[Hoot Gibson]

Nice post. While I agree there are plenty of teams still winning with less than a balanced attack my point is a bit more specific that winning. Having a ton of wins and coming up short on winning the championship is the problem several teams in the mountains face. We don't win the big games. I think many folks are starting to realize the fix to that problem likely rests on the playbook.

This topic has been done over and over and over. High school football is played beyond the borders of Kentucky and there are many, many successful programs that rely primarily on a potent rushing attack.

The truth is Highlands does not dominate its class because of the offense that its coaches choose to run. It dominates because it executes that offense to near perfection and because it has extreme depth on its coaching staff.

Highlands fans constantly suggest that if Johnson Central modernize its offense to look more like Highlands' offense that it might be able to win a title. Nothing could be further from the truth. JC has been competitive with Highlands (this rebuilding year being an exception) because it runs an offense that Highlands does not see every day in practice and because it is an offense that Highlands cannot replicate on short notice in practice to prepare for single game.

The downside to not running a balanced attack is that teams like Johnson Central have no way to practice against a strong passing attack like the one that Highlands fields. IMO, this is the biggest problem with not adopting an offense like the one the Birds use. If a 4A team adopts a spread offense that does not have great depth, as well as quarterback and receiver coaches similar in quality to Chris Collingsworth, Jared Lorenzen, et al., then they will be nothing but sacrificial lambs when they meet Highlands in the playoffs.

Eastern Kentucky teams have some of the top head coaches in the state but what they don't have, to my knowledge, are staffs that include former NFL players who played "skill" positions. That alone is reason enough for teams like Johnson Central to continue to rely on offenses that shorten the game to give them their best shot at winning state titles.

The main hurdle that teams like Johnson Central must overcome to move to the next level is defending the spread - not running it.