[Hoot Gibson]

I was detracted by the "Spread" questions, but this is exactly what I was referring to. Its defending an open offense more than what you are running yourself. I was not suggesting that teams change their core offense as much as I was in stating that unless you can play against and learn how to defend an open offense, you will have a difficult time competing when the only time you see it is in the playoffs against a team with equal talent! This is not a question of whose offensive style is best, but who can defend against any style of offense! I'm sure that JC plays against teams with spread offenses, but do they play against teams that have equal to talent as them running that offense?

And if you do not run a spread yourself, you certainly can't practice against it. I think you are point on and it's not knocks on regional football as much as it is style and how often you see that style in action!

The opposite is also true. A team that executes an option offense to perfection will continue to give Highlands trouble because they cannot easily prepare for it in practice. Not running an offense like Highlands runs tends to offset their strengths.

The key is to learn to defend Highlands offense well enough to slow it down enough to increase the opportunities for turnovers. Johnson Central did that last season but they did not have the depth and experience to contain Highlands' offense last week. Nor were they able to avoid their own turnovers and move the ball as effectively as they did last year.

The worse thing that a team like Johnson Central could do is to try to remake its program to look like the one that Highlands has built. Many teams have tried to emulate Highlands' offense and more often than not, they have lost by bigger margins when they have played the Bluebirds than Johnson Central has.