The Magic of the Okie Wishbone

In 1970, the Springfield Spartans of Montgomery County fielded an extraordinary gridiron team. The smallish suburban Philadelphia school, with 25 returning lettermen, romped through a ten-game schedule and scored 497 points, an average of nearly 50 per game. The Suburban One League championship race was no contest.

Coach Al Black's masterpiece had experience, speed, intelligence and enthusiasm that translated to a blazing offense and a stifling opportunistic defense. Opponents' mistakes were quickly converted into points. Black summed it all when he said, "Hustle and good execution win games. When you combine them with talent, you can't help but have a great season."

Despite its modest enrollment, Springfield had moved from the less challenging Bux-Mont League, after winning the 1968 crown, into the powerful Suburban One to play many of the biggest schools in the area.

After erasing neighbor Plymouth-Whitemarsh, Black's "Big Blue Brigade" faced Upper Merion in their fourth 1970 game. UM was thought before the season to be Springfield's toughest rival. The Spartans won 58-8. Amazing halfback Paul Melzer shredded the Vikings' defense for 319 yards and four TD's. With guard Bruce Williams leading the way, Melzer was sensational all season and was named to the All-State first unit.

The following week against non-league Lower Moreland, deep Springfield dressed 72 players and Black got all of them into the game, a 48-29 romp. The Spartans led 48-8 at the half. Decisive victories followed over defending champion Abington and hopeful Norristown.

Abington dominated the first quarter, had the Spartans on their heels, and led 3-0. The Spartans quickly got the message and blitzed the Ghosts for 26 points in the second quarter and 21 more in the third. No seniors played in the final period as Springfield won 54-3.

In the finale of this glorious season, long before the playoffs were introduced, Springfield overwhelmed Thanksgiving rival Wissahickon, 55-30. The Spartans scored on dives, sweeps, reverses, and long and short passes. Black also employed "junk" plays, as he called them. A double reverse pass went for 16 yards and a touchdown.

Springfield had gained more than 500 yards in every game. The highest scoring team in the nation, the Spartans were nominated by the Philadelphia Inquirer as the best in the state. A championship game against WPIAL AA champion Mt. Lebanon or New Castle's great team would have been something to behold.

Al Black is a native of Northfield, New Jersey and graduate of Glassboro State, now Rowan. Glassboro had dropped football and Black played in the semi-pro ranks during his college years. He started his career as an assistant at Audubon, NJ. He was head coach at Springfield just five years, moving to Coatesville in 1971. Black coached the Red Raiders for 13 years, winning seven Ches-Mont titles.

An attacking specialist, Black later served as offensive coordinator at Widener, Millersville and Delaware Valley. More recently, he has worked in various levels of professional football in Europe, coaching, holding clinics and consulting. In 2003, his London Olympians won the "Brit Bowl".

The Spartans'1970 record:

55 UPPER MORELAND 20
42 UPPER DUBLIN 27
41 PLYMOUTH-WHITEMARSH 12
58 UPPER MERION 8
48 LOWER MORELAND 29
56 CHELTENHAM 0
46 METHACTON 8
54 ABINGTON 3
42 NORRISTOWN 22
55 WISSAHICKON 30

By Edmond E. Seay III (Brussels, Belgium) - See all my reviews

This is the source -- the only text available to most coaches that lays out the (still-)revolutionary Mouse Davis Run and Shoot offense. Since Coach Davis never got around to writing such a book, we should be very glad that Al Black decided to do so.

It's all here -- the pass route packages like Slide, Go, Smash, Switch and Choice, plus the supplemental running game to the single back, and various screens, draws and shovel passes. Coach Black adds his expertise to one of the two major variants of the Run and Shoot still being played with great success -- the Spread Option Run and Shoot -- in the form of some truly devastating play-action passes off of the powerful inside veer fake to the single back.

(The other modern Run and Shoot variation that's achieving success at the high school and college level is the Triple Shoot offense, which combines the Run and Shoot route packages with the fly/jet/speed sweep series, maintaining the Davis philosophy of complexity through simplicity. Coach Black's book does not cover this variation, however.)

It is possible to set up a functioning R&S offense using Coach Black's book alone -- I know several coaches who have done so with great success.

Highly recommended.

Tiger Ellison. Mouse Davis. June Jones. John Jenkins.
These are names we have associated with the Run and Shoot. Love them or hate them, these guys have been a part of the revolution. The Shoot is explained in detail in Coach Black's book. The key to making this offense work is the adjustments and reads made at the line before the snap and after the snap. Coach Black pays special attention to these adjustments and the QB and receiver techniques involved.

It was an offense built on discipline, and not so much athletics, which is the modern era's backbone.