By Michael Kinney
It hit Jeff Brickman like a bolt of lightning. After watching Tulsa's multi-faceted offense employ the wildcat formation, Southmoore's offensive coordinator had a middle-of-the-night revelation. Could they run the wildcat as part of their offensive scheme?
"That was something coach Brickman dreamt up while we were at Tulsa last summer at team camp," Southmoore coach Chris Jensen said. "And we sat down and talked to them on how they do their wildcat. And we started thinking about our personnel. We knew we had a sweep guy. We had a lot of guys with speed that could come run the sweep. But for us, if you try to think of the Tim Tebow type, Austin Haywood was the most athletic, and the biggest, most powerful kid we had."
Brickman couldn't wait to let his players know.
"He came to our room about 1:30 in the morning," quarterback Kendal Thompson said. "He had drawn it up. We were all just laughing. Austin was excited about playing quarterback."
It wasn't until Week 2 that Southmoore unveiled its new scheme against Westmoore. Haywood lined up in the backfield and Thompson motioned out to wide receiver. The SaberCats scored two plays later.
Bartlesville (9-2) will have to find a way to stop Southmoore's version of the wildcat when they face off at 7:30 p.m. today in the second round of the Class 6A playoffs at Moore Stadium.
"It's a big part of our offense," Thompson said. "It's something we didn't have last year. It really helps when we need short yardage -- tough short yardage."
In the first half of the season, Southmoore would only employ the wildcat formation inside the opposing team's 20-yard line. But as the players have become more accustomed, they now bring it out anywhere on the field in any situation. It makes it hard for opposing defenses to lock in on one person.
Out of 473 offensive snaps this season, only 32 of have been in the wildcat formation, less than 8 percent. But that still forces defenses to take time out of their normal practices to prepare for it.
"It's pretty much the same since the beginning of the season," Andrew Long said. "We have added in a few more little things to throw off the defense. We really haven't changed it that much. It makes us a lot more dangerous. We can just change it up, put Kendal out wide and have big Austin out there at quarterback. The run threat is a lot worse like that."
Southmoore has used the wildcat in nine games. The only time they haven't was in the season opener and last week against Eisenhower. Both times Haywood was out of the lineup.
While the SaberCats have talented players across the board, Haywood's unique skill set makes the offense go.
"We had dreams of putting him in the wildcat formation," Jensen said. "Wasn't sure if it would work out or not, but he has made that work and it has been a big part of our offense. And his ability to throw the ball out of the backfield has been key too."
When the quarterback motions out to wideout and the ball is snapped, Haywood has the option of handing the ball off to Long, running the ball himself or throwing a pass to many receivers, including Thompson, who has two catches.
"You have Andrew, he has track speed coming around the edge," Thompson said. "Then Austin, who is athletic and big enough to punch it inside. It just helps having all those weapons out on the field."
Michael Kinney 366-3537 mkinney@normantranscript.com
