The Spread of the Spread

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Many area coaches spent the offseason diagramming the spread offense. Its proliferation is one of the key story lines of the upcoming season in District, Maryland and Virginia high school football.

Virginia AA Dulles District teams always found it a challenge to play against Park View last season.

Under Coach Andy Hill, the Patriots were one of a few teams that employed a spread offense, and defenses often struggled to match up with the four- and five-wide receiver sets. The result was a 10-2 record for Park View and a career season for quarterback C.J. Leizear, who passed for 3,095 yards and 29 touchdowns.

Now, those opponents will face that problem more often than just against Hill's Patriots, as Loudoun County is one of many areas where the pass-first offensive system is becoming more popular.

Potomac Falls, Freedom-South Riding, Loudoun County and Broad Run will all employ some variation of the offense this season, joining the likes of teams across the metropolitan area including T.C. Williams and Bishop Ireton in Alexandria, Quince Orchard and Bethesda-Chevy Chase among many in Montgomery County and several others throughout Virginia, the District and Maryland.

The upswing in the use of the offensive scheme can be traced both to copycatting the success of the spread offense at higher levels -- NCAA programs such as Florida, Texas Tech and Hawaii have found success employing the spread -- and out of necessity for schools that lack sizable players but have a surplus of skill position players.

"It's the evolution of the game," Whitman Coach Jim Kuhn said. "You're trying to create mismatches and get guys into open spaces. You don't have to be bigger than everyone else, and it's exciting for the kids."

Coaches said they aren't sure if the spread is just a fad or whether it will stick, but for now they'll play it if it gives their team the best shot at winning.

"I think every year you've got to reinvent yourself a little bit," Broad Run Coach Mike Burnett said.

Stewart's Last Stand

Anacostia Coach Willie Stewart plans to retire this season after 40 years on the D.C. Public Schools sidelines. Known as the "Godfather" in D.C. football coaching circles, Stewart has won more than 200 games.

Stewart played at Dunbar from 1963 to '65, then at Elizabeth City State (1965 to '68) before joining Eastern as an assistant coach. In 1976, he took over the Ramblers, and the following year led them to the Turkey Bowl title. They won again the following year, and, after his job was transferred to Anacostia in 1981, he added titles in 1984, '85, '88, '89 and '95. Stewart has taken his teams to the Turkey Bowl 13 times, more than any other coach.

Nearly two dozen of his former players have gone on to play professionally, either in the NFL or the CFL, the most recent being 1997 All-Met Defensive Player of the Year Cato June, a linebacker for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. And eight of Stewart's former assistants have gone on to become head coaches at DCPS high schools or middle schools.

F amiliar Faces in Unfamiliar Places

Eric Knight looked a bit different when football practice began earlier this month, and it wasn't because after 15 seasons and two state titles at Potomac (Md.) he's wearing brand new logos as the coach at nearby Crossland.

After having a liver transplant on Mother's Day, Knight wears long sleeves and a shade-providing hat, saying he must avoid the sun as much as possible.

"I've got a new liver, a new team, a new boss, a new lease on life," Knight said. "I'm ready to put Crossland back on the map where they used to be."

Knight is one of 12 new coaches at Prince George's schools.

In the District, Daryl Tilghman returns to the sideline at Theodore Roosevelt following a two-year hiatus.

In Montgomery County, former Whitman coach Eric Wallich succeeds Dan Makosy at Damascus. In Virginia, Joe Mangano went from Gar-Field to North Stafford, and Jeff Lloyd left Manassas Park to be the first coach at Kettle Run in Fauquier County.

Running a Streak

Since Urbana won its fourth straight Maryland championship in 2001, Potomac (Md.) in 2004 and '05 has been the only Washington area team to win back-to-back state titles. No Northern Virginia team has repeated since Hylton in 1999.

This year, though, three defending state champions return more than half their starters from last season -- Quince Orchard (Maryland 4A), River Hill (Maryland 2A) and Stone Bridge (Virginia AAA Division 5).

DeMatha will try to break its own record of five straight Washington Catholic Athletic Conference titles. The Stags have won each title since 2003, and also won five straight from 1991 to '95.

Damascus, which is coming off its third Maryland state title in five seasons, has a new coaching staff and needs to replace 16 starting positions, but has the Washington area's longest current streak of postseason appearances at 10.

-- Paul Tenorio, Alan Goldenbach and Josh Barr