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Chattanooga: Jackets try out new look

By: Ward Gossett
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Mike Marshall
Gunner Miller

Chas Scruggs holds Chattanooga high school rushing records with 2,023 yards in a single season and 5,417 in his career.

The Lookout Valley running back was a difference-maker. In the first game of his senior season last year, he ran for more than 200 yards and made a long kick return that left East Ridge needing a rally that fell short, 25-20.

“Thankfully, we won’t have to see him,” said first-year East Ridge coach Mike Martin, whose Pioneers host the Yellow Jackets in the Times Free Press game of the week Friday.

Scruggs’ graduation was good news for all Lookout Valley opponents, but now they must face a more wide-open spread offense instead of the wing-T that featured Scruggs.

“A big part of the reason was personnel,” Jackets coach Tony Webb said. “I would have gone to it last year, but we had so many seniors who had been in the wing-T throughout their careers. Chas would have been lights out in a spread system.”

Lookout Valley won 10 games and reached the second round of the state playoffs in 2007.

“I remember Chas took one back about 90 yards right after halftime,” East Ridge linebacker Gunner Miller said. “It kind of knocked the wind out of us.

“But I think we went in with our heads too big. We were a 3A school and they were 1A, and I think we put too much emphasis on the classifications. We could have controlled the ball better and eliminated some turnovers, and then we didn’t execute our two-minute offense late in the game after we got down to their 30.”

The loss left East Ridge scrambling most of the season to get to .500, while the win propelled Lookout Valley to the best season in school history.

“I think that win gave our kids some confidence. It came against a bigger school with a lot of skill athletes,” Webb said. “I don’t know if it did anything for our program in the long run, but it certainly gave us some credibility last year.”

The Jackets will begin seeking 2008 credibility with the likes of quarterback Scott Gordon, quarterback/running back Tay Vaugn Winn and running back Derrick Pullom.

“We could be 2-8 or 8-2,” Webb said. “I feel good about our two quarterbacks. The big difference for us is what we’re doing up front. It’s more of a zone blocking scheme, but operating out of the shotgun 85 percent of the time, it’s a change at just about every level.”

He refused to say if the Jackets’ spread would be more of a passing or a running offense, both kinds having become popular around the country. He said only that he hoped the offense resembled that of West Virginia or Appalachian State.

“You obviously want to throw it, but we’re not going to throw it 30 times per game,” Webb said. “In our spread there are two primary types of receivers — outside and the slot guys. The slot guys have to be able to catch, to block and to run, because they’re running backs, too. We have a lot of slot guys. Hopefully this will give us more ways to attack with more ball carriers.”

Miller pointed out that East Ridge has scrimmaged against spread teams — Soddy-Daisy, which is more prone to throw the ball, and Hixson, which mixes run and pass — but his coach is well aware of the pitfalls of comfort.

“We have practiced against the spread, but any time you’re early in the season you worry more about teams throwing formations at you that you haven’t seen,” said Martin, who came from Meigs County and has a 29-15 career record.

He’ll run a multiple offense including more than a smattering of the Pioneers’ style of a spread formation.

“We’re very multiple and we’ll spread you out, but we’ll also go two-tight ends and two backs,” Martin said. “We practice against the spread, so it won’t be completely foreign to our kids.”

He has never had a week-zero game before, so such an early start is a concern, he acknowledged. And while he’s used to contending for Region 3-3A honors, he’s not letting his players look beyond Friday.

“We haven’t sat down and said our goal is to be region champs. That’s everybody’s goal,” Martin said. “Our goal is to get better each week. What we have tried to impress on our kids is to be in position to win games in the fourth quarter and then see what happens.

“We should be able to be in every game we play, and then it is our job to find a way to win.”

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