Lions turn to the option offense; hopes it leads to the playoffs

GAINESVILLE — If you head over to Lakeview Academy on Friday nights, you'll quickly find out the Lions have changed their offense.

Lakeview coach Matthew Gruhn is changing the Lion attack on the offensive side of the ball. He's put the spread offense on the shelf and pulled out the option playbook.  

He says the Lions will be an option-based team, which fits better with his returners. 

“We are changing gears a little bit this year,” he said. “We’re going to be an option football team with some triple and double options.”

The Lions’ struggled with success on the field in 2018, with the program’s lowest win output since 2009 – 1-9. They were last in Region 8-A in points scored (105) and last in points allowed (378). 

“It’s kind of cliché, but we take it one week at a time, one day at a time and one kid at a time,” he said. “We’re trying to improve and do things better than the year before and, hopefully, it’ll transfer to some scoreboard success this year.”

Of course, the Lions do play in a ridiculously hard region with six of the 10 teams making it to the second round or better of the Class A Private and Public playoffs. Three teams out of Lakeview’s subregion advanced to the second round or better, Riverside and Hebron Christian (second round) and Commerce in the quarterfinals. The region, as a whole, also houses last year’s Class A Private runner-up, Athens Academy, and semifinalist Prince Avenue Christian.

“We play in a really tough region with a lot of good teams,” Gruhn said. “Everybody is getting better, better and better. Our side is pretty competitive and the other side is tough. All those guys can really, really play. We don’t get a breather week that’s for sure. We have to come to compete and give our best every single week just to have a chance to compete. We don’t back down from it. Our region is tough and we know that going in. We don’t make excuses; we just go get it the best we can.”

Gruhn will look to junior Ben Puckett to guide the new offense. Puckett rotated with Luke Bornhorst last season in the spread offense, but Bornhorst transferred to Chestatee over the summer, leaving the job to Puckett. 

“Ben is very capable at running the offense,” he said. “He's been working hard all summer to learn the offense."

They’ll opt to run the option out of the shotgun instead of under the center – a move Gruhn feels will give his backfield more space and time.

“I think if we had a philosophy, we’re going to try and figure out a way with option football,” he said. 

That said, Gruhn has two strong running backs returning this season, led by Brandon Wilson and Jordan Thomas. 

“Those are two skill guys that we think can certainly do some big things this season,” he said. “They need to touch the ball a lot for us to be successful.”

Sam Highfield returns to anchor the offensive line this season. 

“We have a couple of senior linemen that we think can step up,” he said. “We feel good about those guys and we need them to play big and well and to save their best football for their senior years. I think they will come up big for us.”

On defense, the Lions will employ a 4-2-5 scheme, the same as last season. 

“Our MO has got to be pursuit to the ball,” Gruhn said. “That’s something we did better last year, so we’ve got to keep improving on that this year. We are trying to gain some advantages there in how well we run to the ball. It comes down to tackling and getting off blocks and how well you run to the ball. No matter what scheme you run, it really boils down to those three things, so we’re just trying to improve in that area.”

Gruhn said along with Wilson and Thomas, junior defensive end Christian Hayes has emerged as a key player on defense.

“He can help back there,” he said. “We’ll see, we’ve got opportunities for guys to step up and play well.” 

But Gruhn the challenges of a slim roster remains at the front for the Lions. He said a small roster shows up the most late in the game. But it’s nothing new to the Lions. Gruhn says its something his coaching staff deals with every year.

“Depth is always an issue for us,” he said. “One is keeping the guys healthy and two, conditioning well enough where they can play both sides of the ball. We’re trying to develop guys to give them breaks so we’re not playing eight or nine every snap on both sides of the ball. I just think that’s really hard on kids today. So that puts us at a disadvantage. Your best ones are going to play both sides. For us, it’s tough if they have to play all three phases. When they get fatigued, they’re not as effective. So we just have to develop and do the best we can with those guys that aren’t the starters and get them ready to contribute.”

Gruhn says he is satisfied with skill guys and the team seems to have good chemistry.

“We do have some good skill guys,” he said. “That should transfer on both sides of the ball. We have good chemistry. I think our guys really care for one another and play hard for one another. In the big scheme of thing, I think if we’re divided, we’re sunk already. I think if we’re committed to each other, we can do more and play better than maybe we’re even capable of.”

Gruhn knows Region 8-A is a tough place to play. He has set the goals high for his program, which has never reached the state playoffs. He said every game is important and the team’s goal is to still be playing in mid-November.

“That’s our single goal every year,” he said. “We never have done that. Every year it’s to be the first – everybody is going to remember the first. We enter every year full of hope. Is it going to be tough? Yeah, it’s going to be really tough. On paper, does it look like we can make it, probably not, but our goal is to go get it and we’re going to do everything we can to accomplish that goal.

We play in a really good region with a lot of good teams. Every year with a lot of hope and we’re going in the same thing this year. That never changes and I think we’re in good shape to do that.”