Double wing offense key to Palo Verde’s success

By Case Keefer (contact)

Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2009 | 9:49 p.m.

The way Palo Verde High football coach Darwin Rost tells it, it was a classic case of love at first sight.

As soon as Rost saw a California high school team run the double wing offense nearly 10 years ago, he just knew.

“I loved it because all 11 guys had to do something,” Rost said. “You can’t have those little, 150-pound receivers out there waving at mom as they come off of the line.”

Rost credits a Palo Verde defensive assistant for introducing him to the double wing in 2000. Rost said the assistant insisted he Rost accompany him on a trip to Barstow, Calif., to watch Bloomington High take on Barstow.

Don Markham, the creator of the double wing offense, was the coach at Bloomington and known for his team’s outrageously high scores. In 1994, Bloomington set a national record with 880 points en route to a state championship.

That’s all Rost knew about the double wing before the game. After it, he decided that his team had to run it.

Later that year, Rost traveled to California to spend a day with Markham.

“He sat down and drew his whole offense on a piece of paper,” Rost said. “Of course, I took that piece of paper and still have it today.”

That paper detailed the basics of the double wing — the tight formation, the wingbacks on each side of the quarterback, the fullback directly behind the quarterback and the constant misdirection.

But that wasn’t enough for Rost. He invited Markham to visit Palo Verde before the 2001 season to help install the double wing during a two-day camp.

“When he was leaving that year, he said, ‘Coach, you aren’t going to win with these kids,’” Rost said. “We actually won our first region championship with those kids.”

The Panthers never stopped winning. Palo Verde became a Southern Nevada powerhouse, appearing in three state championship games and the last seven state semifinals.

The Panthers are undefeated once again this season at 6-0 heading into Friday’s matchup at Legacy (6-0). Of course, Rost says the double wing is a big part of the success.

“If you look across the valley and look at most of the offenses, they have one top running back,” Rost said. “You shut that one running back down, you shut a lot of their offense down.”

Because of the double wing, that’s not the case at Palo Verde. The Panthers have three running backs — Tyrone Blake, Brandon Wright and Chapelle Thomas — who have rushed for at least 500 yards and eight touchdowns.

Having to account for all three backs and figuring out who has the ball is nearly impossible for opposing defenses.

“They’re never going to figure out how to stop it,” Thomas said.

If they can’t stop it, why not emulate it? Rost said he had noticed at least two teams in Las Vegas running a double wing similar to Palo Verde’s.

“It (ticks) me off that other teams think they can run our offense,” Palo Verde offensive lineman Daniel Godkin said. “They don’t run it very well, either.”

No one can dispute how effectively the Panthers use the double wing. It’s exactly what Rost envisioned when he first saw the offense.

“It’s ball control. It’s smash mouth,” Rost said. “I just fell in love with it.”