Bulldogs Insider #1 - Exploring your “Options”

Each week Bulldogs wide receiver and BayToday.ca Sports Writer Matt Gordon will be giving you an insightful look at the North Bay Bulldogs. Enjoy!

With another summer fast approaching it is time once again for the Canadian football season to begin. Just like the CFL, the Northern Football Conference chooses to run its season in the warmer months rather than during the harsh Canadian fall weather. This year the NFC, currently in its 55th year, will field 8 teams from across the province including your North Bay Bulldogs. Having entered the league in 1991 the Bulldogs will be playing their 16th season in the NFC and 10th in a row after not fielding a team in 1996, 1998 or 1999.

After back to back 6-2 seasons in 2001 and 2002 the Bulldogs have had an up and down run in the NFC standings. The team has produced seasons with as many as 5 wins but has also struggled through seasons like 2008 where they were only able to garner 1 win in 7 games. In 2009, the team will look to build on a strong finish in 2008 where they had a chance to beat the eventual league champions on the final play of the game.

The late season success in 2008 was due to some dramatic mid season changes that took place on the team’s roster. Slotback Dave Wilson returned to his favorite position at quarterback and two veteran defenders; safety Nick Hallet and linebacker Jason Pichette, came out of retirement to give the team a boost. All three players are back in 2009 and all have a full training camp under their belts to start this year’s campaign.

The 2009 season will open with two road games for the Bulldogs, this Saturday they travel to face the revamped Milton Marauders. The Marauders have benefited from the folding of the Oakville Longhorns with several players moving over to Milton from Oakville. Last year the Bulldogs lost to Milton in week two, 27-19 after young quarterback Zach Moreau went down with a shoulder injury early in the second half. The first home game for the ‘Dogs will be played June 13th against the Sarnia Imperials.

If you happen to catch some of the Bulldog’s games in 2009 you may hear some people referring to the team’s offensive attack as an “option offence”. This is a style of offence that is becoming more and more common at the high school and post-secondary levels in both Canada and the United States. There are many variations of the option offence run from several different formations but all have a similar goal in mind. Whereas the traditional football play would have a designated point of attack, the option play gives the quarterback different “options” to attack based on defensive alignment and/or the action of defensive players.

What does that all mean? Well, in a traditional power run play the quarterback would give his team specific instructions in the huddle to follow. The lineman would attempt to create a seam between defenders in a particular spot on the field and the quarterback would then give the ball to a running back who would attempt to run through that seam. The advantage to this is that it is simple in that every player has a designated job to perform to complete the play. However, if the defense stacks up against this style of run play it is difficult to be successful even when performed perfectly.

The option runs conversely prevents teams from being able to stack up against them by having several points of attack. For example, in what would be known as “triple threat option” run when the offence runs their play, any one of three players could end up being the designated runner. If the defense attacks player #1 then the ball moves to player #2 and if the defense is able to then stop #2 the ball them moves to player #3.

If you think this sounds more complicated then the power run play then you would be correct. As my friend Dan Webb (Head Coach at Chippewa S.S.) says; “the option is a time monster.” It requires precision accuracy and perfect decision making by your quarterback and thus requires a lot of practice time. If you have the right personnel in place that grasp the concepts of the option it can be very potent.

For the Bulldogs, Dave Wilson presents the perfect QB to run the option. The 7 year veteran of the North Bay Police Force is arguably the ‘Dogs best athlete and his experience as QB both at the high school and CIS level will help him make the split second decisions the option requires. Wilson along with speedy backs Sterling Bilz, Gwinyai Guta and Ford Morland, present the perfect personnel to run the option.

The option as mentioned has roots in both the Canadian and American game. Look no further than last years NCAA National Champions, the Florida Gators or the Grey Cup Champion Calgary Stampeders for examples. Both run variations of the option and both run them very well.

From its roots at the University of Houston in the 1960’s and Coach Bill Yeoman, to all the present variations that are seen today the option is becoming one of the most popular plays in football. Coaches have even begun combining other philosophies such as zone running with the option to create even more disparity from the old “Houston Veer”.

Check out the link below for an example of a high school team running the triple threat option. Believe it or not although each play looks very different in both cases the exact same thing would have been called in the huddle.

Click here to watch.