RINGGOLD, Ga. — Offensive philosophies for Ringgold’s football Tigers have run the gamut in recent seasons: a little spread here, a little option there, with a sprinkle of wildcat thrown in.
One of coach Robert Akins’ goals coming into the season was to find an offensive identity and stick with it. Two games in, the Tigers have accomplished the first part, at least, and if their wins over Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe and Murphy, N.C., are any indication, the I-formation-based veer attack isn’t going away any time soon.
Behind an offensive line built more for mobility than brawn, the Tigers have averaged better than 300 yards on the ground, including a school-first last Friday when quarterback Slade Dale and backs Mark Fairbanks and Shaun Anderson each eclipsed 100 yards.
“The credit really goes to our offensive line,” Akins said of a group that barely averages 220 pounds and includes two sophomores and a freshman. “I think it’s a tribute to the coaches trying to get the kids to finish. They’re not the most physical, but they’re smart, they’re mobile and they’re very coachable.
“With the option you’re leaving one or two people [unblocked] on every play, so you have the opportunity to double-team some and not have to go man-on-man and push people off the line. Our scheme dictates that you don’t have to be huge. We’ve talked to them about finishing to the whistle, and they really did that last week. It’s easy to run through a big hole when it’s there.”
Left guard Jacob Hargrove (6-2, 220) is the lone senior on a unit that also includes juniors Caleb Hamby (6-0, 200) and tight end Cameron Deitz (6-0, 200), sophomores Ryan Emmer (6-2, 220) and Dallas McGee (6-0, 205) and freshman right guard Brian Derben (5-11, 230). What they lack in size, according to line coach Chase Fleming, they make up for in effort.
“They are the most coachable set of kids I’ve had,” the sixth-year assistant coach said. “They love being together, and because they’re coachable they’ve bought into everything we’ve been trying to teach them as far as getting after people and finishing plays. I mean, they just don’t stop, and it’s hard to find kids that care like that. They’ve forgotten the ‘me’ part of the game.”
The Ringgold run game is based on good decisions from sophomore Dale and the hard running of backs Fairbanks and Anderson. The key, according to senior Fairbanks, is to make something happen as quickly as possible.
“The main thing that’s helping this run game is that it’s easier for our linemen because it’s hard and fast,” said Fairbanks, a 1,000-yard rusher a year ago. “I know for the running backs it’s nice that we can hit the hole hard and not have doubts as to where we’re going. There’s a straight path and we go hard until we get tackled.”
The ground game also benefits from having fresh ball carriers. Akins lists six backs, also including tailback Bobby Campbell and fullbacks Derrick Baker and Kyle Sholl, with whom he feels comfortable in any situation. The two main backs, seniors Fairbanks and Anderson, and the elusive Dale present different challenges for opponents.
“Defenses never know what they’re going to get,” the 6-1, 210-pound Fairbanks said. “On one drive someone can be in and lead the team to a touchdown, and on the next series someone else will be in. I like to think of myself as more of a straight-forward kind of guy; there’s ‘Juice’ [Anderson], who is more shifty and has a lot of moves, and then there’s Slade, who seems to pull something out whenever he runs the ball.”
Ringgold and running the ball — get used to it.