In six out of ten games this year, Lynnfield has faced an opponent who has run some variation of the Wing T offense. It's somehow fitting, therefore, that on Thursday morning, the Pioneers will take on the granddaddy of them all, the Single Wing.
The Wing T, Double Wing, Delaware Wing T all have their origins in the venerable Single Wing. On Thanksgiving Day you will get to see the North Reading version of the vintage, and still effective, offense.
It is an offense with modest goals: three or four yards on every play. Over and over again. Pounding the defense for small gains until the opponent cracks and gives up the big gainer that goes the distance. Three yards and a cloud of dust. Or in the case of the FieldTurf at North Reading High, three yards and a puff of crushed tire dust.
Despite playing on modern artificial turf, the Hornet offense which was installed this year by new North Reading offensive coordinator Ed Melanson, is very much of a throwback. The Single Wing was invented by Glen "Pop"Warner in the 1900's and features four backs behind an unbalanced line.
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| Single Wing Formation |
In the 1930's and 1940's, 80% of college and pro teams ran the Single Wing, according to Dave Cisar, a coach who has been using the Single Wing for over 20 years. If you want to see what the Wing looked like back in the day then click on this link.
It may look old fashioned with leather helmets and no facemasks, but it is pretty much what you will see when the Hornets come on the field with their offense for their first possession. If anything, the North Reading splits are even tighter than what you see in that clip. The other difference is that in this clip, the tailback goes in motion in front of the fullback on every play. The Hornet's don't run it that way. Everything else is pretty much the same.
Core Principles of the Single Wing
According to Cisar, the core principles of the Single Wing are overwhelming power at the point of attack, using angles and leverage, deception and great ball fakes. It is primarily a running offense, and North Reading proves that to be the case.
The Hornets have run 399 plays so far this year and 380 (95%) have been runs. They have thrown only 19 times all season and completed only four passes. Of the 2,333 yards they've gained, 2,221 have been on the ground. That's also about 95%.
Supposedly Warner invented the offense at Carlisle to take advantage of the talents of Jim Thorpe.
Hornet head coach Jeff Wall doesn't have Thorpe, but he does have a junior dynamo in 5' 10", 180 lb Carl Lipani (#44) who certainly knows how to take advantage of the offense. As a tailback, Lipani is the North Reading workhorse. He has carries 244 times, or 64% of the Hornet rushes. He averages 27 carries per game and has amassed over 1500 yards, 19 touchdowns and 119 points. He is the leading scorer in Division 3A.
"He is a fantastic kid," Wall said. "He leads like that in practice. He runs hard every day, every play. He's a nightmare for the scout team. More importantly, he's a great kid. Ke's a leader in the classroom as well as on the field. We told him you may carry the ball 50 times. We just try to pound it out. If people stop Carl, hopefully we can get (wingback) CJ (McCarthy #30) coming back on the counter.
Pioneer head coach Neal Weidman is also impressed by Lipani.
"He's quick and he breaks tackles," Weidman said of the standout running back.
Although they run on nearly every play, they do pose other problems.
"They don't do it much but when the they throw the ball, it's for big plays," said Weidman. "(Lipani) throws it or (McCarthy) throws it. It's tough because you have to commit a lot to the run but at the same time when they throw it four times, they're looking for four touchdowns."
Of the Hornets' four completions, two were for touchdowns and when they throw they almost always go long.
Stopping the Single Wing
So how do you stop the Single Wing?
Most coaches who run it say you can't as long as the execution is there. On the website coachHuey.com, a number of coaches offered up their opinions.
One offered that the best defense to play is the 46, where you have four down lineman and then six defenders on the second level and a safety back alone on the third level.
"The key is to have enough linemen," one coach opined. "They want to block with 10 and run one. If you don't meet force with force they will push you around. We had our middle linebacker key the blocking back - the one who looks like the quarterback lined up behind the guard. He takes you to the play nearly every time."
In the Hornet scheme, that would be Peter Bishop #19 and it is true. On nearly every play, regardless of the fakes and deception, #19 leads the blocking on every play. Follow him and the ballcarrier, be it Lipani, McCarthy or Jackson Kellogg (#4) will almost certainly follow.
Best Defense is Good Offense
Cisar says on his web site that no defense can truly stop the single wing, but the teams that gave him the most trouble were those "with an offense that gets a few first downs every possession and keeps the single wing off the field."
The Pioneers have shown that type of offense at times this year.
And Wall certainly agrees.
"Oh boy," Wall said when asked for his impression of the Pioneers' spread offense. "We're hoping to grind out the clock on them a little bit, shorten the game up. That's the thing with our offense. We just have to be patient and be willing to get three and four yards as a shot. Hopefully we give them a heavy dose of Carl but they're big up front. They're talented."
But despite the reputation of the spread as a passing offense, Wall has a different concern.
"I know they can pass," Wall told me. "But they can really run. Not taking anything away from their receivers - they're good as well. But they're big up front."
The numbers over the years back up Wall's concern. Over the past five seasons running the spread, the Pioneers have become more of a running team than a passing team, despite the spread's reputation as a wide open throwing offense.
In 2007, the Pioneers ran the ball 319 times and passed it 260, a ratio of 1.2 to 1 in favor of the run - nearly equal. Every year since then, Lynnfield has increased the ratio in favor of the run. In 2008 it was 1.6 to 1. In 2009, the Pioneers' championship year, it increased to 1.8 to 1. In 2010 it was 1.9 to 1. This year, the Pioneers have run the ball twice as much as they have passed it with a ratio of 2.0 to 1.
"That has something to do with our ability to run the ball," Weidman told me. "When we started we had a difficult time running the ball so we got stuck into passing it more than we wanted to."
With Wall gearing the Hornet defense to stop the run, Karavetsos may have to go to the air to generate some offense. He is very capable of doing that having completed 50% of his passes for 1,227 yards and 12 touchdowns. He has plenty of targets with five receivers having more than 100 yards receiving and six receivers with at least one toucdown.
Alex Pascucci (22 catches/325 yards/1 TD) leads the receiving corps in catches and yards but senior Steve Yobaccio (5/296/5) is coming on strong. Dan Ashwell (10/191/2), Nico Varano (9/131/2) can also make plays.
The Hornets have suffered some injuries with the most critical being lineman John Fortes, the Hornets' biggest lineman at 6'2" 270. He is not expected back but it's Thanksgiving so you never know.
Both teams realize that the best way to stop the opposing offenses is to keep them off the field so look for both teams to try and put together long, clock eating drives.
I have a full preview of the game in the Villager coming out on Tuesday, then check back here Thursday after the game for my post game comments.
Happy Thanksgiving to all and I'll see you in North Reading on Thursday.
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