By Bruce Eien, Head Coach, Brethren Christian High School, Huntington Beach, Calif.

Double-wing teams everywhere are running up scores, racking up huge rushing gains and embarrassing many opponents who have no idea on how to stop this potent offense.

Here are some ideas for scouting the double-wing team. Hopefully, you'll be able to take these new ideas and put them to work within your defensive packages.

IDENTIFY THE STAR

When scouting a double-wing team the first thing you have to do is identify your opponent's best running back. Even though the offense is designed to be evenly spread between the three backs, most teams tend to have one featured back. The main priority for stopping the double wing is to stop the featured back.

Identifying this back is usually easy as he comes into the game with huge yardage and touchdown statistics. You have to focus your defensive game plan on stopping him and worrying about covering other aspects of the double wing later.

That philosophy isn't any different from defending a team with a star featured I back or a good option quarterback. That player must be stopped to let the other guys try to beat you. If the team's offense is pretty evenly spread, you still have to play as if one of them is the featured back. After going through your scouting checklist, one back will stand out more than the others.

IDENTIFY THE GOOD PLAYS

The second most important thing in scouting a double-wing team is finding out what your opponent's best play is.

Typically this is their toss or "super power play" with their best back. Your entire defense must be positioned to stop that play. You have to take this play out of their arsenal.

You must be sound in your total defensive package. You can't put 11 guys on one side, yet you can still overload your defense with your best players and your best scheme to the side where the opponent's best play goes. Typically, a double wing will run a toss or super power to one side and then run the buck sweep or reverse to the other.

Scouting this play allows you to put your strongest, biggest defenders to one side and your faster, better pursuing players on the other.

STOPPING THEIR BEST PASS

Next you must determine their best pass play. For double-wing teams, this tends to be a play-action pass off their best play with the tight end or wings running deep routes.

Double-wing teams usually don't throw passes unless they see that you're committing most of your defenders to stopping the run.

Whatever the scheme you run, keep at least two defenders deep or their best pass play will be a huge gainer. Double-wing QBs have some of the highest pass completion percentages. Passing is an aspect that must be accounted for when preparing to defend the double-wing team.

COUNTERING THE COUNTER

Finally, what is your opponent's best counter play? Double-wing teams often have a counter play to their best play. A counter play is what they will most likely go to when their best play is stopped.

Typically this play is a reverse off the toss or super power. The reverse play is probably the most explosive play in the double-wing arsenal. Your defense has to have a sound package to hold off the reverse until everyone can rally back to the ball.

Defenders on the reverse side have to string out the reverse play and force it to go wide.

With all this information, a picture should be developing about the play-calling philosophy of your double-wing opponent. Your scouting information should tell you who's getting the ball and where.

PLAY CALLING TENDENCIES

Predicting traditional down-and-distance tendencies usually doesn't work against a double-wing team. That's because normal offenses work on a three-down pattern to get a first down. Most teams in a fourth-and-two or more situation will opt to punt the ball. Most teams are not consistently going to go for the it on fourth down.

The double-wing team differs because they play four downs to get a first. They'll go for it on fourth down almost every time. Most play with the philosophy that they can get 5 yards on every play.

Against a team that sets up in normal defensive situations for fourth-and-five, the double-wing team will pound out a first down because the defensive team isn't prepared for this situation.

Double-wing teams often gain the mental edge in fourth-down situations because coaches and players are mentally out of it due to the fact that they've held defensively for three downs and the punt team should be coming on.

RUNNING BACK TENDENCIES

Look for running-back tendencies when scouting your double-wing opponent. Things to look for include:
- What linemen does the back run behind?
- Does the RB go right or left?
- What are the RB's tendencies in different field positions and near the sidelines?

One RB tendency I've picked up is on fourth down or other crucial downs, double-wing teams often run a toss play or super power to the same back.

If you can scout an opponent and get a percentage ratio on how many times the RB runs toss or super power plays to the right side on fourth or other crucial downs, this will help you determine what front to get into or what blitz to call.

One year a double-wing team we played ran the toss to the right 22 of 23 times for a 96-percent ratio. This was an easy call for our defense.

OFFENSIVE LINE TENDENCIES

A key offensive-line tendency to look for is if your double-wing opponent flops the line so that one side is always blocking and the other is pulling. Knowing this tendency can be a huge advantage to your defense.

Your defense can stack their strongest, biggest guys on their blockers and put faster defenders on the pulling side. If you use automatic corner blitzes from the pulling side, you might even run the play down.

This is an easy tendency to scout and will greatly enhance your defense.

DIRECTIONAL TENDENCIES

The right/left tendency is very similar to offensive line tendencies. One side of the offense will block and the other will pull a majority of the time. One year, we played a double-wing team that ran almost 98-percent of their toss or super power plays to the right side of the field. This allowed us to stack that side and put the faster defenders on the pulling side. After charting the plays, this tendency will become apparent.

FIELD OR BOUNDARY TENDENCIES

Does your double-wing opponent have a tendency to run toward the wide or short side of the field? Most double-wing teams are a field- or boundary-type team. This tendency is a little harder to see, but can be a huge advantage for the defense.

If the double-wing team shows tendencies to run to the wide side of the field, you can over-shift your defense or slant the help with the wide side. There's no need to defend the boundary if they're more inclined to run to the wide side. Many teams like to run toward the field side where the defense must cover a wider area and there's more running room for their backs.

The boundary double-wing teams like to smash the ball to the short side and run cutbacks to the wide side, giving them more room on the cutback.

SIDELINE TENDENCIES

The sideline tendency is a tendency that will show up on any normal tendency charts. Do they run the ball to their sideline? One double-wing team we played liked to run plays to their sideline strictly because the coach liked to see the play develop. He must have thought that if he could see the play, it would have a better chance for success. This is a critical tendency for the defensive coordinator to know.

SEQUENCE TENDENCIES

The sequence tendency analyzes whether or not the double-wing team runs plays in a sequence.

A team we played always ran toss or super power right on the first play and buck sweep on the second play of every half. We looked like geniuses at our booster club meeting when we told them to look for those two plays at the beginning of the game.

The double-wing team is trying to test the defense and those are two great plays to test how the defense is covering. But this can be a great weapon for the defensive coordinator in his game plan. We used those two plays to set a tone by overplaying them and creating a loss on both plays.

The sequence tendency can be the greatest assets to a defensive coordinator.

DEFENSIVE OPPONENT

Another crucial aspect in scouting a double-wing team is to scout the defense they're playing against. Many crucial tendencies can be derived from watching how another team defended the double wing.

The first part of scouting a defense that's playing against a double-wing team is to look at the double-wing blocking scheme. Double-wing teams have many different ways to block defensive fronts.

On your scouting sheet, determine what defensive front the defense is running. This will let you know if the double wing team is running a certain play more than another, based on defensive fronts.

POINT OF ATTACKS

The biggest part of your defensive scouting is figuring out the double-wing team's point of attack. The point of attack will usually determine what blocking scheme they're using, no matter the play.

Tosses, spins and reverse runs at the off-tackle position all utilize the same blocking schemes. If you can determine who is blocking whom, your defense will have a better shot at defending the double wing.

DOUBLE-WING BLOCKING SCHEMES

Other than trap or wedge blocking, most double-wing teams have three basic ingredients in most plays:
1. Double Teams. This is a two-on-one block with the inside blocker responsible for any blitz to the inside. This creates the inside wall.
2. Kick-Out Blocks. Usually done by the fullback or guard. This creates the outside wall.
3. Pulling Through The Hole. Usually the off-side OG and tackle with the QB leading the tailback through the hole.

These three techniques provide an inside and outside wall with lead blockers coming through the hole.

DOUBLE WING VS. COVERAGES

The last aspect of defensive scouting is coverage. You need to see how the double-wing team defeats a particular coverage. This will allow you to plan more freedom in secondary support.

If the double-wing team cannot pass, there's no real need to cover those areas. We usually do not cover the flats. We allow the pass completion and rally to the ball to make the tackle.

Most double-wing teams will not take advantage of this situation because it's not covered in their game plan.