Tackling the issue: Area defenses are struggling to keep points off the board

In a Week 10 game with playoff and conference championship implications, St. Paul quarterback Eric Schwieterman was just trying to get a yard on third-and-1 at his team’s 47-yard line.

The three-year starter took the snap and bulled ahead as planned, but then knocked over a defensive lineman, sprinted past two linebackers and circled around two defensive backs before hurdling another defender into the end zone for a 53-yard touchdown.

In a Week 8 game with playoff posturing and a conference title at stake, Clyde running back Kade Kramer was looking to go off tackle, but slipped off two defenders at the line of scrimmage, sprinted to the outside between three would-be-tacklers and scored the go-ahead touchdown from 44 yards out.

With another regular season gone, one key area in high school football — and every level of football — is the lost art of making an open-field tackle.

Different mind-sets

If someone is trying to sell tickets to area high school football games, what’s not to like?

The scoring is up — in some cases, significantly. In fact, seven of 18 area teams allowed more than 315 points this season while only one team did so in 2005.

Passer ratings and quarterback statistics are off the charts — and bolstered by a generation of rule changes to help the offense, the game’s popularity is reaching a fever pitch.

But something else is also clearly evident in the offensive boom: Defenses have had a tough time keeping up.
Are the days of sure-tackling gone because defenders are getting caught in one-on-one situations, resulting in setbacks in technique, positioning and judgment?

“If you’ve watched football over the years, usually everything trickles its way down from the professional level,” Margaretta coach Rock Farlow said. “With so many offenses being so potent, there is a much higher priority on trying to create turnovers than there is on tackling. And I will even say that I think that way to a degree.

“I’m willing to give up a missed tackle if we get a fumble. Adding to that point, in my days if there was a fumble, you were told to fall on it and don’t lose it at all costs. Today, we tell the kids to pick it up and run with it. It all trickles down.”

The emphasis on improved speed has worked, but it’s kept defenses falling backward.

“There is no question fundamental tackling in itself is an unbelievable skill that most teams have a difficult time getting good at,” Norwalk coach Chris MacFarland said. “At the high school level, we’ve seen better speed and quickness to improve offenses, but those same kids haven’t caught up on defense to be just as fast in coverages and blitzes — yet be able to stop, break down and make a proper tackle in open space.”

Practice time

The devotion of tackling in practice during the week is a factor in the results for defenses, as a myriad of reasons have put teams in a Catch 22 situation.

St. Mary Central Catholic coach Jason Ziegler would love to work on tackling full speed in practice every day, but that’s easier said than done in the Panthers’ and many other teams’ situations.

“We’ve given up a lot of points on missed tackles; it’s something the program is going through,” Ziegler said. “Our kids were around the ball, but just didn’t tackle. But when your roster has 37 kids, it’s hard to practice that day in and day out because of injuries.

“Very few teams in the area do a great job with that. It’s gotten away from a lot of teams. We did it constantly in our two full-pad practices during the week, but it’s hard to say ‘go ahead and lay out to tackle our best player’ because you don’t want that kid getting injured. Has good tackling become a lost art? I just think it’s a different style of football.”

Said Farlow, “We tackle a lot in practice, it’s just hard to tackle at a maximum effort because of the injury factor, and our second team can’t create the same situation that the first team creates.”

St. Paul coach John Livengood’s defense allowed just 50 points during the regular season, but lost Schwieterman — the 2008 Division VI Offensive Player of the Year — for five weeks with a broken thumb that took place during a tackling drill.

“There is definitely a worry and always will be,” Livengood said. “It’s one of those things that you have to continue to work on, otherwise you won’t be very good at it. We practice it all the time. You hope you don’t get injured, but an injury can happen any time at practice. And in most cases, injuries happen when you’re not playing physical or going full-go.”

Late in the season, MacFarland opted to let his players hit hard and wrap up, but not take the opposing player to the ground.

“Tackling is a concern all the way across the board at every level,” he said. “I think the trenches still do a great job; it’s when you get to the perimeter. Too many kids watch bad pro and college tackling. It’s hard to watch a 150-pound kid at defensive back try and take down a 220-pound fullback because he just watched a defensive back from LSU do it. It doesn’t work that way.”

Overmatched

For many coaches, it comes down to the evolution of strategy. Offensive philosophies today are largely built on the idea of spreading the field with passing formations that run mainly out three- and four-receiver sets.

Running games are more heavy on draw plays and zone-blocking concepts. The extra receivers dictate fewer linebackers and more defensive backs, and what defensive backs offer in coverage, they tend to give up in tackling ability — which creates more chances to miss tackles.

“But that’s what people like to see,” Ziegler said. “You see more of a high-flying game. People like to see a team like Bellevue with (Curt) Watson throw it all over the field and do some real good things.

“Obviously the game has found ways to be more creative on offense. The offense is ahead right now at every level, really, and the defense has to close the gap. But that takes time due to the innovation of styles with all these crazy formations.”

However, a misconception of the spread is thinking a team will pass all over the place.

“A lot of people think teams run it to pass better,” Livengood said. “But a lot of teams use it to run the ball better. It creates more running lanes and spreads out the defense, and when you do that, it’s more difficult to make open-field tackles.

“It’s definitely a lot easier to gang tackle than do it in the open field by yourself.”

Farlow wasn’t surprised at the spike in points allowed, but pointed to the offense extending games.

“The main thing is there are more possessions,” he said. “The way teams spread it out, there are more possessions per game than there used to be. Years ago, we weren’t that scientific. We figured if you get a couple first downs, heck, that’s two or three minutes off the clock right there.

“The idea was to prevent the other team from having as many possessions as you, but that’s not the case anymore. Games are lasting well into the night. I don’t know that defenses are giving up more big plays, I just think there are more opportunities to make those plays.”