

College and high school have long been the Petri dishes of football innovation, and it is there that the Wildcat's recent emergence can be traced. In a 1998 article for Scholastic Coach and Athletic Director magazine, a high-school football coach and Yale graduate named Hugh Wyatt wrote of a direct-snap, single-wing style formation that he named the "Wildcat," after the mascot of the school where he coached at the time. Seven years later, Gus Malzahn, the offensive coordinator for the Arkansas Razorbacks, implemented a single-wing style package that he'd used successfully coaching high school ball. Conspiring with Razorback running back coach Danny Nutt to get their best players on the field at the same time, he put the multidimensional running back Darren McFadden, now of the Oakland Raiders, in the quarterback position and fellow running back Felix Jones at wingback. The Wildcat was soon spreading like wildfire.

An estimated 80% of high school and college teams are expected to be featuring the formation this season, including, of course, Arkansas, Tulsa (where Gus Malzahn now coaches) and Ole Miss (coached by Danny Nutt's brother Houston), as well as Alabama, Michigan State and Minnesota. And when Gus Malzahn's replacement at Arkansas, David Lee, moved on to become the quarterback coach of the Miami Dolphins in 2008, the Wildcat was soon baring its claws in the pros—appearing as a bizarre and uncontainable creature to a stunned New England Patriot defense but wholly recognizable to an astute football historian like Bill Belichick.

"Call it what you want," the Patriots' coach would tell Sports Illustrated after the Patriots-Dolphins game. "But that's single-wing style football."

Corrections & Amplifications: Football star Steve Belichick attended Western Reserve University, a forerunner of today's Case Western Reserve University. An earlier version of this article incorrectly said he played for Case Western Reserve.

Collegiate Images/Getty Images

George Gipp of Notre Dame, shown here in 1920, was one of the multipurpose ‘wingbacks’ who gave the early ‘Single-wing’ formation its name.

==============================
Wall Street Journal
1211 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY
10036

.

High school athletes of the week: Sept. 14

2009-09-15T04:43:00.004-05:00

Branford's John Perry (Front)

With teammates (left to right) Willie Clemons,

Billy Peck, Matt Lambert, and Joey Fraddosio.

By Cliff Olsen
Correspondent
Published: Sunday, September 13, 2009 at 6:01 a.m.
Last Modified: Monday, September 14, 2009 at 12:30 a.m.

John Perry had a huge a game in Branford’s 28-13 win over Trenton on Friday night.

It is the way Branford coach Bill Wiles said he has been expecting Perry to play for two years.

Out of the Buccaneers single-wing attack, the senior carried the ball 26 times for 314 yards and scored four touchdowns. He also caught one pass for 19 yards.

How big of a part did Perry play in Branford’s offense?

He accounted for 333 yards of the Bucs’ 384 yards of offense and scored all of his team’s touchdowns.

“It was absolutely his best performance in two years, he played with tremendous effort,” Wiles said. “I was most proud of how physical he played.”

Perry also played defense for the Bucs (2-0) and made nine tackles from his safety position.

“He was so exhausted, but he played through that,” Wiles said. “He is a good kid and he has come a long way.”

Perry was the difference in a game that was tied at halftime. His 50-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter provided the final margin and gave Branford its second-straight win over the Tigers.

“It is a team game. I’m proud of our team. John just happened to be the beneficiary Friday night of making the most of his touches,” Wiles said. “Maybe he needed a game like that to show him what he can be.”

============================

The Gainesville Sun
P.O. Box 147147
Gainesville, FL 32614-7147

.

Holley stuns O-A 16-7

2009-09-14T22:53:00.003-05:00

Hawks now 2-0 after a winless 2008 season
By Bill Bruton Jr. bbruton@batavianews.com
Monday, September 14, 2009 10:39 PM EDT

HOLLEY -- The Holley football team did not win a game a year ago.

What a difference a year makes.

On Saturday, the Hawks stunned Oakfield-Alabama, winning 16-7 over a Hornets team that went unbeaten in the Genesee Region League a year ago in compiling a 9-1 record.

Holley got on the board first on a safety when O-A had a bad snap on a punt.

O-A scored next on a 4-yard touchdown run by Jason Stanley and a Jon Fisher extra point.

The Hornets had a chance to take a 10-2 halftime lead with two seconds left in the first half, but Holley's C.J. Fallato blocked the field goal attempt.

Holley took the lead in the third quarter when Tyler Winter scored on a 30-yard run. Cadzish Norford ran in the two-point conversion, carrying O-A defenders to do it.

Holley put the game away on a 7-yard TD run by Sean Baylor in the fourth quarter.

Quarterback Guy Hills had 100 rushing yards for Holley (2-0) and also made two fumble recoveries on defense.

Preston Lawrence had an interception as Holley won the turnover battle 3-0.

Baylor finished with 16 tackles.

O-A drops to 1-1.

===============================

The Daily News

Batavia Newspapers Corporation

2 Apollo Drive,Batavia, NY 14020

Auburn's Single-Wing Scores 4 Times

2009-09-13T17:40:00.002-05:00

Auburn offense comes alive in victory

ANDY BITTER - Special to the Sun Herald

AUBURN, Ala. — Three to two this wasn’t.

A year after an ugly, low-scoring win at Mississippi State signaled that everything wasn’t right with Auburn’s offense, a runaway 49-24 victory against those same Bulldogs on Saturday night suggests everything might be better than expected.

Offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn’s fast-paced attack racked up 589 yards against Mississippi State in its SEC opener before 85,269 at Jordan-Hare Stadium, surpassing the 556 it gained in the season opener against Louisiana Tech.

“It’s very innovative and it’s fun to watch,” said Gene Chizik, who improved to 2-0 as Auburn’s head coach. “From a defensive background, it’s problematic in a lot of ways.”

Auburn (1-0 SEC) has won 51 consecutive games when scoring 30 or more points, a streak dating back to 1996. The 49 points were the most Auburn has scored in an SEC game since beating Kentucky 49-27 in 2005.

The Tigers ran for 390 yards Saturday. Ben Tate, despite sitting out the first quarter, ran for 157 yards and a touchdown and Onterio McCalebb added 114 yards and a score. It marked the first time in Auburn history two players rushed for more than 100 yards in back-to-back games.

Malzahn thought this kind of success might be possible heading into the season.

“We knew that our front five, we knew that they were a solid offensive line, and we knew we had some backs who could be change of pace,” he said. “And so far they’ve really bought in to what we’re doing.”

Quarterback Chris Todd continued to find his comfort zone in the offense, going 10-for-23 for 186 yards. He developed a solid rapport with receiver Darvin Adams, who shook off a few early drops to catch five passes for 116 yards, both career highs.

And Wildcat triggerman Kodi Burns, who moved from quarterback to receiver in August, continued to evolve into the multi-use threat coaches envisioned. He ran for three 1-yard scores out of the single-wing formation and threw a confused Bulldogs defense for a loop in the third quarter, when he pulled up after a play-action fake out of the Wildcat and lobbed a touchdown pass to a wide open Philip Lutzenkirchen.
“I really didn’t know what to expect when (the position change) first happened,” Burns said. “It was pretty much a disappointment, but it’s this year. I’ve just got to go out there and do what I can for my team.”

Auburn went into halftime with a 28-17 halftime lead that could have been bigger if not for a pair of special teams miscues. Clinton Durst shanked a punt midway through the second quarter, leading to a Mississippi State field goal.

On the next possession, Durst had his punt blocked by Patrick Hanrahan. Robert Elliott picked it up and rumbled 10 yards for the score, giving the Bulldogs their first lead of the game at 17-14 with 4:44 remaining before the half.

The Tigers answered right back in lightning quick fashion. McCalebb took an option pitch from Todd and burst up the left sideline, running past the defense for a 43-yard touchdown that made it 21-14 Auburn.

After a Bulldogs three-and-out, the Tigers raced down the field, moving 78 yards in eight plays. Todd completed three passes to Adams for 69 yards, the last getting the ball to the Bulldogs’ 1. Burns punched it in with 16 seconds left before halftime to give Auburn an 11-point lead.

The Tigers out-gained the Bullodgs 314-171 in the first half, but put things away after the break. Burns’ touchdown pass to Lutzenkirchen made it an 18-point game with 3:52 left in the third quarter. Tate broke a 35-yard run up the sideline for a touchdown 2 1/2 minutes later to give Auburn a 42-17 lead.

“This game is a game of momentum swings,” Chizik said. “When the offense had a chance to step up and get some momentum back, they did. When the defense had a chance to step up and get some three-and-outs, it did. That’s why I was proud to see our team step up and answer the bell on all sides.”

Auburn’s defense limited Bulldogs quarterbacks Chris Relf and Tyson Lee to only 130 passing yards. The Tigers had two interceptions, one by defensive end Antonio Coleman, who returned it 20 yards for a touchdown in the first quarter.

Overall, the Tigers held Mississippi State to 126 yards and only seven points in the second half.

“It’s crazy,” Coleman said. “We were giving up all the points in the second half last year. We focus on finishing now. That’s what we do.”

============================
Sun Hereald
205 DeBuys Road
Gulfport, MS 39507

.

Gladiators keep rolling on

2009-09-13T17:22:00.010-05:00

Offense unstoppable in road win at L’Anse

By Paul Peterson - For the Gazette
POSTED: September 12, 2009

L'ANSE - Don't look now, but the Ontonagon High football team is halfway to gaining a postseason spot in the playoffs.

The Gladiators moved their record to 3-0 on the young season with a 44-22 throttling of L'Anse Friday night in nonconference action.

Ontonagon's new single wing offense moved at will on a warm evening at Meadowbrook Field - piling up 339 yards rushing and another 106 through the air.

"We couldn't stop them," L'Anse skipper Mark Leaf said afterward. "They run that Single Wing offense very well ... and they have some dangerous weapons on offense."

Senior tailback Mike Schmaus did most of the damage for the Gladiators, scoring three times and accounting for 145 rushing yards. He also accounted for most of his team's passing yardage

"He (Schmaus) is the ideal back to have in our offense. He's a U.P. dash champion and he can get to the outside real quickly," said OAHS first-year coach Dave Linczeski. "He's also throwing the ball very well."

Schmaus marched his team 66 yards on the opening drive of the game, mixing his own runs with hand-offs to quick tailbacks T.J. Huotari and Nick Soumis.

Schmaus tallied on a three-yard run and also tacked on the two-point conversion with a run for an 8-0 score.

That swelled to 16-0 later in the quarter as Schmaus ran 10 yards to pay dirt and passed to Soumis for the two-pointer.

The Hornets bounced back with a nice scoring drive of their own in the second frame. Tailback Parker Miller capped the drive with a 5-yard run and also added the two-pointer for a 16-8 reading.

Ontonagon, looking for its first winning season since 1996, answered back before the half ended on an 11-yard run by Huotari. Soumis ran in the two-pointer for a 24-8 halftime score.

The Purple Gang marched to the Ontonagon 31 early in the third quarter before running out of downs.

The Glads then embarked on a 17-play, 69-yard drive and ate up nearly nine minutes of the clock to erase any doubts about the outcome. Huotari covered the final yard and when Schmaus passed to Cameron Menigoz, it was 32-8.

Schmaus added a 19-yard scoring run in the fourth quarter to up the count to 38-8.

Miller scored on a ten-yard run for the Hornets not long after that to make it 38-14, but a 47-yard TD scamper from Dylan Kirkley of OAHS nullified that.

Dennis Anderson caught a 61-yard scoring pass from Jake Jaeger late in the contest and the two hooked up on the two-point PAT for the final points.

Leaf said he was encouraged by Jaeger's 10-of-13 passing performance for 143 yards.

"We'll need that kind of passing to open up the running game," he pointed out. "It was one of the encouraging things tonight."

Ontonagon travels to Crystal Falls to face rugged Forest Park next Friday for a Great Western Conference game.

"The kids are excited about the challenge of playing a team like (the Trojans)," Linczeski said.

L'Anse, now 1-2, goes to Hancock next Saturday for a WestPAC meeting.

Fact Box
==============================================
Ontonagon 16 8 14 6 - 44
L'Anse 0 8 0 14 - 22

First quarter

ON - Schmaus 3 run (Schmaus run)

ON - Schmaus 10 run (Soumis pass from Schmaus)

Second quarter

LA - Miller 5 run (Miller run)

ON - Huotari 11 run (Schmaus run)

Third quarter

ON -Huotari 3 run (Soumis run)

ON - Schmaus 19 run (pass failed)

Fourth quarter

LA - Miller 10 run (pass failed)

ON - Kirkley 47 run (pass failed)

LA - Anderson 61 pass from Jaeger (Anderson pass from Jaeger)

Stats

First downs: Ontonagon 17; L'Anse 9

Rushing: Ontonagon 45-339 (Schmaus 18-145, Soumis 6-78, Kirkley 3-54, Huotari 14-38; L'Anse 25-154 (Miller 9-84, Anderson 13-63

Passing: Ontonagon, Schmaus 3-6-0-88; L'Anse 10-13-143

Receiving: Ontonagon, Menigoz 2-87; L'Anse Anderson 4-72

===================================
The Daily Mining Gazette
P.O. Box 368
Houghton, MI 49931

.

Houston Nutt Credits The Single-Wing

2009-09-12T13:02:00.002-05:00

Ole Miss' McCluster comes up big for No. 6 Rebels
Friday, September 11 3:34 p.m.

By CHRIS TALBOTT Associated Press Writer
Dexter McCluster is a trend setter.

The diminutive combination player for No. 6 Mississippi continues to showcase a rare combination of speed and elusiveness in coach Houston Nutt's offense.

Line him up at wide receiver, and McCluster runs around defenders.

Line him up at tailback in the I-formation and he fearlessly launches himself into the line where most players are near twice his size.

Line him up at quarterback in the Wild Rebel and he seems to just disappear.

Against Memphis Saturday, the 5-foot-8, 170-pound McCluster had 65 yards receiving, 50 rushing and two touchdowns in the 45-14 victory.

"The guy is really, really hard to tackle," Memphis coach Tommy West said of McCluster. "Well, I tell you what he is - and this is a great compliment to him - when we started our recruiting last year I told all our guys, 'I want a guy like McCluster. I want the guy that everybody worries about being able to tackle.'"

The attention the Largo, Fla., native is getting for his success on the field is a victory for the little guys.

"The big guys better look out because we're taking over soon," the always-smiling McCluster joked. "But no matter the size, when I'm on the field I look like the smallest guy out there to everybody else. But I feel like I'm the same size as everybody on the field.

"They ask me how I do it all the time, and I tell them, 'I've got a heart the size of a lion's and I'm not scared of nothing or nobody.'"

And he plays like it. Rebels offensive coordinator Kent Austin says McCluster is many things crammed into one tiny package.

Austin says he's got quickness, vision, start and stop ability, change of direction, vertical and lateral speed, and the best hands on the team.

"But I think the thing that separates Dexter from guys who are similar to him is just his football intelligence," said Austin, a former Rebels quarterback who led Saskatchewan to CFL titles as both an MVP quarterback and head coach. "What really makes Dexter shine is his understanding conceptually of what we want to do. He's one of the few guys I've ever coached that can literally take a concept off the whiteboard in the classroom and go out on the field and execute it almost to perfection on the first rep. He gets it."

McCluster excells in Nutt's Wild Rebel offense, but the coach says he gets too much credit for a formation that dates back to the early 1900s and is better known as the single wing. But it was Nutt who updated it at Arkansas with Darren McFadden at quarterback.

The formation has swept the college and even NFL ranks and is so effective many wonder why the Rebels don't use it all the time. So do the players.

"If we had a choice, it would probably be ran about every couple of plays," McCluster said. "That's why we're not coaches."

Even with Nutt's attempts to limit its use by peppering it in with the team's regular I-formation offense, defenses are eventually going to figure out how to stop McCluster. Defensive coordinators spent idle time this summer trying to sort it out, after all, and all that study time has to make a difference.

So Austin, Nutt and the Rebels staff also put time into making it better, different, faster and more confusing, though chances are we didn't see much of that in a very vanilla effort against Memphis that involved no passes. And after this week's bye, we're probably not going to see very much new against Southeastern Louisiana.

"That's probably a pretty good assumption," Austin said.

When the Southeastern Conference schedule hits, though, look out. The Rebels have scored a school record 40-plus points in three straight games, were second in the SEC in points per game (32.1) last season and hope to pick up the pace as they chase an SEC West title and a trip to Atlanta.

"You never know what's going to come," McCluster said. "It's funny to hear the defense when we come out there, 'Watch 22! Watch 22!' And sometimes they get so caught up in me, they forget about the other athletes around me, and that just opens up the door to other athletes to make plays."

=====================
The Columbian
P.O. Box 180
Vancouver, WA
98666-0180

East Columbus mixes it up, buries North Brunswick

2009-09-12T12:57:00.003-05:00

By Rachel George
Rachel.George@StarNewsOnline.com

Leland East Columbus’ road to its first win was a well-worn path up the middle of North Brunswick’s field.

Four Gators rushers combined for 317 yards as East Columbus topped the Scorpions 27-13 on Friday night.

“We were 0-3 coming in here and we led two of those games in the fourth quarter,” said East Columbus coach Travis Conner. “We played three quarters real good twice this year. Tonight, we were just able to put four quarters together and come out with the win.”

Playing a single wing offense without a quarterback, East Columbus (1-3) took direct snaps to the running backs. It worked, as all four backs each finished with at least 40 yards rushing.

TJ Wilson led the way, carrying the ball 12 times for 132 yards and four touchdowns.

His most impressive run came late in the first quarter as he ran 65 yards for a score on the first play of a drive, tying the game at 7-7 only 16 seconds after the Scorpions had scored.

“It works good ’cause nobody never know where the ball at,” said Wilson of the Gators’ offense.

The Gators broke the game open with two second-

quarter scores. Starting at their own 1-yard line late in the first, East Columbus finished a 17-play drive that took 6:01 with a four-yard Wilson touchdown.

Just more than six minutes later, Wilson scored from 25 yards out to put East Columbus up 21-7 at halftime.

Chris McClure had 82 yards on 20 carries for the Gators, while Garrett Howard finished with 40 yards and Demetri Anders had 63.

“We’re gonna run the ball off tackle. That’s what we hang our hat on,” said Conner. “We don’t have a quarterback on our roster. It’s our offense. … It’s a very flexible offense where we can do a lot of things out of it.”

North Brunswick, meanwhile, continued to struggle. DJ Graham finished with 136 yards and two touchdowns, but there were few other highlights.

The Scorpions (1-3) fumbled the ball four times, losing it twice, finished with 164 rushing yards, and suffered their worst start since 2003 when they went 1-4 and then fell to 2-7.

The Scorpions won’t be home again for the rest of September, heading to Lejeune next week and start conference play the week after at Whiteville.

================================================

starnewsonline

P.O. Box 840

Wilmington, NC 28402

Ground game helps Panthers beat Raiders

2009-09-12T12:16:00.003-05:00

BY BRANDON HANNAHS
Staff Writer

NEWTON TOWNSHIP -- A steady offense can be as good as a flashy one.

Maysville had 220 rushing yards in its single wing offense and held off Morgan's fourth-quarter rally Friday in a 14-7 Muskingum Valley League victory at the Maysville Athletic C omplex.

Cory Wilson had 133 yards on 32 carries with a touchdown, and he threw for another one in the win. Jeremy Willison added 70 yards on 13 carries and caught the touchdown for the Panthers (2-1, 1-1 MVL), who had the ball for 25:20.

The Maysville defense contributed three turnovers including two interceptions off Ted Vynalek. The Raiders quarterback finished 21-of-30 for 179 yards with a score and ran for 82 yards on eight carries.

Joel Fox was his main threat, catching six passes for 82 yards for Morgan (0-3, 0-1). Blake Schultz added six receptions and 48 yards and Cameron Westfall five catches and 40 yards.

The Panthers wasted little time getting on the board in the first quarter. After forcing a three-and-out, Maysville covered 79 yards on 12 plays. Willison broke a 14-yard run on third-and-11 and a 23-yard burst on second-and-long to keep the drive alive.

Later in the drive, Wilson connected with Chase Fisher for 37 yards to the Raiders 14-yard line. The Panthers needed three more plays to find pay dirt when Wilson rumbled in from 3 yards out. Kody Fulkerson's kick made it 7-0 at the 4:57 mark of the first quarter.

The defense setup the next Panthers' touchdown. Dillon Winland intercepted Vynalek on a deflection at the Panthers 40, and Maysville covered 53 yards on eight plays. Wilson got the ball moving with gains of 21 and 14 yards and found Willison for a 9-yard score. Another Fulkerson kick pushed the lead to 14-0 with 1:17 left in the first half.

Morgan tried to get on the board before the intermission. Vynalek marched the Raiders down the field on a 22-yard run and a 42-yard pass to Fox. However, Seth Brown picked him off in the end zone to end the threat.

The Panthers tried to put the game out of reach to open the second half, but Cody Fluhart intercepted Wilson's pass to the end zone to stop on the first drive of the second half.

The teams then played field position until Morgan scored with about two minutes left in the game. Vynalek found Levi Boyd for an 8-yard scoring strike, and Caleb McGrath's kick made it 14-7.

Maysville sealed the game by recovering the onside kick.

Winland added 17 yards on the ground in the win.

Boyd ran for 58 yards on 14 carries and caught a pair of passes for eight yards in the losing effort.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zaneville Times Recorder
34 S. Fourth Street
Zanesville, OH 43701

.

Foundation Academy blow away the Hurricanes

2009-09-12T00:44:00.003-05:00

The Foundation Academy Lions (Winter Garden, FL) and their single-wing offense blew away the Eastland Christian Hurricanes (Orlando, FL) 49 to 16. The Lions scored 42 points in the first half in their home opener.

Senior Fullback Kenny Strong scored from all over the field. He gained 158 yards rushing on four carries, for two touchdowns. Strong scores again on special teams with a 60 yard punt return and then again with a 35 yard interception. Tailback Wes Murray (#13) rushed for 38 yards with and one TD. Powerful #22, Blocking Back Ryan Mansingh, not only lead the way in blocking for his backs, he also rushed for 48 yards and a touchdown.

Foundation Academy now owns a record of 2-0 going into their next district game with First Academy Leesburg.

Coaching Staff:
Brad Lord Head Coach
Gary English Off Co-ord
Layne Dugger Asst. D Co-ord
Kyle Brown Def Co-ord
Jim Strong Asst. Coach
Brent Shiver Asst. Coach
Joe macrina Asst. Coach
Rob Flannery Asst. Coach

Somerset County rivalry highlights scholastic schedule

2009-09-11T18:40:00.002-05:00

By ERIC KNOPSNYDER
The Tribune-Democrat

It’s only Week 2 of the high school football season, but emotions should be running high tonight when Windber hosts Conemaugh Township for a WestPAC battle.

“It’s been a rivalry forever and ever,” said Conemaugh Township coach Sam Zambanini, who graduated from the Davidsville school in 1980. “It goes way beyond my years. Part of the rivalry is the close proximity of the schools, but also a big part of it is our communities are so much alike. Our kids are kind of like the Windber kids. Along with the fact that both schools have kind of a storied football history. I think all of those contribute.”

Conemaugh Township beat Windber 14-0 in Week 2 a year ago, but the Ramblers had the last laugh, beating the Indians 42-21 in the District 5 Class A championship game.

Windber coach Phil DeMarco said neither of those games matter now.

“It’s always a special week,” he said of the buildup to the rivalry. “It doesn’t matter what the records are, if it’s early in the season or late in the season. It’s Windber-Township.”

Conemaugh Township got off to a strong start this season with a 35-6 victory over Blacklick Valley in Week 1. Seth Zaman ran for 109 yards and two scores. He also five passes for 121 yards and two more touchdown passes.

“Being the tailback, when we want to run the football, he’s a big part of it, but we’re not one-dimensional,” Zambanini said.

Far from it. DeMarco said the Indians are about as diverse as a high school team can be.

“They run every formation imaginable,” he said. “I don’t think there are any more you can run.”

Conemaugh Township quarterback George Bivens was 8-of-13 passing for 182 yards in his first varsity start and threw three touchdown passes.

“I’m very happy with George,” Zambanini said. “I thought he managed the game very well. It was his fist varsity start, so I’m sure there were some jittery moments, but he settled in very well.”

In addition to Zaman, who can split out wide in the spread formation, Bivens has capable receivers in Kyle Zambanini and Keith Myers. Fullback Brett Byers also gives the Indians versatility on offense.

“We think we can do a lot of things,” Coach Zambanini said.

The Ramblers also can do a number of different things, though virtually all of it comes out of DeMarco’s single-wing offense.

Jarid Cover and Kyle Smith each rushed for mor than 100 yards in Windber’s 21-14 victory over Chestnut Ridge last week. Quarterback Erick Strapple completed four of nine passes for 92 yards and a touchdown.

“Windber’s good again, there’s no doubt,” Coach Zambanini said. “They’re a very good football game. We’ve seen the scrimmages. We saw last week’s game.”

DeMarco said Chestnut Ridge did a good job of taking away the inside running game and expects Conemaugh Township to do the same. Last year the Indians used their defensive linemen to tie up Winder’s offensive line, freeing up the linebackers to make plays.

“They’re going to be in their 5-3 and sacrifice their defensive lineman,” DeMarco said. “Our linemen can’t come up with any excuses.”

The Indians have watched film from last year, but they weren’t just concentrating on X’s and O’s.

“When we look to last year’s games, we like to look back to the District 5 championship game for a little motivation,” Coach Zambanini said. “Obviously, we weren’t happy with the outcome, and the guys around for that have a sour taste in their mouth.”

But this rivalry would be heated even if the Ramblers hadn’t ended the Indians’ season a year ago.

“You don’t need a lot of that kind of stuff for this game,” Coach Zambanini said. “Whenever Township and Windber get together, it’s going to be a physical game. We know that, and we’re sure they know that.”

In other games tonight:

WestPAC

North Star at Shade: This game could determine if last week’s results were a fluke or a sign of things to come. North Star, which has won two consecutive District 5 titles, was beaten 27-14 by Berlin. Shade, on the other hand, matched its win total from a year ago with a 14-0 victory over Conemaugh Valley.

The Cougars won 52-6 a year ago, but the Panthers defense looks much better than it did then. Sam Aikey had six of Shade’s 10 sacks in Week 1 and Conemaugh Valley had just 6 yards of total offense.

Conemaugh Valley at Meyersdale: The Blue Jays routed the Red Raiders 48-7 a year ago, but could have a tougher task this time around.

Conemaugh Valley managed just 6 yards of offense in a 14-0 loss to Shade in Week 1 while Meyersdale beat Ferndale 48-12 behind a strong running attack. Ben Lohr and Justin Hoover each rushed for more than 100 yards in the victory.

LHAC

Penn Cambria at Bishop McCort: Two powerful ground games should be on display at Point Stadium.

Zac Newton, The Tribune-Democrat’s reigning Offensive Player of the Year, leads the Penn Cambria offense. He ran for 226 yards in the Panthers’ 40-12 victory over Westmont Hilltop last week.

Bishop McCort got a breakout performance from Josh Seidel. The senior running back racked up 219 yards on just 13 carries.

The Crimson Crushers beat Penn Cambria 47-14 last year.

Cambria Heights at Greater Johnstown: The Trojans will get a third crack at win No. 600 for the program as the Highlanders come in off 53-14 loss to Somerset.

Johnstown, which lost 20-8 to Forest Hills last week, could get its offense back on track as quarterback John Siciliano, who ran for 99 yards against the Rangers, will face a defense that gave up 251 yards to Somerset quarterback Trevor Niemiec.

Cambria Heights, which lost 49-14 to Johnstown last year, got 106 receiving yards and a touchdown out of Erik Welteroth last week.

Bedford at Richland: The Bisons and Rams come in off close wins last week. Bedford beat Bishop Carroll 14-9 while Richland edge Central Cambria 34-27.

John Rizzo had 105 rushing yards for Richland while Gino Ramires threw for 159.

Bedford, which lost 41-20 to the Rams a year ago, was led by Paul Detwiler last week. The senior ran for 145 yards and scored both touchdowns.

Forest Hills at Bishop Carroll: The Rangers, who shut out the Huskies 27-0 last year, appear to have a strong defense again.

Forest Hills beat Johnstown 20-8 in Week 1, with Erik Ondrejik recording two of the Rangers’ six sacks. Nick Dudokovich led the offense with 134 yards and two touchdowns on the ground.

Bishop Carroll had a balanced attack in a 14-9 loss to Bedford. Shawn Perich was 7 of 15 passing for 115 yards while the Huskies ran for 158 yards.

Bishop Guilfoyle at Somerset: Niemiec is the area’s leading rusher after ripping off 251 yards on 17 carries in last week’s 53-14 win at Cambria Heights. He’ll face a defense that gave up 289 yards on the ground in a 52-15 loss to Bishop McCort.

Niemiec also had four touchdowns for Somerset, which lost 50-29 to the Marauders a year ago.

Eugene Ehredt had 77 yards and 38 receiving yards in Bishop Guilfoyle’s loss last week.

Heritage

Ligonier Valley at United: Ligonier Valley got off to a quick start, beating Purchase Line 47-0 a week ago, while United is looking to regroup after a 14-8 overtime loss to Laurel Valley.

Jackson Corcoran led the Mounties’ offense, carrying 14 times for 140 yards while Devon Cesaro’s 12 tackles helped shut out the Red Dragons.

United, which lost 41-23 to Ligonier Valley last year, got 125 rushing yards and a touchdown from Kody Oliver in its opener.

Laurel Valley at Penns Manor: Six days after getting his first career victory, coach Chuck Nanassy will go for No. 2.

The Rams, who beat United 14-8 in overtime on Saturday, will face a Penns Manor team that ran for nearly 400 yards in beating Northern Cambria 41-19 last week.

Laurel Valley, which beat Penns Manor 29-22 last year, was led by Chris Morrow in Week 1. The senior tailback had 135 yards on 20 carries.

Homer-Center at Northern Cambria: After giving up nearly 400 yards on the ground in last week’s 41-19 loss to Penns Manor, Northern Cambria gets a Homer-Center team that ran the ball 40 consecutive times last week in a 26-14 win over Saltsburg.

Jeremy Smith led the Wildcats with 139 yards and two touchdowns.

Northern Cambria, which lost 41-34 to Homer-Center a year ago, got 240 passing yards from quarterback Anthony Penksa in Week 1. The senior completed 10 of 17 passes and threw for a pair of touchdowns.

Nonconference

Berlin at Chestnut Ridge: A week after beating North Star on the road, the Mountaineers will face the team the Cougars beat in last year’s District 5 Class AA game.

The Lions, who lost 21-14 to Windber in Week 1, beat Berlin 28-0 last year. Jude Donatelli was Chestnut Ridge’s top offensive player against Windber, carrying 17 times for 96 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

Berlin got a strong performance from Ian Sayler on both sides of the ball in last week’s 27-14 win in Boswell. The junior ran for 147 yards and a touchdown while recording an area-best 16 tackles.

==========================
The Tribune-Democrat
425 Locust St
PO Box 340
Johnstown, PA
15907-0340
==========================

.