Oak Ridge vs. Halls

[volntn]

Not very much to say about this game except that it's homecoming for Oak Ridge. I have never been a fan of the wing-t just to throw it out there. I can't remember the last true wing t team that won a state championship. Its not fun to watch and after so many years it now seems easy to prepare for unlike when it first came out several years ago. I'm sure Coach Julian will have his guys ready for Oak Ridge though. He played them when he was a player and still must remember those days. Good luck to all.

 

Cleveland High School won 3 State championships in a row with it.

[DCCATVOICE]

Yes I remember that but that was over 10 years ago and with those players they could have won the state in the single wing. The Wing T was hot then but now its old news.

[PowerSweep]

I can't remember the last true wing t team that won a state championship.

 

Webb - 2006

[Govolsknox]

Webb 2006

Catholic 2008? (I intentionally try NOT to follow Catholic, but I believe they ran the Wing T in 08

 

As Powersweep said in another thread, the thing that makes the Wing T work is that every play looks the same at the beginning. This makes it tough on defenses, not to mention fans in the stands to find the ball. OR did run the wing T very effectively for a few years. While we didn't run it with the precision of Webb, IMO we had better athletes which made up for it. I loved it at the time because it allowed us to get several very talented athletes in the backfield at the same time, and you had to respect all of them, not to mention the ability to raise up and throw the ball. I think it was scrapped coincidentally or not around the time that we no longer had multiple backs that needed to be on the field at the same time. I thought it was the right offense at the time and not the right offense for today.

 

I would defer to Powersweep who's seen Halls vs. Webb in person, but my take is that the biggest two problems for Halls' offense is 1. last year, great line, absolutely zero passing threat. This year, very questionable line play / ability, but much more unrealized passing potential. 2. They use some wing T principles and plays, but are not executing it like high caliber Wing T teams like Webb. In addition, you can't overstate the importance of the backs hitting the hole hard and fast.

 

As for the wing T offense, while I respect Webb, I wouldn't trade offenses with them. The key is execution and athletes in any offense. There are other offenses that have the potential to be equally or more effective than the wing t, and are alot more fun to watch, and IMHO more fun for the kids to participate in. I will say that the wing t may be perfect for Webbs current line up (3 excellent backs) just like it was for OR at one time. JMHO, your mileage may vary.

[PowerSweep]

Govolsknox you are exactly right... the wing-t has suited Webb as the best offense to run most every year over the past 25 years. They actually went away from it occasionally during Chad Pennington's senior year but it was still the base offense, they just utilized Chad's ability to throw.

 

The wing-t allows Webb to compete against schools that have bigger stronger athletes for a handful of reasons, not the least of which is mis-direction, deception, the ability to block on angles which is easier if your line is undersized, and finally, creating a numbers advantage on the edge by pulling two linemen.

 

If there was ever an offense perfect for Webb it's the wing-t. They seem to always have very good backs who are fast, tough and don't mind hitting the hole with quickness and speed. As you know the wing-t uses 3 backs, two wingbacks and one fullback. The fullback is a very important position as they have to be able to block but more importantly they have to be very quick and fast. Quickness is probably more important than flat-out speed because of the fullback trap play. Webb will hit you with quick pitches, jet sweeps, counters etc. and then every now and then throw in the trap. If the defense up the middle isn't disciplined the fullback will be beyond your LBs and into the secondary in a blink. Another tough play to defend is the criss-cross where one wingback hands the ball to the other going in the opposite direction.

 

This season, opposing defenses are having to deal with 3 backs that can take it the distance with tremendous speed and a passing game that is more than adequate to keep the secondary honest. Halls couldn't stop Webb because their defense lacked speed on the line and at LB. Their secondary was fast and did a good job of run support.

 

The kids at Webb completely buy into the wing-t so they really don't have any desire to run something different. Most of them have run this offense in youth football if they played for Pilot or in Middle School at Webb. I enjoy watching Webb run the wing-t since they do a very good job of execution. However, if you don't really understand the "beauty" of the wing-t I can easily see how it would be very boring to watch.

[Govolsknox]

Govolsknox you are exactly right... the wing-t has suited Webb as the best offense to run most every year over the past 25 years. They actually went away from it occasionally during Chad Pennington's senior year but it was still the base offense, they just utilized Chad's ability to throw.

 

The wing-t allows Webb to compete against schools that have bigger stronger athletes for a handful of reasons, not the least of which is mis-direction, deception, the ability to block on angles which is easier if your line is undersized, and finally, creating a numbers advantage on the edge by pulling two linemen.

 

If there was ever an offense perfect for Webb it's the wing-t. They seem to always have very good backs who are fast, tough and don't mind hitting the hole with quickness and speed. As you know the wing-t uses 3 backs, two wingbacks and one fullback. The fullback is a very important position as they have to be able to block but more importantly they have to be very quick and fast. Quickness is probably more important than flat-out speed because of the fullback trap play. Webb will hit you with quick pitches, jet sweeps, counters etc. and then every now and then throw in the trap. If the defense up the middle isn't disciplined the fullback will be beyond your LBs and into the secondary in a blink. Another tough play to defend is the criss-cross where one wingback hands the ball to the other going in the opposite direction.

 

This season, opposing defenses are having to deal with 3 backs that can take it the distance with tremendous speed and a passing game that is more than adequate to keep the secondary honest. Halls couldn't stop Webb because their defense lacked speed on the line and at LB. Their secondary was fast and did a good job of run support.

 

The kids at Webb completely buy into the wing-t so they really don't have any desire to run something different. Most of them have run this offense in youth football if they played for Pilot or in Middle School at Webb. I enjoy watching Webb run the wing-t since they do a very good job of execution. However, if you don't really understand the "beauty" of the wing-t I can easily see how it would be very boring to watch.

 

No one runs the wing t any better than Webb from what I've seen. And it does seem to fit perfectly with your current roster. I agree that it is fun to watch (when not on the receiving end) because it is so well run. I think it helps that Webb (like some other privates) has so much control over their feeder program. I don't know but I suspect that Halls doesn't have as much control over the middle school or even elementary program as a Webb, CAK, etc. IMO, Webb also benefits from having run virtually the same offense for 25 years, which I suspect is different than Halls. The wing T also offers Webb the opportunity to have an offense that fields 2 -3 good running backs, without necessarily needing to have several very good receivers and a great throwing QB year in, year out, which I'm sure has helped when their hasn't been a Chad Pennington on campus. As numbers are an issue (under 50 players) I suspect Webb is generally undersized on the OL, and as you point out, the wing T provides a strategy that mitigates that negative, or perhaps turns it into a positive. And finally, Webb has Coach Meske, who has to be one of if not the best Wing T coach in the area.

 

Now as far as Halls is concerned, I'm not sure how many if any of these positives apply to a school the size of Halls in 2009 TN HS football. Their line is undersized this year from what I understand but is usually not a problem. I don't like the wing T (for most larger schools) if you have a pretty good number of skill players, as I think it under-utilizes a throwing QB and receivers who can catch and make yardage after the catch. I don't know what that means for Halls, but I personally think they need to find a way to get more skill players involved in the offense. Even if you change the personell in the backfield, do they really have the OL and execution to be successful? Maybe that's their best bet for this season, but I think year in / year out they could get more productivity from a different approach. Disclaimer, I don't claim to be a coach, just an observer.

[ZCAR]

Webb 2006

Catholic 2008? (I intentionally try NOT to follow Catholic, but I believe they ran the Wing T in 08

 

I would defer to Powersweep who's seen Halls vs. Webb in person, but my take is that the biggest two problems for Halls' offense is 1. last year, great line, absolutely zero passing threat. This year, very questionable line play / ability, but much more unrealized passing potential. 2. They use some wing T principles and plays, but are not executing it like high caliber Wing T teams like Webb. In addition, you can't overstate the importance of the backs hitting the hole hard and fast.

As for the wing T offense, while I respect Webb, I wouldn't trade offenses with them. The key is execution and athletes in any offense. There are other offenses that have the potential to be equally or more effective than the wing t, and are alot more fun to watch, and IMHO more fun for the kids to participate in. I will say that the wing t may be perfect for Webbs current line up (3 excellent backs) just like it was for OR at one time. JMHO, your mileage may vary.

 

Hallelluja, Help my time. I thought I was the only one seeing that. Easy as pie and thats why we collasped this year and last.

[Govolsknox]

Webb 2006

Catholic 2008? (I intentionally try NOT to follow Catholic, but I believe they ran the Wing T in 08

 

I would defer to Powersweep who's seen Halls vs. Webb in person, but my take is that the biggest two problems for Halls' offense is 1. last year, great line, absolutely zero passing threat. This year, very questionable line play / ability, but much more unrealized passing potential. 2. They use some wing T principles and plays, but are not executing it like high caliber Wing T teams like Webb. In addition, you can't overstate the importance of the backs hitting the hole hard and fast.

As for the wing T offense, while I respect Webb, I wouldn't trade offenses with them. The key is execution and athletes in any offense. There are other offenses that have the potential to be equally or more effective than the wing t, and are alot more fun to watch, and IMHO more fun for the kids to participate in. I will say that the wing t may be perfect for Webbs current line up (3 excellent backs) just like it was for OR at one time. JMHO, your mileage may vary.

 

Hallelluja, Help my time. I thought I was the only one seeing that. Easy as pie and thats why we collasped this year and last.

 

Ha Ha Zcar! Maybe I got something right for a change! You know, even a stopped clock is right twice a day!

[devilsden]

Isnt the coach at OR the same coach that beat Maryville last year in the championship game. If so, I hope and pray we can hold them under 40. Right now a moral victory is about the best we can hope for.

[ORidgeKat]

Yeah that's the same Coach Blade, but he doesn't have near the talent he had at Hillsboro. We are improving though and should be pretty good in a couple years.

[Govolsknox]

I just hope the Wildcats don't think this game is over before it's started. OR should win this game, but Halls will be very motivated to sneak up on us after starting 0-3. Oak Ridge isn't good enough right now to just go through the motions and win games like they were in the past. I'm sure Coach Blade has these guys looking to improve every week, and they need to if they want to have a chance to compete in the playoffs.

[bounder]

Wonder if they have considered covering the field. Also wonder if Coach Blade even knows we have a cover.

After the last coach it's probably gotten moldy and is ruined.