Traditionally, I have always been a Spread Wing-T offensive guy incorporating both versions of the two most powerful offenses on the high school level, the Spread and Wing-T offenses. However, over the last couple of years, my offensive philosophy has had to adapt to a couple of scenarios placed before my staff. First, we have seen a string of catastrophic injuries to our “Pocket Passer” type-quarterbacks over the last couple of years, in which 3 of my last 4 quarterbacks have had season-ending injuries.
Unfortunately, there wasn’t a very viable back-up option as well unless we incorporated a “Wildcat” version of a QB. Secondly, I also faced major injuries at a couple of my main skill positions. This predicament made it more and more difficult to spread the football field. So I decided to research the use of a “dinosaur” offense that last made its great revival during the birth of American football in the 1920’s – the Single-Wing offense! There are many reasons I decided to install the Single-Wing into my offensive philosophy.
First of all, the offense is very easy to install and teach into any offensive philosophy. Secondly, the blocking schemes are very similar used by all forms of offense including the Wing-T, Spread, Wishbone, I-Formation, etc. This makes it very easy to add to our already explosive Spread Wing-T Offensive system. Third, it can fit any type of personnel/skill set that you may have on the high school level. Fourth, it gives defenses trouble because it provides a solid run game, misdirection, and a different look that most schools are not familiar with as well. Lastly, I have seen the success first-hand of programs that run a similar system at Giles County H.S(VA), Stone Bridge H.S(VA), and Apopka H.S (FL)! All of these programs have won multiple state championships and have proven successful programs. Recently, my quarterback has become a more “dual threat” skill set and has placed himself in a more profound component of the running game. I am going to share with you a couple of base run plays that we have incorporated with our QB in the Spread Single-Wing Offense!
The first thing to discuss is the basic Single-Wing Right formation. There is an unbalanced O-Line with the left tackle brought over next to the right guard. There is a one-wing running back located to the TE side. The short end WR is located in a “tackle eligible” alignment. The QB and halfback are located in shotgun-depth, 4-5 yards deep behind the center. There is a blocking back which I call the “sniffer” because he is located right off the line of scrimmage. There are multiple formations we will use but I don’t want to get too far ahead of myself. We also flip the formation and will also flip the line as well to keep the “keep it simple” mantra that most coaches try to abide by as well.
The first play of the Spread Single-Wing offense for the QB in the running game is the power play. When in doubt “RUN THE POWER” is a common theme that I stress with our players. We want to have that physical mentality that we are coming after you and going to run it right through your defense. The center will direct snap to the QB and he will run the ball off-tackle just inside the TE. The universal rule for the power play is that the fullback kicks out the last man on the line of scrimmage outside our last man, thus being the TE or WR.
In the Spread Single-Wing offense, the fullback would be your blocking back or “sniffer”. He can wrap around the backside guard to help lead the QB and will just tag the block to the play call. Instead of just calling the play “QB Power”, we will call it “QB Power-G”. Your wing kicks out and adds deception to the play by going after the play side corner. Your halfback becomes a lead blocker and gets first defender inside that shows in the “bubble”. One of our core principles in the run game is to attack the “bubbles” or unoccupied holes in the defensive front. The play side TE blocking rules are basic Wing-T concepts of gap, down, and backer. The rest of the play side offensive line uses a combo/chip blocking technique.
The next core QB run that I will describe is the “QB Trap” play that comes off the play-action of our “Buck Sweep” series. This has sometimes been considered part of the “spinner series” where the QB will spin after he receives the direct snap and provide two sweep fakes to both the wingback and halfback and then follow the trap block by the backside offensive guard. One of our core principle blocking schemes is that we always trap block the first defender outside the playside offensive guard. The rest of the playside offensive linemen execute an influence block and get to the second-level defender as soon as possible. The “sniffer” will replace the pulling guard which goes against most defensive reads against the Single-Wing. This is a great play to take advantage of defenses that like to penetrate upfield and is a quick hitting home run hitter for the Spread Single-Wing.
The last play I want to describe is the “QB Iso” play which is a quick hitting play designed to hit the hole quickly and usually used for short yardage situations. The center will direct snap to the QB and he will run and hit the closest open “bubble” to the play side. The “sniffer” provides the fullback role and executes an isolation block on the playside inside linebacker leading the ball carrier. The playside offensive lineman executes an individual isolation down/out block or a combo/chip block to the second-level defender. The halfback will influence block defenders by showing an option sweep to add misdirection and deception to the play. The wingback will try to block the first defender on the second-level or the playside corner.
