Barstow Sports Blog

(AP Photo)

If you’ve watched the Barstow High School football team in recent weeks, then you know this isn’t the same-old double-wing team from a year ago. The Aztecs first-year coach Jose Rubio as made a point of opening up the run-based offense.

One of the ways the Aztecs have done that is by lining up in a shotgun formation and directly snapping the ball to one of their running backs. This is often referred to as a single-wing formation.

These types of plays are typically used on the high school and collegiate level, however, on Sunday the Miami Dolphins used it to upset the New England Patriot, ending the Pats 21-game regular season winning streak. Dolphins running back Ronnie Brown ran for four touchdowns and threw for another out their version of the single-wing formation called Wildcat.

Were the Dolphins taking notes from Barstow’s version?

Probably not. The Aztecs are still struggling through the air. In a 34-6 win Friday they attempted four passes with no completions, although they had open receivers most of the time.

Running backs DaMario Webb and Curtis Webb disagreed on whether the Aztecs attempt to spread out and some trickery to the double wing has given them more space in the running game — DaMario said no, Curtis said yes. However, coaches are beginning to take notice. Whether it’s successful or not, teams are spending time preparing for it.

“They do their power stuff really well, and then they make you prepare for when they spread out,” said Antelope Valley coach Brett Pape after Friday’s game.

Perhaps Miami’s win is a sign of things to come for the Aztecs though?

Here’s a look at what the Dolphins did so well (and what the Pats did so bad):

The history of single-wing football goes way, way back.

Dolphins lesson learned: winning is fun

Maybe Bill Belichick should read more of his own books.

Could Miami use Wildcat more often? Maybe …

The single wing was nothing new for several of the Dolphins coaches

Dolphins quarterbacks coach David Lee, former Arkansas Razorbacks offensive coordinator, used the single-wing formation to great success at Arkansas with current NFL backs Darren McFadden and Felix Jones. Here he is explaining how it works during his days at Arkansas to CSTV (via NYT’s Fifth Down blog).

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— Matthew Peters, sports editor

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