Eagles will sport new look on offense

By CHUCK SOUDERS (Sports Writer chuck_s@newsitem.com)

Published: August 29, 2010

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MANDATA - Line Mountain, for the past several seasons, has relied on the dive option offense and been quite successful doing it. And that series, which can be devastating to a defense not used to seeing it, will still be a part of the Eagles' repertoire.

But head coach Mike Carson looked at his returning personnel in the offseason and decided some change was in order. He reached back to his first stint at Line Mountain in the 1990s, when the Eagles were known for a wide-open throwing attack and decided that with a veteran quarterback, a top-flight wide receiver and some smaller, quicker players, it was time to return to that style.

"We're going to be a more wide open team," Carson says. "We're going to be more of a spread team, with lots of shotgun. I just feel we have the right personnel to do it. Last year, we relied an awful lot on (fullback) Chris Moore (208 carries, 1,120 yards), and we just don't have anyone like him this year. We have a lot of quickness but we don't necessarily have anyone who we can just give the ball 30 times a game."

Carson made the switch once before, in 1993, when he had a team with just 200 returning rushing yards from the season before but blessed with talented athletes such as Dominic Rich, Brandon Carson and Kyle Masser.

Coming off an 8-4 season and with a lot of experience back, the change in style might be questionable, but Carson thinks he has players who are skilled enough to adapt to it.

"A lot of our success will depend on how quickly we're going to get up to game speed with the offense," he says.

Much will rest on the shoulders of junior quarterback Marty Beninsky. who threw just 89 times last season, for 677 yards and five touchdowns. In the option attack, he ran for 575 yards and 12 touchdowns.

"A great deal will depend on Marty," Carson says. "I feel like he's made real progress over the summer. He's worked hard to make himself a better passer."

In Mike Marciniak and Jordan Welker, he will certainly have a pair of fine targets. Although the Eagles threw on a limited basis last season, the 6-foot-5 Marciniak was one of the top receivers in the area with 29 catches for 441 yards, and Welker was a bonafide deep threat with 13 catches for 320 yards (24.6 yards per catch) and four touchdowns. Ben Williard, who missed most of last season with a knee injury, is also being counted on for reciving duty.

Joey Hukill will be the featured ballcarrier and he carried 85 times for 672 yards and 10 touchdowns, so the Eagles should be okay there, as well. Tim Clauser will also get lots of action.

But the key players may be the offensive linemen, four of whom return from last season. Their whole style will be changing.

"They're going to have to pass block a lot more," Carson says. "We have a lot of experience upfront but they've been primarily run blockers. We'll need our scrimmages to get a better chance to evaluate their progress."

Another player who will bear watching is sophomore Cole Rickert. Rickert stepped in for an injured Beninsky as a freshman last season in the playoffs against Southern Columbia and did very well, throwing for 101 yards and adding 73 on the ground. He will still back up Beninsky at quarterback but could be too

good an athlete to keep on the sideline.

"He really wants to play," says Carson. "He keeps asking me to let him be a receiver. He's as good a sophomore as I've ever been around, but he's not as big or as fast as Marty."

Defensively, there will be some changes as well. Matt Bitting will go from defensive end to inside linebacker, Clauser will move from inside backer to outside and Luke Erdman will go from inside backer to defensive end.

"We wanted some bigger bodies in there (linebacker)," Carson says. "We had Moore and (Corey) Roadcap back there last year and they were great players, You can't have too small of players at that position."

Opening the season against perennial distict champion Southern Columbia could also have a big effect on the entire season.

"It's not that big a game in terms of whether we win or lose," Carson says. "But it's the kind of game where we just want to have a good performance. If we play well, it will set a good tone. If we don't, it could mean we have some problems."

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