by Will Cohen, junior

As the HHS varsity football team prepared to play against conference rival Minnetonka, coaches and players studied the ways of the wildcat offense.

“For me, it’s not difficult at all, but for other players I think it’s hard for them to get the hang of the new offense,” said DT Williams, junior.

The wildcat offense is a recently created style first practiced by the Miami Dolphins of the NFL.  The Dolphins wanted to come up with a way to take advantage of running back Ronnie Brown’s unique skillset, as he played quarterback in high school.

The wildcat offense puts a skill position player, usually a wide receiver or running back, at quarterback.  However, instead of running traditional passing plays, it shifts to more running plays.  These include standard quarterback runs, reverses, and handoffs.

However, no professional or major college football team has ever attempted the wildcat as such a large part of the offense.  The Royals were running wildcat plays for the majority of their offense.  This change came after injuries to the Royals starting and backup quarterbacks, Tyler Lee, junior, and Oscar Johnson, sophomore.

Making such an extreme change two weeks before their first game has brought challenges.

“It was hard for the offensive line to a adapt to the changes in terms of blocking and pass protection.  Now that we’ve had some practices, it’s starting to really come together up front,” said Harry Momoh, junior captain.

The Royals standard, drop back quarterback style of offense is a polar opposite to the wildcat.  It’s the type of translation that can make certain players feel uncomfortable and unhappy about the their new role on the team.

“The wideouts prefer the old standard drop back offense compared to the wildcat because they want to get the ball,” Momoh said.

The wildcat requires different players to take snaps under center.  Players on the offensive side of the ball have to create chemistry with one another to form a smooth flowing offense.

In addition, the injuries at quarterback have affected the overall morale of the team.

“As a running back, it’s hard for me to play without Tyler because I have been playing behind him since the eighth grade.    I block for him, and he sets me up for positive runs,” Momoh said.

As the Hopkins coaching staff prepared their players for the switch, practices and film sessions were extended to practice and analyze the complex system.  Also, all the activities that the team went through regularly were intensified by a large degree.

Although the wildcat is a tough concept to get a hold of,  it can be exceptionally rewarding because of the big time plays that it creates within it’s plays.

The wildcat offense had instilled confidence within the team that they can improve despite the multiple injuries at quarterback.

“We have a tough schedule coming up but we are definitely getting better and we can put more points on the board,” Williams said.
However, the wildcat offense was an one week experiment for the Royals, who are switching back to their original offense after losing 35-0 to Minnetonka.  Lee is expected to return tonight in the game against Medford (Wisconsin).