A single wing and a prayer

A single wing and a prayer
Old-school offense helps boost JDHS
TIM NICHOLS
JUNEAU EMPIRE


With Friday's game against West Valley well in hand, the Juneau-Douglas High School football team played some old-school football in the fourth quarter.
How old school? How about before Alaska statehood old.

The Crimson Bears' offense employed the single wing formation against the Wolfpack in the fourth quarter. Juneau-Douglas' Lincoln Maka proved the beneficiary of the quirky offense, taking a reverse 34 yards for a score.

"There was some nostalgia for me," Juneau-Douglas coach Bill Chalmers said Friday about Maka's score. "When I was in high school, it was called the 16-reverse. Now it's the 133. When it went in for the score, it was like 1955."

The single wing dates back to the 1940s and 50s. During this era, a forward pass was a rarity as teams opted to run on nearly every play.

Instead of relying on a decision-making quarterback to run the offense, the single wing doesn't really have a quarterback at all. Rather, a direct snap to a tailback who will either run or hand off starts the play. The single wing also features a host of tight ends and running backs on one side of the offensive line, giving the formation a very lopsided look.

Straight-ahead runs or misdirection plays based from the single wing can sometimes leave defenses grasping at air.

"What the deal was was at the end of last year I knew we didn't have a quarterback going into the season," said JDHS offensive coordinator Rich Sjoroos. "I was researching offenses and came across the single wing and how it wasn't built around a quarterback but a series of running backs. I thought what a tailor-made deal for Silver Maake and Alex Fagerstrom."

The Crimson Bears eventually solved their quarterback dilemma by recruiting Ryan "Bubba" Larson from the basketball team, but Sjoroos kept the single wing around.

It made its debut against Colony, but with limited results as it gained just nine yards on four plays.

"I thought we'd save it for the playoffs, but we practiced it against West Valley and you bet you'll see it against Rainier (on Saturday at home)," Sjoroos said.

The single wing has mostly gone the way of 8-track cassettes, Betamax VCRs and the Atari 2600 as it evolved into the more common Wing-T offense seen today.

However, the single wing continues to have a small but loyal following.

Sjoroos said he got information on the offense via instructional videos from Johnston City High School from Illinois. Coach Mike Rude used the single wing in Johnston City to reach the Illinois playoffs 12 times in 16 years, according to Southern Illinois newspaper The Southern Illinoisan.

There is also a National Single Wing Coaches Association which preaches the gospel of the venerable offense. The group meets every year to discuss and teach all things single wing.

DEFENSE STAYS STEADY

JDHS defensive coordinator Eddie Brakes' crew continued to show its speed and power in Friday's 68-14 win.

The Crimson Bears limited West Valley to -72 rushing yards, administered eight quarterback sacks and forced four turnovers in the win. The only blemishes in Friday's game came in the form of two long touchdown passes from West Valley quarterback Sam McKinstry to wide receiver Nick Herzberg.

Despite beating teams by an average of 28 points, the thirst for perfection continues to drive the Bears.

"I was talking to Silver on Saturday and asked him how he felt because that was his debut of playing a lot of defense," Brakes said. "I asked him if we handled them good and he said, 'Too many yards. I don't like those passes.' That seems to be the mentality of the defense. They're stingy, work hard and feel like they deserve that perfect game."

The next challenge for Juneau will be Rainier High School from Rainier, Ore. The Columbians are 4-0 and have allowed just nine points.

While this game doesn't have any bearing on the upcoming playoffs, a powerful Lower 48 school serves as a terrific test and lead-in for the postseason.

"It's exciting bringing a Lower 48 team up," Brakes said. "One of the most exciting things is showing the community support we have."


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Youth Football -- KC Colts Coach's Report

KC Colts Coach's Report
J. Michael Ranson Head Coach
Charleston, WV


This week my kids played a team that last year was up 40-0 at half time. They were co-favored to win our league.

We started out powering them. The first time we got the ball we kept in on a 15 play drive and ate up 10 minutes of clock.

TB power +2, TB power +9, TB power +6, TB Blast -3 (blocking breakdown), FB Wedge +6, TB power +7, 1/2 Spin, +3, FB Wedge +8, QB Counter +2, TB Blast +5,
TB Blast +2, TB Power +13, TB Power +2 and TD. We made the conversion on a beast blast out of Beast.

Unfortunately they were a very fast team with 4 track stars form our local track organization so they scored the next 3 to go up 20-8 with about 6 minutes to play. They had pulled their safeties up so we went to our passing game.

We hit a 40 yard play on a TB Sprint out pass to inside the 10. We scored on a QB Blast and another beast conversion to make it 20-16.

We held an got the ball back with about 2:00 minutes to go. We threw our WAL pass out of our WAL Formation. Touchdown and with another Beast conversion we took a 24-20 lead with less than a minute do play.

We then held on for the win. These kids have gone from last place last year to first place midway through the season.

I have the YouTube link below to the pass plays.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSWH6qyDg1c



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYMkilnPxC0

know the enemy

If you know the enemy and know yourself you need not fear the results of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy then for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.”

Dragons Decide to “Wing it” Another Way

Fairland outscores Marauders, 48-43
By JIM WALKER/Tribune Sports Editor


PROCTORVILLE — The Fairland Dragons like to “wing it” out of their spread formation. On Friday, they decided to “wing it” another way.



The Dragons used the spread formation to score 20 points in the first half, but switched to the single-wing in the second half and rallied to outscore the Meigs Marauders 48-43.



“We had decent success running from spread. At halftime I just had a gut feeling,” said Fairland coach Brent Wilcoxon.



“We haven’t established the single-wing and we did a better job the second half. We really hurt them in the second half.



The single-wing formation helped generate 333 rushing yards with senior running back Jordan Kersey rushing for a career-high 283 yards on 20 carries and four touchdowns.



“Kersey ran really, really hard and our offensive line did a really good job. It was a good combination,” said Wilcoxon.



The offensive line of center Eric Salyers, guards Spencer Baise and Tyler Thackston, tackles Nathan Casey and Zach Ferguson, and tight ends Michael Lamb and Scott Prislipsky helped produce 585 total yards.



Although Fairland (2-3) had a big offensive production, the defense allowed 504 total yards including 355 through the air.



Part of the reason was the absence of starting defensive back Tyler.



“We just didn’t cover guys two or three times. We had some new guys and we were trying some new things,” said Wilcoxon.



Meigs’ standout running back Cornelius English had 150 yards on 23 carries, but quarterback Aaron Story was 15 of 26 for 355 yards and an interception.



Kersey ran 29 yards early in the first quarter and Nate Burcham added a pair of field goals to put Fairland up 12-0. English had a 7-yard scoring run to get Meigs (3-2) withing 12-7 at the end of the quarter.



The Marauders took over at that point and scored the next three touchdowns and build a 28-12 lead.



English ran one yard for a score, Jeremy Smith returned an interception 48 yards, and Story hit Jacob Well with a 45-yard scoring pass.



The Dragons cut the deficit to 28-20 on a 20-yard touchdown pass from Cole Hatfield to Lamb with just 31 seconds left in the half.



Kersey bolted 64 yards for a touchdown to start the second half scoring, but Meigs countered with a 41-yard TD pass from Story to Well.



Fairland took control with a 4-yard scoring run by Kersey just before the end of the quarter and it was 35-33.



The Dragons took the lead for good at 41-35 on a 25-yard scoring pass from Hatfield to Chad Fisher and Kersey’s conversion run. Kersey then ran 53 yards for a touchdown and Burcham added the conversion with 4:11 left.



English had a 3-yard scoring run with 1:25 left to set the final score.



Meigs 7 21 7 8 = 43
Fairland 12 8 13 15 = 48


First Quarter

Fa — Jordan Kersey 29 run (pass fail) 7:38

Fa — Nate Burcham 23 field goal 4:55

Fa — Burcham 27 field goal 1:08

Me — Cornelius English 7 run (Mason Metts kick) 0:02



Second Quarter

Me — English 1 run (Metts kick) 6:06

Me — Jeremy Smith 48 interception return (Metts kick) 5:00

Me — Jacob Well 45 pass from Aaron Story (Metts kick) 1:58

Fa — Michael Lamb 20 pass from Cole Hatfield (Kersey pass from Hatfield) 0:31


Third Quarter



Fa — Kersey 64 run (run failed) 7:19

Me — Well 41 pass from Story (Metts kick) 5:04

Fa — Kersey 4 run (run failed) 0:51


Fourth Quarter


Fa — Chad Fisher 25 pass from Hatfield (Kersey run) 8:26


Fa — Kersey 53 run (Burcham kick) 4:11


Me — English 3 run (Well pass from Story) 1:25


—————


Mgs -- Fa


First downs 15 15


Rushes-yards 37-149 39-333

Passing yards 355 252


Total yards 504 585


Cmp-Att-Int 15-26-1 17-23-1


Fumbles-lost 2-1 3-1


Penalties-yards 4-27 5-35


—————


Individual Leaders


RUSHING—Meigs: Cornelius English 23-150, Jeremy Smith 3-22, Cory Hutton 1-0, Aaron Story 11-minus 23; Fairland: Jordan Kersey 20-283, Matt Bloomfield 9-25, Blayne Cornwell 2-10, Cole Hatfield 7-15.


PASSING—Meigs: Aaron Story 15-26-1 355; Fairland—Aaron Story 15-26-1 149; Fairland: Cole Hatfield16-22-1 239, Chad Fisher 1-1-0 14.


RECEIVING—Meigs: Jacob Well 10-226, Cory Hutton 1-57, Clay Bolin 1-25, Austin Dunfee 1-21, Jake Barnes 1-11; Fairland: Michael Lamb 7-94, Aaron Ward 3-43, Jordan Kersey 1-36, Chad Fisher 3-54, Matt Bloomfield 3-25.





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