Zone-read o≠ense makes its move
Colorado schools use an attack that is new, yet owes its philosophy to the old triple option
The big, mean defensive end was closing like a freight train into the backfield, and Arapahoe quarterback Pete Mitchell couldn’t believe his luck.
This was the first play of Arapahoe’s second football game of the 2014 season. As the Doherty defender charged straight toward Mitchell and his running back, Nick Thompson, the instinctual decision-making process within the zone-read option was triggered.
“As the defensive end crashed, I pulled the ball away (from Thompson), and I was free 65 yards down the sideline for a touchdown,” Mitchell said. “All my blockers peeled back and cracked back on the defense, and all I had to do was run. It was awesome.”
Plays like that touchdown for the Warriors are what have made the zone-read option among the most-used offensive schemes in high school football. For many teams, running and defending it successfully can be the difference between a deep playoff run and an early end to the season.
“The zone-read and the readpass option, that stuff is changing the game,” said second-year Gateway coach Shane Ward, who joined dozens of other Colorado players and coaches Saturday at the inaugural Colorado Prep Football Media Day hosted by The Denver Post.
Elements of the zone-read have been around for decades. It’s rooted in the wishbone offense that rose to prominence in the 1970s. The basics are simple. A quarterback, often lined up in the shotgun, holds the ball out for the running back. Based on how the defense reacts, the quarterback can decide to release the ball into the running back’s arms or “pull it” and take off with the ball himself.
The key is to make the defense hesitate, if only for a moment, thus opening running lanes out of the backfield.
“You can do a lot of things with it,” said Overland coach Seth Replogle, whose Trailblazers have been among the state’s best at running the offense in recent years. “If you have an athletic running back and an athletic quarterback, it can be very difficult to defend. Even if you have a slow quarterback, you have to defend the quarterback. You have to pick and choose your poison.”
Overland’s quarterback last season certainly wasn’t slow. Austin Conway, a two-sport star who will play basketball at Wyoming, used a combination of speed and smarts from the quarterback position last season to make the zone-read a nightmare to defend for foes.
“It seemed like he scored pretty much every time he ran that play,” Overland linebacker Taylor Marshall said.
Offensively, trust is key. A running back must attack his lane the same way, whether or not the quarterback gives him the ball, in order to keep defenses honest. And if a running back grabs too hard at the ball, fumbles can occur when a quarterback pulls it away.
“It is difficult at first. As a quarterback, you want to run it all the time,” said Mitchell, the Arapahoe signal-caller. “But as (Thompson) and I started to work together a lot, we started to get a feel for that mesh and when I should hand it off.”
Said Thompson: “I just assume I’m going to get the ball every time. That way I’m not really worried about whether he’s going to pull it away or not.”
The zone-read can be made even more difficult to defend when a pass element is introduced. In this instance, a quarterback pulls the ball from the running back, then fires a screen pass or a short pass over the middle.
That many possibilities can create long Friday nights for defenses.
“At least 60 percent of our plays, we have a triple option involved,” said Platte Valley coach Troy Hoffman, whose read-option offenses have guided the Broncos to at least the Class 2A semifinals, including one state title, the past three years. “You have to have a quarterback who knows how to read the right keys. When you’re a true run-pass option, that can make it even more difficult for defenses to defend.”
Like most defensive game plans, discipline is a key component in reducing the effectiveness of the zone-read.
“I think it just comes down to playing assignment football,” said Ward, the Gateway coach. “That’s one thing we’ve tried to hammer into our kids all summer. When it comes to the read-option, just do your job, follow your keys and don’t try to freelance.” Nick Kosmider: 303-954-1516, nkosmider@denverpost.com or twitter.com/nickkosmider