[charlie22]

To pass the ball 70% of the time will seriously weaken a defense. You have to practice the pass all the time. Your defense never gets to see the run during the week. When Nov. and Dec rolls around the weather will play an important roll also. If you are 70% run then thats much better.

I hear what you are saying, and as a former O linemen, I like the "run first, and continue to run it until they stop it" mentality. However, if you look at the last two 5A champions (Highlands both times) you'll find a very balanced offense (we ran the ball just a little less than 100 yds more than we passed the ball last year. I believe the same was true the prior year. In 06, we were a much more one dimensional offense (heavy, heavy run) and got beat by CovCath. Against good teams there are times when you have to pass. When we passed against CovCath in the second half of the 05 game, we were intercepted 3 times. I didn't feel we developed enough passing game during the season for "it" to be there when we needed it.

I know the mountain fans love the run game as they feel it's part of their heritage and tough, physical personna. But being one dimensional makes it much easier for defenses to prepare for. And teams will have to pass at times to win. If you don't develop the passing game by passing a lot (30% may be enough depending on what circumstances those passes are called, but I don't think 30% is enough), it really makes it tough for the kids to feel confident pass blocking, throwing the ball and catching it at the critical times.

Interesting thing to consider: even though Highlands was almost exactly 50/50 pass and run last year, in the state game, Mueller decided after the first series to run the ball almost exclusively. However in the last possession of the first half, with Highlands down 9-7, Highlands got the ball at about mid field with less than a minute left. Mueller called two pass plays back to back and Highlands scored on a pass play with about 10 seconds left. Had we not been able to pass effectively (developed thoughout the season by passing a lot), we most likely would not have scored before halftime. We did and it was a big, big momentum changer.

Don't get me wrong. I don't think teams that pass 70% of the time will win state championships either in 5A. As you pointed out, bad weather comes into play for the late playoff games. Plus, when you are playing against certain teams, you need to be able to grind out drives running the ball to keep the ball out of their hands.

Balanced offenses throughout the year in my opinion are the best for winning state. They are the hardest for the defenses to prepare for and give you the flexibility to do what needs to be done in certain game situations and against certain opponents.

Just my 5 cents (too long of a post for 2 cents). :biggrin: