It's Tuck and Run for Oakton Football Team

Quick Facts

• Head coach: Jason Rowley (first year)
• 2010 Record: 7-4
• Returning offensive starters: four
• Returning defensive starters: seven
• Base offense: spread option
• Base defense: multiple fronts
• Captains: Jake Farrar (Sr. RB/DL), Tuck Masker (Sr. QB), C.J. Reimann (Sr. LB), Zach Isakowitz (Sr. LB)

In the offseason, the football team lost its head coach, its offensive coordinator, and its 2010 starting quarterback. When they host cross-123 rival James Madison to open the season tonight, the Cougars will debut a fast-paced, no-huddle offense.

A recipe for disaster? Not according to the Cougars.

“As soon as last season ended, I walked into coach [Joe] Thompson’s office and said, ‘I think we should run no-huddle,’” senior quarterback Tuck Masker said. “We have the right personnel. We have an intelligent team.”

Thompson, the 15-year head coach and offensive coordinator, made the switch early in the offseason, and Oakton has been preparing to go no-huddle since January. He then at Annandale High.

But his defensive assistant for all 15 of those seasons, Jason Rowley, remains to serve as interim head coach for this season before the position is opened to applicants this winter. Two other longtime Thompson assistants, J.J. Hetman and Joe Neuman, direct the offense.

The design of the college-style read option offense — both teams in January’s FBS National Championship Game used some variation of the scheme — is Thompson’s, and plenty familiar to staff and players.

“Joe gave us, as a staff, a lot of opportunity for input,” Rowley said. “He spearheaded the no-huddle before he left, and he was the one running camps in the spring. But we felt the confidence he had in us as a coaching staff, and there haven’t been any problems with continuity.”

Continuity abounds between the lines, as well. Three full-time starters return to an offensive line that averages 230-240 pounds, according to Rowley, plus senior tight end Orey Harris (6-foot-2, 201 pounds).

The left-handed Masker (6-2, 170) started at receiver last year, but has been a quarterback for the rest of his career. Junior Kyle Downer (6-2, 194) will also see snaps, and like Masker is a threat running or throwing.

When the quarterbacks do give up the ball, they have plenty of options, despite the transfer of junior running back D’Andre Johnson to Maryland powerhouse Quince Orchard.

Junior Mike Wandey (5-11, 227) will provide the power from the fullback spot. The speed comes from a pair of promising newcomers, sophomore Cory Harris (5-11, 168) and junior Kelly Brooks-Muse (5-10, 165), who started at quarterback for George C. Marshall last season.

Seven starters return to Rowley’s defense, six of them seniors, including the entire linebacking corps. Three-year starter C.J. Reimann (6-0, 202), who holds a scholarship offer from Bryant (R.I.) University, captains the defense from his middle ’backer spot. Zack Isakowitz (5-11, 210) and Mike Terminello (5-11, 198), another third-year starter returning from offseason anterior cruciate ligament surgery, flank Reimann.

Senior rover Eric Goins (6-2, 203) also handles kicking and punting duties. His leg attracted an offer from Yale (Conn.) University, and Rowley said other Ivy League schools and the service academies are interested, as well. Senior Ian Hartin (5-11, 162) and junior Andy Boone (5-8, 156) also return to the secondary.

Senior Jake Farrar (5-10, 224) is the only returning starter to the defensive line, and the team’s only two-way player; he will also see snaps at fullback.

“Nothing’s really changed,” Reimann said. “Regardless of who the person is in a position, you expect them to do good things. Whether it’s a first-year starter or the guy you’ve been playing next to for three years, the expectations here are always the same.”

Those expectations remain high, as does the Cougars’ competition level. Their last four opponents of the regular season are rivals for the AAA Concorde Division title—at Chantilly (10-3 in 2010), versus Westfield (6-5), at Robinson (9-3) and home to Centreville (9-3).

Oakton has six weeks before that gauntlet to iron out any possible lumps in the no-huddle. Rowley, for one, is not expecting any.

“It’s looking pretty smooth,” he said. “Our expectation is not to have those glitches. We’ve demanded it of our players, and they’ve responded.”

Kickoff for the Outback Bowl, in which Oakton hosts Madison, is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. today.