Prep football forecast: Wesco teams trending away from wing-T to spread offense
Published 11:23 pm Thursday, October 2, 2008
The identity of Snohomish County football is changing.
When I became The Herald’s full-time high school sportswriter in the fall 2004, one of my first assignments was to write a story about the wing-T offense. Most Western Conference football teams used a version of the wing-T, a run-focused attack that relies on angle blocking and fake handoffs.
Its popularity stemmed largely from coach Terry Ennis, who had great success with the wing-T at Cascade and Archbishop Murphy high schools. Ennis influenced many former players who became coaches in the area.
These days the trend is pass, pass, pass. Sure, plenty of squads still successfully use the wing-T. But this fall teams such as Lake Stevens (4-0 overall), Arlington (3-1), Monroe (2-2) and Glacier Peak (1-3) are using variations of the pass-happy spread offense. Three of the four teams have first-year head coaches.
The approach has talented quarterbacks (and receivers) putting up eye-popping numbers. For example, Lake Stevens QB Nick Baker already has passed for 1,216 yards and 13 touchdowns.
Scott Stokes, an assistant coach for 4-0 Marysville-Pilchuck, got a close-up look at Glacier Peak’s no-huddle offense Sept. 19. M-P hung on to win the non-division game 20-17, but Glacier Peak QB Zach Richter completed 37 of 47 passes for 317 yards.
“They’re good. They’re real good,” Stokes said. “If one was just a fan, they’d be fun to watch, I think.”
For an opposing coach, however? Not so fun.
Playing Glacier Peak helped M-P prepare for key Wesco North games against Arlington (tonight) and Lake Stevens (next week), Stokes said.
“There’s no substitute for that experience — feeling what it’s like to not be able to huddle up defensively,” he said. “I’m thankful we got to see it once.”
It’s not that implementing a no-huddle, spread offense is instant magic. Team’s need the right personnel, starting with the guy taking the snaps.
“In any offense you want a good quarterback, but (in a spread offense) you’ve really got to have a kid in there that is really poised and really bright and can make all those reads,” Stokes said.
Lake Stevens’ Baker, Glacier Peak’s Richter, Arlington’s Jake Parduhn and Monroe’s Bryan Sonneveldt appear to have those qualities.
Will more prep teams switch to spread offenses the next few years and leave the wing-T behind? Don’t count on M-P abandoning its methodical ground game any time soon. It’s doing just fine with a powerful offensive line and effective running backs in Austin Denton and Caleb Posey.
Noting how much things have changed, Stokes said, “We’re sort of the antithesis. We’re the old school with all these new, modern guys.”
Here’s a look at the M-P vs. Arlington game and the rest of the weekend schedule:
Jackson at Lake Stevens
When/where: 7 p.m. tonight at Lake Stevens Stadium
Records: Jackson is 3-1 overall. Lake Stevens is 4-0.
Quick slant: Can anyone slow down Lake Stevens’ high-powered offense? The Vikings are averaging 37.8 points and they haven’t scored fewer than 35 in a game. A huge key for Jackson will be the health of senior running back/defensive back Taylor Cox (ankle).
Mike Cane’s pick: Lake Stevens 31-27
John McDonald’s pick: Lake Stevens 35-14
Tom Lafferty’s pick: Jackson 28-27
Arlington at Marysville-Pilchuck
When/where: 7 p.m. tonight at Quil Ceda Stadium
Records: Arlington is 0-1 in the Wesco North, 3-1 overall. M-P is 2-0, 4-0.
Quick slant: Coming off its first loss of the season, Arlington will try to bounce back against a Marysville-Pilchuck team celebrating the city’s 100-year history of prep football. An M-P victory sets up an intriguing battle for first place with Lake Stevens next week.
Mike Cane’s pick: M-P 21-14
John McDonald’s pick: M-P 28-14
Tom Lafferty’s pick: M-P 35-14
Meadowdale at Glacier Peak
When/where: 7 p.m. tonight at Snohomish Veterans Memorial Stadium
Records: Meadowdale is 0-0 in the Wesco 3A, 2-1 overall. Glacier Peak is 0-0, 1-3.
Quick slant: Glacier Peak has improved every week since its lopsided season-opening loss to Arlington. Now the Grizzlies make their Wesco 3A debut against Meadowdale, the coaches’ preseason division favorite.
Mike Cane’s pick: Meadowdale 35-28
John McDonald’s pick: Meadowdale 21-15
Tom Lafferty’s pick: Meadowdale 44-22
Kamiak at Edmonds-Woodway
When/where: 5 p.m. tonight at Edmonds District Stadium
Records: Kamiak is 1-1 in the Wesco South, 1-3 overall. E-W is 0-1, 2-2.
Quick slant: Traditionally among the most dominant Wesco South teams, Kamiak and E-W are both trying to avoid a second division defeat that would make a postseason berth much more difficult to obtain.
Mike Cane’s pick: E-W 28-14
John McDonald’s pick: E-W 21-7
Tom Lafferty’s pick: Kamiak 21-14
Other games tonight
Wesco North: Stanwood (0-2, 0-3) at Monroe (0-2, 2-2); Snohomish (1-1, 2-2) at Oak Harbor (1-0, 2-2), 7 p.m.
Wesco South: Shorewood (0-2, 0-4) at Mariner (2-0, 3-1), 7 p.m.; Cascade (1-1, 2-2) at Mountlake Terrace (0-1, 2-2), 8 p.m. at Edmonds District Stadium.
Wesco 3A: Lynnwood (0-0, 0-4) at Everett (0-0, 3-1), 7 p.m. at Everett Memorial Stadium
Cascade Conference: Archbishop Murphy (2-0, 4-0) at Coupeville (0-2, 0-4); Cedarcrest (1-1, 2-2) at King’s (1-1. 3-1); Granite Falls (1-1, 2-2) at Lakewood (1-1, 1-3); Sultan (0-2, 0-4) at South Whidbey (2-0, 4-0), 7 p.m.
Northwest 2B: Darrington (0-0, 3-1) at La Conner (0-0, 0-4), 7 p.m.
Non-conference: Sedro-Woolley (1-3) at Shorecrest (2-2), 7 p.m. at Shoreline Stadium; Highland Christian (1-2) at St. John-Endicott (0-4), 4 p.m. at Kittitas H.S.
KRKO radio broadcaster Tom Lafferty was 3-0 on his picks last week. Herald Prep Editor John McDonald was 2-1 and Herald Writer Mike Cane was 1-2. For the season, Lafferty and Cane are 9-6. McDonald is 7-8.
