Sports

EVOLVING OFFENSE KEY TO WATSON CHAPEL’S SUCCESS IN 2009

By Troy Schulte/OF THE COMMERCIAL STAFF
Thursday, November 5, 2009 12:20 AM CST

When George Shelton was coach at Augusta earlier this decade, he had a halfback that weighed 235 yards and ran a 40-yard dash in 4.6 seconds.

Watson Chapel’s Kyle Coleman has played a number of positions for the Wildcats this season, including quarterback and wide receiver on offense and safety and cornerback on defense. His versatility has been a big reason for Chapel’s success. PINE BLUFF COMMERCIAL/RALPH FITZGERALD.

That player had the ability to shine in Shelton’s wishbone-based offense and, in 2001, helped Augusta reach the Class 2A State Championship game.

That player was in the back of Shelton’s mind when, last week, he displayed the latest tweak to an ever-evolving Watson Chapel offense.

When the Wildcats took over to begin last Friday’s eventual 34-0 win over Sheridan, Shelton had moved one of his wide receivers to quarterback and his usual quarterback — who resembled that big-bodied back from the Red Devils — was lining up as one of three running backs.

The experiment worked on two levels. First, the Wildcats scored touchdowns on both of the series in which C.J. Branch was taking handoffs from Kyle Coleman and, perhaps more importantly, it provided opposing coaches something else to keep an eye on when preparing for Watson Chapel.

When the Wildcats (7-2, 4-2 6A-South Conference) finish their regular season against Benton (1-8, 1-5) at 7 p.m. tonight at Wildcat Stadium, Shelton doesn’t want to make any promises about anything new he may break out within his offense.

But, with him calling the plays, almost anything is possible.

“You’re always seeking and looking for what may be an advantage position to attack from,” Shelton said. “That’s what we do.”

A Shelton-coached teams’ base offense has, is and always will be the wishbone. But he’s certainly not shy about straying from that formation. This year, as well as at times last season, the Wildcats have spread four wide receivers across the line of scrimmage and have Branch line up in the shotgun.

Also, in a 30-6 win over Texarkana on Oct. 23, the Wildcats ran much of their first drive from the I-formation.

Such adjustments don’t seem to be too big of a deal. But, this year, Shelton has said they have been necessary, simply because his preferred offensive formation — the wishbone — isn’t diverse enough to showcase the skills of all of the players he has who have proven they can be relied upon as offensive playmakers.

The wishbone and I work well for running backs Nick Vanderbilt and Kevin Johnson and the spread formations show off Branch’s arm and the abilities of a trio of receivers have to make plays in the open field or along the sideline.

“There are some things that Kyle Coleman, or even Sam Bass or Mitch Lane, would not be able to do if we were just strictly a three-back team,” Shelton said. “If we didn’t break the wishbone and run some I, run some spread stuff, it wouldn’t really serve them well.”

Again, Shelton won’t comment on what might be seen tonight. But opposing coaches, and fans, can watch for what he’s already provided a taste of.

He said the package in which Branch lines up alongside Vanderbilt in the back of the wishbone will most likely show its face again and, as the regular season turns into the 6A playoffs, there is always a chance for a new wrinkle or two.

So far, it’s worked pretty well for his team. The Wildcats average 34.1 points per game and routinely have gained close to 400 yards of total offense.

When they play Benton tonight, there should be more of the same success. The Panthers, under first-year coach Steve Quinn, have allowed 33 or more points in seven of their nine games this season, though only once in the last three weeks. Shelton praised a pair of talented defensive ends for Benton, Classic Freeman and Lee Richardson that anchor a defense with an appetite for the blitz.

“They just look like basically everybody else you see in the 6A-South up front,” Shelton said. “We don’t look like that.”

The Wildcats, win or lose, won’t move a whole lot in terms of playoff position after their win last Friday clinched at least the No. 3 seed from the 6A-South. They could slide into the No. 2 spot but would need Little Rock J.A. Fair (1-8, 0-6) to upset Lake Hamilton (6-3, 4-2), which has lost two straight games.

Most likely, though, the Wildcats will earn the No. 3 seed from the 6A-South and will play a first-round home game against the No. 6 seed from the 6A-East, which will be the loser of tonight’s Mountain Home-Searcy game.

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