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Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Goodbye Power I
Western Arkansas, AR
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Bid farewell to three yards and a cloud of dust. Along with two-dollar gas, carbon paper, and hand-crank car windows, the days of simple running offenses in high school football are long gone.
Now, more than ever before, teams on Friday nights mirror the philosophies and strategies of those that play college and pro football.
The receivers nearly outnumber the linemen, split across the line using all of the field's 53-yards in width to do so. The quarterback sometimes gets lonely in the backfield, usually only accompanied by a single back. The linemen rarely put their hand on the ground, instead opting to use a two-point stance out of which they can pull, run a screen, kick back for a pass block, or step up field for a run.
Coaches change their offenses often, doing whatever it takes to give their team that extra edge.
One offensive formation that has taken football teams by storm over the past decade has been the spread. Early roots of the spread can first be seen in Western Arkansas through Gus Malzahn, first while he was at Shiloh Christian and then at Springdale. Today, six of the eight teams in the 7A- West operate out of the spread, but even those teams that don't undergo changes to their system every year.
At Union Christian Academy in Fort Smith, coach Bob Hattabaugh has decided to add a few wrinkles to his offense this year as the team transitions from 4A to 2A.
Near the end of May, the third-year coach received a pleasant surprise when junior Arron Collins moved to Fort Smith and enrolled at Union. Hattabaugh quickly learned that Collins had quite an arm to go along with his 4.7 speed in the 40-yard dash. The problem was that Union already had a quarterback in senior Dustin Flaspohler, who had thrown for nearly 1,200 yards and used his deceptive 4.6 speed to break through defenses in his two years at the school.
The coach figured there was too much talent in both players to pass up on, choosing to install a variation of the recently famed Wild Hog formation as a base set offensively.
"With our double quarterback scheme we may run some option, direct snap, or the quarterback draw," said Hattabaugh. "There are certainly a lot of possibilities for us out of it and that's why we really like it."
The Wild Hog offense, a system established to showcase the talents of an exceptional athlete and take advantage of defenses that have problems adjusting to it, was first used at the University of Arkansas with two-time Heisman Trophy runner-up Darren McFadden in 2006. Since then, college teams throughout the nation and high school teams throughout the state have used the package.
Since taking the helms at Greenwood in 2004, coach Rick Jones has carried his teams to four state championship games, winning the past three. Jones' teams have all ran a spread offense, but in 2007 the Bulldogs added their own variation of the Wild Hog offense. The set, titled "money," was used in short yardage situations and on the goal line with now-graduated tailback Trey Hopkins.
"When we got in "money," you knew it was an important play," said Hopkins. "I liked taking the snap and being in control, having the game in my hands."
Not far from Greenwood, at Fort Smith Southside, the Rebels run a variation of the Wild Hog offense as well. The team started using the set during the 2006 season when the Rebels won their seventh football state title and used it at various times last season, as well.
"Anytime you put a tailback at the quarterback position it puts pressure on the defense because they now have to account for an extra runner," said coach Jeff Williams. "It's been very beneficial for our teams in the past, but it's not what we hang our hat on."
Other teams in the area have completely changed their offenses, hoping to find offenses that will be unique to their team and cause defenses problems. In order to find these different styles, coaches travel to clinics across the nation, spend hours studying film, and call coaches of all levels.
Fort Smith Northside is switching to an offense coach Darrell Henry got from Auburn Offensive Coordinator Tony Franklin. Ironically, Franklin's quarterback in the system at Auburn is the former Northside standout Kodi Burns. Henry believes that the new hurry-up no huddle system will make returning quarterback Dax Dupire's job much easier, as he will have a lot expected out of him this year, much like Burns in his final season for the Grizzlies.
"Hopefully, it will wear down defenses and if you move the ball like you hope to then they won't be able to sub in and out," said Henry. "When you're a little smaller physically than who you play that definitely helps."
Up north at Springdale Har-Ber, last year's state runner-up will be running the pistol offense in which the tailback lines up about three yards behind the quarterback. Offensive Coordinator Don Struebing decided to make the switch in 2007 after studying the offense for some time.
"We think it gives our tailbacks good angles and eliminates certain tendencies," said coach Chris Wood.
Regardless of the style, all coaches agreed that they run their offense because they think it fits their players the best and gives the team its best chance to win.
"We evaluate our offense every year and try to add things and take out things so that we have a strategy that best fit our players," said Williams.
So as the season unravels, take a look around at the games. Apart from the video-scoreboards, artificial turf, and indoor facilities, watch the new offensive philosophies. Say hello to the change. They'll be in the same sentence as two-dollar gas in just a few years.
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