Wagner turns up new heat running old veer
Here’s how Wagner quarterback Tobias Weaver describes the Thunderbirds’ old-school offense. “We have a lot of athletes, and everybody touches the ball,” Weaver said. “Nobody knows where the ball is. We’re like Houdini.” Weaver has been the master of deception in running Wagner’s option offense — the veer. He’s has rushed for 300 yards and two touchdowns on 28 carries. He has completed 20 of 31 passes for 250 yards, six touchdowns and no interceptions. That puts him on pace to top his numbers from last season, his first running the veer. “He’s very athletic, and he’s also a very smart young man,” Wagner coach Charles Bruce said. “In order to run the type of offense that we run, you have to be able to read defenses, identify your keys, and then you have to be able to check plays. And he can do everything I just said.” Weaver’s knowledge of the veer is a big reason why the 2-1 Thunderbirds have vaulted to the top of the Express-News subClass 6A area rankings. Wagner, which faces Lanier at 7 p.m. Saturday at Rutledge Stadium, averages 457.7 yards of offense, including 374.3 on the ground. It leads District 13-5A-I in both categories. The rushing average ranks first among area Class 5A schools. A year ago, Wagner averaged 289.9 on the ground
and 353.0 total. “I think the offense is pretty smart,” said sophomore fullback L.J. Butler, the team’s leading rusher with 347 yards and six touchdowns on 37 carries. “Every play can be a misdirection. The defense has to wait for what we do. It gives us a big advantage because they have to change their game plan for what we do.” Weaver rushed for a seasonbest 157 yards and two touchdowns on 10 carries Saturday in Wagner’s 55-0 victory against Sam Houston at Alamo Stadium. The precision in which Weaver runs the offense is starkly different from when he took his first reps running it last season. He had never heard of it before. “My feet were all wrong,” Weaver said. “I was falling. I was thinking a lot. Who was the read man? Who was the pitch man? I was fumbling. At first, I thought, ‘Maybe this just isn’t for me.’ ” The Thunderbirds ran the veer out of the shotgun two seasons ago. They switched it last season by moving the quarterback under center. Weaver had never played quarterback under center, so there was a learning curve. “I was used to being in the gun and dropping back,” Weaver said. “Coming into junior year, I thought, Wow. This is different. I had to try to get used to it.” As much as the Thunderbirds struggled to learn the new offense last season, Bruce noticed something that told him it was working. “We always moved the ball,” Bruce said. “As our kids’ knowledge of the offense started to broaden, we just got better and better and better.” That was quite a feat considering the Thunderbirds were in District 27-6A last year with the likes of area stalwarts Judson, Steele, Smithson Valley and Clemens. Weaver rushed for 1,285 yards and 12 touchdowns on 187 carries last season. He had a 130-yard performance against Judson and rushed for 111 against Steele. “He has games under his belt,” Bruce said. “Playing games under his belt at a certain speed has helped him.” Weaver accounted for nearly 40 percent of the Thunderbirds’ rushing attempts last year. As his knowledge of the offense grows, Weaver has become adept of getting the ball in more of his teammates’ hands. This season, he accounts for 23 percent of the team’s rushing attempts. Butler has the most carries (37). Slot back Xavier Avery (23 attempts for 175 yards) and Karlton Black (18-120) rank third and fourth in rush attempts, respectively. “He’s an athletic quarterback, and he can run,” Butler said. “When the defense keys on him, it opens it up for everybody else.” Wagner’s lone loss this season was 35-28 against Judson, ranked No. 1 in the area and No. 5 in the state in Class 6A. The Thunderbirds had lost to the Rockets by an average of 32.2 points in their previous six meetings. “That’s probably the best team we’re going to play all year, so I took it positively,” Butler said of the loss to Judson. With Wagner now classified in 5A, the Thunderbirds are in good position to get into the postseason for the first time since 2011. “We’re a different team than the past few teams,” Weaver said. “We’re not going to back down from anyone. We’re going to keep rolling, and everyone is going to get the best from us.”