Aug 26, 2010 By Adam Brewer for The 3 min read

Times have changed, and so have offensive philosophies in football. Terms like smash-mouth, three yards and a cloud of dust, dive and trap were the standard in offensive playbooks back in the day, and were critical elements in any football team’s scheme.

Now, words like shotgun, no huddle, five wide, streak and post have overtaken the sport of football and have turned it into a pass-first offense at every level.

Despite all the changing in philosophies and the trendy passing game, the Jefferson-Morgan Rockets and coach Jan Haiden will look to maintain their game plan and showcase a physical and powerful running attack this season.

“If you look at the successful teams at any level, you have to run the ball first,” Haiden said. “You may make some big plays with the passing game that turn the momentum of a game, but if you establish the run and can control the line of scrimmage consistently, you are going to win a lot of football games.”

Haiden has manned the sideline for J-M the past 25 years, and one thing you know you are getting from his Rockets’ team is a run-oriented, physical Wing-T offense that not only relies on quality running backs, but quick pulling and trapping from the offensive line, as well.

At J-M, it has always been run first, and it’s still that way, despite the Rockets losing its top three running backs from a year ago.

The pass-first offense is a growing trend all around the high school football landscape the last few years, as more and more high schools are producing signal callers that do more than just hand the ball off.

In a recent poll conducted by Sporting News magazine, it asked starting quarterbacks in the NFL at what age they first played in a pass-first offense.

Of the 31 starting quarterbacks who took the pool, 13 said it happened while playing in high school and 10 said they were in a pass-first offense before high school.

The spread offense seems to be the new fad in football, but as Haiden points out, teams tend to run the ball more out of the spread than chuck the ball down the field.

“I think that is one of the biggest misconceptions about the spread offense,” Haiden said. “Take it for granted that they are in the shotgun, but I guarantee most of those teams want to run the ball more than pass with the defense spread out like that. About 90 percent of those teams want to establish the run first. West Virginia runs the spread offense, but they run the ball 70 percent of the time and are more concerned with the running game.”

According to Haiden, championships and games are won in the trenches and the team that is able to run the ball more will be the most successful in terms of the win-loss record.

“I always take the example of a couple of years ago, a kid from one area school threw for 2,000 yards his junior year,” Haiden said. “That same year, that team only won one game. Throwing for 2,000 yards as a high school quarterback is usually a career, and he did it in one season. He had the stats, but his team was not successful, and I believe it’s all about that old-school technique of being physical and dominant up front.”

In 2010, the Rockets will have its chance of showing off its smash-mouth football style in the Tri-County South, as Haiden hopes that will translate into more wins for the team.