BY BOB HERZOG
On Friday morning, I got to see a heavy dose of the vaunted Spread Offense that has taken Long Island by storm in the last five years. Amityville coach Chris Taylor, one of several disciples of Freeport coach Russ Cellen’s high-octane system, had scheduled team offense and I had a first-hand look at the “it” offense in college and high school football.
True, there was no tackling, as the players wore only their “uppers” (helmets and shoulder pads). And it’s also true that quarterback Marcus Gardner, who ran for more than 1,500 yards in guiding Amityville to the Long Island Class IV championship last year in its first full season using the spread, has graduated. But it was still pretty dynamic to watch.
Running back Cornell Warrick (above, waiting for a pitch from quarterback Gavin Kretz), should be this year’s offensive star and has the quickness to excel in a formation that creates a lot of favorable lanes for running backs. Kretz and Chris Allen, both juniors, will share the quarterback role unless one of them wins the job outright. Kretz appears to be the better passer but Allen is the quicker runner, giving Taylor some nice choices.
A proven two-way star is senior tight end/defensive end Steven Medard, a vocal leader who goes hard in practice and has already been offered a scholarship to Hofstra. “He and Cornell are both good kids with good work ethics who set a good example for our young players.”
That’s a good thing for Amityville because Taylor said his entire offensive line will be comprised of first-year players. “We’ll be competitive, but we’ll be playing a lot of good teams in our division so anything can happen.”
The same can be said about his Spread offense.
Comments (1)
They always seem to get it done!