Published: September 05, 2006 07:26 pm            

Depth is key to success of Weatherford offense

The Weatherford Kangaroos offense has a new face calling the plays in the huddle, but for the most part, the supporting cast is the same.

“We have really been working three guys at quarterback,” said Weatherford head coach Mike Sneed. “Kyle Wilson right now, at the moment, will probably be our starting quarterback.

“We also have Briley Worthington working there and he is also working at receiver and defensive back. Then we have Haneef Abdur-Razzaaq, who is a junior, who has a lot of talent and a lot of skills, he’s just kind of rough around the edges and we’re working him really hard right now trying to bring him along.”

The Roos return their leading rusher from a year ago, Willie Fielder, but he has added another weapon to his arsenal in the off-season according to Sneed.

“He is a consummate runner and he’s a good blocker,” Sneed said of Fielder. “He is more than just a ball carrier. We want our backs to be able to catch the ball and we want them to be able to be a part of our pass protection.

“Willie Fielder fills that bill. He is a good blocker and he has really improved his hands. He is probably the most improved guy that I can remember in a long time as far as catching the ball. Of course, running the ball, he’s pretty solid.”

When Fielder is not lined up next to or behind Wilson in the Weatherford backfield one of three other players will be in his place, which gives the Roos some versatility and the luxury to keep their runners fresh.

“We have three other guys working a lot at running back,” Sneed said. “Jeremy Wallace is another senior, and we have a couple of juniors that we think very highly of, Colton Matlock, who was a JV running back last year and Nathan Scoggins, another junior, is working in.

“We really have four guys when we go one-back or two-back. All these guys are pretty interchangeable and can play either the fullback or tailback position if we are in a two-back set.”

Weatherford’s style of offense will give each of these players, along with players at other positions, plenty of opportunities to make plays.

“We are going to run a lot of spread offense to spread the field,” Sneed said. “We’re going to run some one-back shotgun, we’re going to run some two-back shotgun, we’re going to run some two-back quarterback underneath and we’re going to run a lot of different formations and try to spread people out.

“We would like to be 60/40 run to pass, but that all depends on what they’re going to give you. There may be games where we have to throw it 30 times and there may be other games where we only throw it five or 10 times. A lot of that is dictated by the defense.

“We’re really hoping to be balanced offensively,” Sneed said. “I always say my favorite play in football is a touchdown and we want to get a bunch of those this year.”

Bryce Kleven gives the Roos a legitimate threat at the receiver position with a combination of size, speed and height as well as leaping ability. A handful of other players are also seeing time at the receiver position.

“With Bryce there ... when you’ve got a guy who’s 6-3 or 4 and can high jump like he can, it’s a big advantage,” Sneed said. “The quarterback needs to figure out pretty soon that throwing to him is not a bad idea. Throw it to him, get it to him and he’ll get it down.

“We also have Travis McClain, Jarrett Carter, Danny Gonzales, Briley Worthington is playing some in there and Roland Thornhill working at the other receiver.”

Sneed said the one question and the lone concern he has with his offense is the players in the trenches.

“We only really have two guys that played any amount of time last year,” Sneed said. “We have our center back from last year, Josh Stephens, who is another one of those guys that has been playing three years for us. Him and Tim Kisor and A.J. Hamerman are two guys that played defense for us last year, and on the other side we’ve got Armando Martinez and Drew Hummel, another good offensive lineman.

“Then we have four of five pretty decent backups behind them, so we feel like we’ve got a little bit of depth there. Of course, with a couple of injuries, that goes out the window. Hopefully, with the depth we have the injury won’t just kill us like it has in the past.”

        

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