Since the game’s inception, ideas about offensive, defensive, and special teams play have trickled down from the pro game to the college game to the high school game. It seems like ideas from the college game have really had a big impact on the high school game. In the 1970s, the success of the triple option run from the wishbone in schools like Alabama and Oklahoma or the swing around Houston prompted high school programs across the country to try to mimic these schools’ offensive systems. In the 1980s it was formation I. In recent years the election system has been the “Spread”. Of course, some schools have copied a Texas Tech-Mike-Leach-type spread offense with an emphasis on throwing the ball and others have implemented a more run-oriented spread offense akin to Urban Meyer’s Utah and Florida teams.
The next trend I think we’ll see hit the high school ranks will involve tight ends and fullbacks. Take a look at the best college soccer programs in the country right now. Alabama, LSU, Oklahoma, Wisconsin … each of these programs has a similar offensive philosophy. They play a tight end and a fullback and they will line up and attack you with a strong running game. While they incorporate the use of the shotgun or some extended offensive concepts, their offensive schemes are primarily based on a power run game utilizing a tight end (or tight ends) and a fullback. Among the current AP Top 10, only Oklahoma State, Clemson and Oregon are truly scattershot teams. Arkansas is more of a hybrid that uses spread principles but does so with a TE and a FB with an emphasis on the running game. Even Boise State, where you’ll see pretty much anything from, mostly plays with the TE and FB on the field.
While the trend of running some type of extended offense continues at the high school level, defenses have, as a result, shifted toward schemes that help them defend the number of separate teams they face in any given season. Many high schools have gone with the 3-4 or the popular 3-3-5 or 3-5-3 to better defend the extended offense. These defenses use speed and quickness and tend to blitz more frequently to help shut down spread offenses. Because of the emphasis on speed and quickness, you don’t see the typical “big” defensive lineman in these types of schemes. As more and more high school programs begin to deal with these types of defenses geared toward stopping extended offenses, I think you’ll see a shift toward an offensive style that uses a TE and FB and emphasizes a power run game. .
Go to the link below and check out Wisconsin. ( http://youtu.be/X0nYDqpLzx0 ) The Badgers run a multitude of power runs using TE and FB and tear through the Minnesota defense. Of course, no offense to Coach Kill and his staff, but the Gophers are not one of the elite defenses in the country, however, the Badgers were very effective against Nebraska in a 48-17 victory earlier this season. . Wisconsin had 231 rushing yards, led by Monte Ball’s 30-carrying, 151-yard performance. Currently ranked seventh in the country in rushing yards per game, Wisconsin relies heavily on a power run game. I think we’ll start to see teams go back to a style of offense similar to teams like the Badgers and Stanford, Oklahoma, etc. While these teams emphasize power runs, they still employ facets of the extended offense (which we all know fans love to see). On the sidelines though, coaches know that putting the ball in the end zone and keeping the other out wins games. They’ll do whatever it takes to do it and if that means going after him with the powerful running game, I think you’ll be seeing more and more of it in the near future.
