The Wing-T is an offensive system used abundantly at the high school level for a couple of reasons.
It's safe, it's easy to run, it's tough to defend when properly run and it's darn near impossible to stop with a talented and bulky offensive line that smaller scat-backs can hide behind.
Friday night at Ceres High School, Central Valley - a team riddled with the above ingredients - put on a Wing-T clinic, rumbling for 496 yards on the ground in an impressive 48-26 win over East Union on homecoming.
"Everyone executed real well and played hard," Central Valley coach Tim Garcia said. "It was an entire team effort. Our offensive line (Sean McLeod, Tyler Dodd, Christian Martinez, Anthony Martinez and Cameron Moscozo) dominated the whole night. And our backs ran well. We were pretty much able to do what we wanted to."
It took Hawks' tailback Joaquin Casas just a little over two minutes of action to find the end zone on a 1-yard plunge that was set up by two straight runs over 15 yards.
The score would be the first of four for Casas on the night, who finished with 151 yards on just 11 carries.
"We ran a couple of plays that were successful on the ground early," Garcia said. "And we went back to it. It kept working."
The Lancers took the opening kickoff, only to cough up the ball two downs later on a play that appeared to be over before the ball popped loose of Joey Fernandes' grasp.
It was one of many momentum-killing scenarios early on for East Union - the Lancers' next two drives included six plays and two dropped passes on third down.
"Our accountability was in question tonight," East Union head coach Mike James said. "We made some simplistic mistakes that are very coachable, very fixable. It goes back to the beginning of the game. Dropping the balls that were thrown to guys. Protection of the quarterback.
"It's all about doing your assignment."
While the determined play of Teddy Anderson, Cody Lee and Eugene Alston overshadowed a subpar performance from East Union's offensive line, the Lancers' defensive line and linebackers had no such luck.
Out of position regularly, the Lancers struggled mightily with gap control at the point of attack as Central Valley's shifty backs waltzed to an average of 10.2 yards per carry.
Vince Lopez ran the ball 21 times for 276 yards and two more ground scores.
Even Central Valley's starting right tackle Sean McLeod got in the act with his best William Perry impression, picking up 11 rushing yards and late touchdown out of a stacked-I to give the Hawks a 41-12 lead with 8:18 remaining.
"I thought (Central Valley's offensive line) was pretty good," James said. "It's great to run any offense when you don't have to run a lot of plays. You find something that's working and you go to it. They did a super job of finding what was working and staying with it."
The same could be said for Anderson and the Lancers' offense.
East Union's quarterback rarely had enough time to make the deep drops necessary to run the Lancers' play-action based, deep strike attack.
What he did find, however, was a ton of running room once he slipped past Central Valley's initial surge. Anderson ran for 124 yards on 12 carries and two touchdowns, including the evening's longest play from scrimmage, a zig-zagging 56-yard jaunt in the second half.
"My running yards came on plays that were supposed to be passes," Anderson explained afterward. "They were playing some good defense, dropping into zones and giving us plus-2, so that was the only other option. I had some good lead blocking.
"Cody, Eugene, and Nick (Konradi) had some tremendous blocks."
Anderson wasn't running for his life all night.
Finishing with 136 yards on 10 of 20 passing, East Union's signal-caller found both Cody Lee and Eugene Alston for scoring strikes of 15 and 10, respectively.
"Teddy Anderson carried himself beautifully," James said. "He did a great job leading the offense. Containment was broken a few times and the pass protection needed some work."
With the win, Central Valley improved to 2-3 on the year and 1-1 in the Valley Oak League. The Lancers dropped to 2-3 overall, 0-2 in conference play.
The Hawks also made history by securing their first-ever league victory.
"It's a great win for the school," said Garcia, whose team finished 0-7 during its inaugural varsity campaign in 2006. "It's a confidence booster for the kids."
Central Valley will play against Oakdale, the No. 3-ranked team in the CalHiSports.com Division III football poll, Friday night at Ceres High. The contest will begin at 7 p.m.
"We're excited about it," Garcia said. "We just want to be competitive and earn some respect."
Ceres Courier sports editor Dale Butler contributed to this report.
It's safe, it's easy to run, it's tough to defend when properly run and it's darn near impossible to stop with a talented and bulky offensive line that smaller scat-backs can hide behind.
Friday night at Ceres High School, Central Valley - a team riddled with the above ingredients - put on a Wing-T clinic, rumbling for 496 yards on the ground in an impressive 48-26 win over East Union on homecoming.
"Everyone executed real well and played hard," Central Valley coach Tim Garcia said. "It was an entire team effort. Our offensive line (Sean McLeod, Tyler Dodd, Christian Martinez, Anthony Martinez and Cameron Moscozo) dominated the whole night. And our backs ran well. We were pretty much able to do what we wanted to."
It took Hawks' tailback Joaquin Casas just a little over two minutes of action to find the end zone on a 1-yard plunge that was set up by two straight runs over 15 yards.
The score would be the first of four for Casas on the night, who finished with 151 yards on just 11 carries.
"We ran a couple of plays that were successful on the ground early," Garcia said. "And we went back to it. It kept working."
The Lancers took the opening kickoff, only to cough up the ball two downs later on a play that appeared to be over before the ball popped loose of Joey Fernandes' grasp.
It was one of many momentum-killing scenarios early on for East Union - the Lancers' next two drives included six plays and two dropped passes on third down.
"Our accountability was in question tonight," East Union head coach Mike James said. "We made some simplistic mistakes that are very coachable, very fixable. It goes back to the beginning of the game. Dropping the balls that were thrown to guys. Protection of the quarterback.
"It's all about doing your assignment."
While the determined play of Teddy Anderson, Cody Lee and Eugene Alston overshadowed a subpar performance from East Union's offensive line, the Lancers' defensive line and linebackers had no such luck.
Out of position regularly, the Lancers struggled mightily with gap control at the point of attack as Central Valley's shifty backs waltzed to an average of 10.2 yards per carry.
Vince Lopez ran the ball 21 times for 276 yards and two more ground scores.
Even Central Valley's starting right tackle Sean McLeod got in the act with his best William Perry impression, picking up 11 rushing yards and late touchdown out of a stacked-I to give the Hawks a 41-12 lead with 8:18 remaining.
"I thought (Central Valley's offensive line) was pretty good," James said. "It's great to run any offense when you don't have to run a lot of plays. You find something that's working and you go to it. They did a super job of finding what was working and staying with it."
The same could be said for Anderson and the Lancers' offense.
East Union's quarterback rarely had enough time to make the deep drops necessary to run the Lancers' play-action based, deep strike attack.
What he did find, however, was a ton of running room once he slipped past Central Valley's initial surge. Anderson ran for 124 yards on 12 carries and two touchdowns, including the evening's longest play from scrimmage, a zig-zagging 56-yard jaunt in the second half.
"My running yards came on plays that were supposed to be passes," Anderson explained afterward. "They were playing some good defense, dropping into zones and giving us plus-2, so that was the only other option. I had some good lead blocking.
"Cody, Eugene, and Nick (Konradi) had some tremendous blocks."
Anderson wasn't running for his life all night.
Finishing with 136 yards on 10 of 20 passing, East Union's signal-caller found both Cody Lee and Eugene Alston for scoring strikes of 15 and 10, respectively.
"Teddy Anderson carried himself beautifully," James said. "He did a great job leading the offense. Containment was broken a few times and the pass protection needed some work."
With the win, Central Valley improved to 2-3 on the year and 1-1 in the Valley Oak League. The Lancers dropped to 2-3 overall, 0-2 in conference play.
The Hawks also made history by securing their first-ever league victory.
"It's a great win for the school," said Garcia, whose team finished 0-7 during its inaugural varsity campaign in 2006. "It's a confidence booster for the kids."
Central Valley will play against Oakdale, the No. 3-ranked team in the CalHiSports.com Division III football poll, Friday night at Ceres High. The contest will begin at 7 p.m.
"We're excited about it," Garcia said. "We just want to be competitive and earn some respect."
Ceres Courier sports editor Dale Butler contributed to this report.
