PREP KICKOFF 2020: Kohn 'perfect' for new MA offense
Senior quarterback Britton Kohn goes through workouts during the summer as Montgomery Academy prepares for the upcoming season. The Eagles open Friday against St. James. (Tim Gayle)
By TIM GAYLE
Offensive formations can tell you lot about a team’s philosophy.
A wing-T offense, for example, is a ball-control formation that often relies on misdirection. A spread attack, although it contains a rushing element, is often a throw-first formation that features talent at the wide receiver position.
So what happens when you insert a spread quarterback into a wing-T attack?
Meet Britton Kohn, Montgomery Academy’s senior quarterback.
“Britton is the perfect quarterback for my offense,” Montgomery Academy coach Robert Johnson said. “If you talk to people who we’ve played in the past, the one thing we do out of the wing-T is we throw the ball. My personal opinion is you throw the ball easier out of the wing-T because you can easily see what coverage they’re in and what matchups you’ve got. With all the play-action you’re doing, it opens up the pass game, very similar to how the spread opens up the run game.”
Last year, under Gary Nelson, the Eagles tried to find a balance with the spread, but it was a logical formation because Montgomery Academy’s best athletes were at receiver. Kohn completed 141 of 258 passes for 1,882 yards and 15 touchdowns while rushing for 587 yards and 11 more touchdowns on 133 carries.
This year, the MA receivers are unproven while Jamal Cooper’s talent at tailback requires the Eagles to look more often in that direction. Still, the wing-T takes a guy that operated out of shotgun formation and changes him to a player whose strength in 2020 may be play-action passes.
“I think it fits us really well this year, with the size and the skill guys we have,” Kohn said. “I think we can really open up some stuff with it. I’m excited to be leading it.”
The biggest challenge to the wing-T for a passer, of course, is getting in a rhythm. The quarterback may throw the ball on three or more consecutive plays in a spread attack, but it isn’t as likely in the wing-T.
“You run a couple of plays that work out running,” Kohn explained, “then a couple of plays later we can do the same thing but change it a little bit and even that little change can throw the defense off and open up something huge.”
In the spread offense, you may throw it at any time; in the wing-T, you’re more likely to throw it only by deception or because it’s third down and long.
“The biggest thing I need out of a quarterback is to be accurate and on time,” Johnson said. “Britton is definitely that. But then when you have someone with Britton’s ability and height and arm strength, you can branch out and completely revamp what we’ve done.”
The 2020 season opener features an intriguing matchup between Montgomery Academy and St. James, a pair of programs coached by veterans who have spent much of their coaching careers either running a version of the wing-T offense or figuring out ways to stop it.
“In today’s game, no matter what offense you’re running, if you don’t throw the ball you’re going to be in trouble,” Johnson said. “It’s very difficult to over-run or out-run people.”
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