FUN AND GUN
BY: ALLEN GREGORY, December 2, 2004, Bristol Herald Courier
RICHLANDS – There is nothing routine about a football Friday night in Richlands.
Storefronts are adorned with Blue Tornado signs, the stands at Ernie Hicks Stadium begin to fill over an hour before kickoff and two radio stations broadcast the action.
There is a good reason for that excitement, especially this season. Relying on unique formations on offense and defense, the Blues rolled to the Southwest District and Region IV titles without a loss.
"A football game in Richlands is special. It’s just an experience," junior tailback Caleb Jennings said.
A big part of that experience is the spread offense devised by Richlands head coach Greg Mance. Dubbed "Fun and Gun" by the players, the multi-faceted formation is designed to put pressure on the opposing defense by spreading the field with multiple receivers.
Justin McCracken serves as the engineer out of the shotgun formation. After serving an apprenticeship last season, the 6-foot-3, 200-pound junior quarterback established a single-season school record with over 1,200 yards passing and has accounted for 29 touchdowns.
The fearless 5-5 Jennings, who often works out of a one-back set, gives his quarterback much of the credit for his breakthrough 1,000-yard season.
"Justin has a big future in football," Jennings said. "He has a cannon arm along with intelligence, size and running ability. We work together well along with our great line."
The emergence of McCracken was a big reason why Mance and his assistants decided to scrap their traditional I-formation.
"We actually started looking at the spread two years ago, and used it some last season," Mance said. "We knew that we had a quarterback in Justin that could throw the ball and we wanted to gear our offense to our personnel."
While the game of football has changed dramatically in recent years in terms of speed and size, there are basically no secrets. Coaches may be creatures of habit, but most are willing to share information.
For the fundamentals of the spread offense, the Richlands coaches turned to both the prep and college game. The Richlands offense is very similar to the successful West Virginia University spread.
"We heard (West Virginia) coach Rich Rodriguez speak at a clinic, we talked to Mike Davis who was on the staff at Rockbridge County High School and I talked to Phil Robbins of Powell Valley about every day last summer at the Virginia High School Coaches Association Clinic in Hampton," Mance said. "The Powell Valley spread is a little different than what we use, but I learned a lot from Phil."
Mance also followed the lead of many Hampton-area schools by involving his team in seven-on-seven passing leagues.
"The passing league concept is big on the East Coast and it helped us in several ways," Mance said. "We took our receivers, quarterbacks, backs and secondary guys to camps at Wake Forest and the University of Virginia this summer and played in about 16 games."
The competition in Charlottesville included Virginia High School League powers such as Salem and Landstown.
Richlands went 7-2 at Virginia, with both losses to Class AAA Maury of Norfolk, Mance said.
The summer school sessions, however, didn’t end there for the Blues.
"The real strength of our program is work ethic," Mance said. "Our kids came in four days a week this summer for two hours a day of lifting and conditioning. And our coaches were willing to put in the time, even though none of us get paid for summer work."
That extra work has paid dividends this fall for a team that was ranked No. 1 in Group AA for part of the season. All this after the Blues graduated 16 seniors, including three all-state picks, from an 11-2 team which lost to Salem in the Division 4 state semifinals.
"It’s definitely been a team effort," Mance said. "With this offense, all our kids love coming to practice."
The other key for the Blues is a unique five-man defensive front featuring 6-4, 300-pound Division 1 prospect Garrett Arms at tackle. Richlands allowed a total of just 26 points in the regular season.
Next on the agenda at Ernie Hicks is Region III champion Liberty Saturday afternoon at 1:30 p.m. The Minutemen (11-1) have size and speed. Mance hopes his non-traditional offense can make a difference.
"Liberty has a bunch of good athletes," Mance said. "We need to spread them out and keep those chains moving any way we can."
While the zone trap, speed option and vertical game provide spice and excite fans, the foundation of Richlands football has long been the power-running game.
"With the weather we have in Southwest Virginia, you have to be able to run the ball," Mance said. "We still rely on the run, but we have added some wrinkles to our game."
Email: berry1974@adelphia.net
