Spread Offense

Mike Redding saw a different kind of game than he was used to when his Mansfield High varsity football team traveled to Lakewood, Ohio, to face St. Edward in 2007. Most teams in the area, including St. Edward, ran a spread offense, a no-huddle approach with the quarterback in the shot-gun and multiple receivers spread across the line. It was a potent offensive attack that teams back east rarely ran. "From 2007 to 2009 the spread offense exploded," said Redding, who guided the Hornets to a Division 2 Super Bowl championship last season.

Fans will have to wait one more year to see record-shattering Everett quarterback Jonathan DiBiaso at the college level. The senior has verbally committed to play at Dartmouth College in 2013, following a post-grad season at Phillips Exeter (N.H.) this fall, he announced at a luncheon at Everett High yesterday. "Going into an Ivy League school, I know the academics will be very tough," said DiBiaso, a two-time Super Bowl winner. "Going to a prep school like Exeter, which is known for their academics, I think it will prepare me very well.

Greg Finley shook his head as he prepared to board the football squad's bus. He and his Framingham High teammates had just finished a preseason scrimmage at Holliston, and the senior safety was searching for words to explain what had happened to the team's defense. Check ‘The End Zone' for details on the opening weekend. Sports, Page 4 The Flyers gave up long chunks of yardage to the Panthers, both on the ground and through the air, and Finley saw it all as he roamed the secondary.

Robert Griffin III's four years at Baylor have included a serious knee injury, 46 school records, the best season the Bears have had in decades, and now a Heisman Trophy. He has one more season of eligibility left and could return to school. Or not. RG3 to the NFL? "Whether I won the award or not, it wasn't going to sway me on coming back or not," Griffin said Saturday night. Griffin won the 77th Heisman Trophy, beating out Andrew Luck, who has already been penciled in as the No. 1 pick in April's NFL draft.

PLAYERS TO WATCH ▸Matt Cahill, Lincoln-Sudbury Regional: The quarterback returns after throwing for 1,200 yards and running for nearly 400 more as the only junior captain in Tom Lopez's 34 years as head coach. ▸ George Craan (pictured), Concord-Carlisle: How can the senior back improve on what was a spectacular junior season (1,914 yards rushing, 24 touchdowns)? Lead the Patriots back to the Super Bowl. ▸Mike Decina, Hopkinton: A two-way threat at QB, he adjusted quickly to a new spread offense last season as a junior, accounting for 18 touchdowns and nearly 2000 yards combined rushing and passing.

They don't play games quite like Auburn-LSU at Harvard or Hutchinson (Kan.) Community College. Welcome to the big leagues, junior college transfer Chris Todd and former Ivy Leaguer Andrew Hatch. Where 87,000-plus frenzied fans, a few million folks at home, and probably some of the Southeastern Conference and national championship contenders will be tuning in. Tonight, Harvard transfer Hatch leads No. 6 LSU (2-0, 0-0) against former Hutchinson quarterback Todd and No. 10 Auburn (3-0, 1-0)

Playing with a soft cast protecting his broken left forearm, junior Tony Pike had one of his finest games last night, throwing a pair of touchdown passes and steadying host Cincinnati's offense in a 24-10 victory over No. 24 South Florida. Pike was sharp in his second game back since he broke his non-passing arm, which is held together by a plate and six screws. He took several rattling hits and hung in there until the middle of the fourth quarter. Cincinnati (6-2, 2-1 Big East)

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Chris Leak answered all those questions about whether he could run Urban Meyer's spread offense. Leak completed 26 of 34 passes for 320 yards and three touchdowns, broke Steve Spurrier's school record for consecutive completions, and led No. 10 Florida to a 32-14 victory over Wyoming last night in Meyer's coaching debut with the Gators. The offense sputtered at times, but made several big plays and scored touchdowns on three passes from Leak to Chad Jackson.

Fans will have to wait one more year to see record-shattering Everett quarterback Jonathan DiBiaso at the college level. The senior has verbally committed to play at Dartmouth College in 2013, following a post-grad season at Phillips Exeter (N.H.) this fall, he announced at a luncheon at Everett High yesterday. "Going into an Ivy League school, I know the academics will be very tough," said DiBiaso, a two-time Super Bowl winner. "Going to a prep school like Exeter, which is known for their academics, I think it will prepare me very well.

Robert Griffin III's four years at Baylor have included a serious knee injury, 46 school records, the best season the Bears have had in decades, and now a Heisman Trophy. He has one more season of eligibility left and could return to school. Or not. RG3 to the NFL? "Whether I won the award or not, it wasn't going to sway me on coming back or not," Griffin said Saturday night. Griffin won the 77th Heisman Trophy, beating out Andrew Luck, who has already been penciled in as the No. 1 pick in April's NFL draft.

WALPOLE - As coach Barry Greener addressed Walpole at Turco Field, he declared that last night's 16-13 victory over Natick would go down as one of the great Walpole wins in his 41 years of coaching. "I've been here for a long time, two great teams went at it tonight," Greener said. "We knew it was going to be a battle, and it lived up to its billing. " Sophomore Connor Mitchell kicked a 25-yard field goal with six seconds remaining in the fourth quarter to give the 10th-ranked Rebels (9-1, 8-1)

Michigan coaches and quarterback Denard Robinson acknowledged before the first snap of the season that it would take time for him to adjust playing in a new scheme. They were right. Robinson is running as well as ever, ranking fourth in the nation, to help the 19th-ranked Wolverines start 4-0 for the third straight year. But he's struggling with the pro-style passing game much more than he did last year in Rich Rodriguez's spread offense. He has completed just 49 percent of his passes — down from 63 percent last season — and his...

After making the playoffs last season for the first time in 10 years, No. 15 New Bedford faces its first real test when it visits second-ranked Duxbury tomorrow. The Whalers were welcomed back to postseason play with a 35-0 thumping at the hands of St. John's Prep. "Last year we finished with a really good team," said New Bedford coach Dennis Golden. "It took us a while to get our act together, truthfully, but once we hit our stride we felt like we played well in the second half of the season.

The Patriots have won 15 straight games against the Buffalo Bills, but this will be a different visit to upstate New York. These aren't your older brother's Buffalo Bills. The Bills, who went 10-22 the previous two years and haven't had a winning season since 2004, are 2-0. The partisans at Ralph Wilson Stadium, fresh off Sunday's thrilling 38-35 victory over the Oakland Raiders, will be lubed up for the first-ever 2-0 clash between the Patriots and Bills. Somewhat surprisingly, the Bills last won their first two games in 2008, when they...

DANVERS - It was Dracut quarterback Jimmy Ryan's first varsity game starting under center, but the 5-foot-10-inch junior showed the poise of a seasoned veteran. With just more than a minute to play, and the Middies clinging to a 6-point lead, he faced fourth and 11. Ryan took the snap and ran for 12 yards to pick up the first down and secure No. 11 Dracut's 13-7 win over No. 8 St. John's Prep yesterday. "With the spread offense, if the defensive end comes at you, you hand it off, but if he goes at the running back, you pull it," said Ryan, who finished with 113...

PLAYERS TO WATCH ▸Matt Cahill, Lincoln-Sudbury Regional: The quarterback returns after throwing for 1,200 yards and running for nearly 400 more as the only junior captain in Tom Lopez's 34 years as head coach. ▸ George Craan (pictured), Concord-Carlisle: How can the senior back improve on what was a spectacular junior season (1,914 yards rushing, 24 touchdowns)? Lead the Patriots back to the Super Bowl. ▸Mike Decina, Hopkinton: A two-way threat at QB, he adjusted quickly to a new spread offense last season as a junior, accounting for 18 touchdowns and nearly...

There's a good chance Trey Burton will lead Florida in touches this season. He almost certainly will lead the Gators in positions played. Florida has expanded Burton's role heading into the fall, lining him up at running back, fullback, receiver and tight end. It's an effort to confuse defenses, create mismatches and improve an offense that ranked 82nd in the nation in 2010. "He's going to do so many things for us," first-year coach Will Muschamp said. "He's a guy that is going to be catching the football.

DANVERS - It was Dracut quarterback Jimmy Ryan's first varsity game starting under center, but the 5-foot-10-inch junior showed the poise of a seasoned veteran. With just more than a minute to play, and the Middies clinging to a 6-point lead, he faced fourth and 11. Ryan took the snap and ran for 12 yards to pick up the first down and secure No. 11 Dracut's 13-7 win over No. 8 St. John's Prep yesterday. "With the spread offense, if the defensive end comes at you, you hand it off, but if he goes at the running back, you pull it," said Ryan, who finished with 113 yards...

On a hot and humid Saturday morning in Tewksbury late last month, the Gloucester High School football team got an early look at one of its biggest challenges this season: defending the spread attack, an increasingly popular and potent offense utilized by high school teams in the region. With a new head coach and a very young team, the preseason scrimmage provided a litmus test after three weeks of training. Tomorrow night, the Fishermen put on their game jerseys and kick off their 2011 season at Lynn English - and they'll face a tough spread offense right off the bat. The...

Greg Finley shook his head as he prepared to board the football squad's bus. He and his Framingham High teammates had just finished a preseason scrimmage at Holliston, and the senior safety was searching for words to explain what had happened to the team's defense. Check ‘The End Zone' for details on the opening weekend. Sports, Page 4 The Flyers gave up long chunks of yardage to the Panthers, both on the ground and through the air, and Finley saw it all as he roamed the secondary.