Schalick plans to open up the offense more this football season to give it a better shot at postseason success; Wilson: ‘We will have a passing game this year’
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
PITTSGROVE – Mike Wilson has run all kinds of offense in his years as a football coach and a lot of them have leaned heavily on the run. But one thing he learned last year is you’ve got to leave the ground every once in a while.
So this year expect to see Wilson’s Schalick Cougars throw the ball a bit more than usual. Now, they’re not going to change the A.P. in A.P. Schalick to Air Patrol, but they will put it up “more than we have in our first three years there.”
“One thing I have learned from coaches, if you can’t throw the ball you can’t win,” Wilson said. “I’ve coached all types of offense – spread, wing-T, double wing; I’ve played ‘em all. It comes down to one thing: When you’ve got equal talent in the playoffs, if you can’t throw the ball it’s hard.”
The Cougars learned that the hard way last year. They had gotten back in the playoffs for the first time since 2018 and played Woodstown in the first round. They lost 45-8 to a team that also ran the ball heavily, but completed 5 of 8 passes for 79 yards and two touchdowns.
“They’re a run team, but they threw the ball, exposed us and got rid of us really early in that game,” Wilson said. “If you talk to them, they found out over coach (John) Adams’ career over there being an option wing-T they had to run and throw the ball, too.”
The Cougars were so top-heavy on the ground only teams that didn’t throw at all threw less. They had only 46 passes all season for 383 yards, while rushing 424 times for 2,935 yards. The year before they were 79 percent run.
They never threw more than nine passes in any game and had one three-game stretch in which they threw a total of five. There was one game they didn’t throw any.
“We will have a passing game this year,” Wilson said.
You can’t argue with the formula, though. In Wilson’s three seasons, the Cougars’ passing yardage has gone down each year, but the rushing yardage and, most importantly, the win total has increased. Still, they recognize for long-term success that ratio has to change.
“Our run game has been dominant the last two years, but I feel like to beat the better teams we’re definitely going to have to start opening up the passing game,” junior quarterback Kenai Simmons said. “We were like a 90-10 (run-to-pass) team, so it was pretty predictable seeing what we were doing every game.
“Most people game-planned for the run. They weren’t really expecting the pass, so that’s what we’re looking for this year … to see a lot of run but definitely a lot more throwing. You’ve got to respect our throwing game this year.”
The Cougars threw only four touchdown passes last year. Simmons, the team’s leading rusher and receiver, caught three of them. Now, he’ll be the one looking to get it in the hands of senior Jake Siedlecki, second behind Simmons last year with six catches for 97 yards, sophomore Dylan Sheehan and junior Nylan Sutton.
The last time Simmons played quarterback was in eighth grade and he led his team to a championship. Of course, that was more of a Wildcat situation as anything, but when he did throw it on the halfback pass he was good for 40 yards in the air.
Knowing his role will expand this season, he has been working this off-season on improving his timing and pre-snap reading of defenses. In one early 7-on-7 game this summer, he threw three straight completions on the first possession and produced the game’s first touchdown.
It’s still a work in progress, but there’s been progress nonetheless. After a bad read in one of the games in Tuesday night’s 7-on-7 with Cumberland and Sterling, Simmons approached his position coach and admitted he didn’t pick up a lurking linebacker.
“I did it before so I think I can get back in the habit of doing it,” Simmons said. “I wouldn’t say I loved the quarterback spot, but I definitely am a team player so I’ll do whatever it takes for our team to succeed.
“Put the ball in my hands, I promise I’ll do something great with it as long as my blocking is there. The only thing I can say is don’t underestimate us this year.”
SCHALICK OFFENSE UNDER COACH MIKE WILSON
| YEAR (W-L) | RUSHING | PASSING |
| 2022 (7-3) | 424-2935-39 | 19-46-7-383-4 |
| 2021 (4-6) | 279-1222-14 | 27-72-1-439-5 |
| 2020 (0-7) | 132-188-2 | 59-135-10-600-4 |
Photo: Schalick coach Mike Wilson (L) talks with Cougars quarterback Kenai Simmons (R) and Reggie Allen during a recent 7-on-7 tournament.
Riverview Sports News 