Unique isn’t a big enough word to describe what Mike Mauk and the Glendale Falcons are doing. In this new age of football, teams are going to the air more than ever before, but the Falcons take that concept to a whole new level.
Last fall, Glendale averaged 48.5 points per game to lead the Ozark Conference. The problem is they gave up a league worst 53 points per game on defense on their way to a 4-7 record and a district semifinal loss to Republic.
How incredible was the passing attack?
- Glendale’s 5,681 passing yards were 711 more than the NFL-leading New Orleans Saints last season in 5 less games.
- Glendale sophomore QB Alex Huston’s 5,608 passing yards led the nation in three less games than the second leading passer.
- Huston’s 69 passing touchdowns were six more than the second most in the nation by six in three less games.
- Huston’s 664 attempts were 87 more than the second most in three less games and his 436 completions were 62 more than second place in three less games.
- Junior receiver Luke Montgomery set state records for receptions in a season (123), yards in a season (1,936) and touchdowns in a season (27); all records previously held by Hillcrest grad and current Tennessee Titans receiver Dorial Green-Beckham.
So you get the idea; the offense is scary good. But how did this high-tempo, empty backfield, spread attack come to be?
How the “Mauk-fense” was born
Three decades ago, Mike Mauk was a young head coach in small town Kenton, Ohio. He had a losing team and was mired in mediocrity in a league loaded with run-heavy offenses.
It was then he started tinkering with the “run and shoot”; a new idea championed by relative unknown coach Darrel “Mouse” Davis, called the “godfather of the run and shoot”.
“I think my wife got tired of watching the videos and I’d go see him and listen to him speak and try to pick up as much as I could about the passing game,” said Mauk.
Things turned around quickly and Kenton became a regular contender in Ohio.
All the while, Mauk’s oldest son Ben was watching and waiting for his opportunity to lead his father’s offense on the field. That chance came in 2001.
“We didn’t’ really have a true running back, so I began to experiment with no backs,” said Mauk. “Not too many other people were doing it.”
The “drawing board” turned out to be the dinner table for father and son.
“Me and dad would sit down at McDonald’s or breakfast and draw up plays on napkins,” said Ben. “Any time we’d go out and eat as a family dad would get the napkin and pen out and start drawing stuff up.”
“Not many people are willing to put their eggs, so to speak, in one basket because if they’re not successful everybody’s yelling run the ball and you lose a lot of confidence.”
That wasn’t a problem for Kenton. Ben went on to set the national career passing yard record (17,364 yards), leading the Wildcats to back-to-back state championships and being named “Mr. Ohio Football” his senior year.
Ben’s passing record stood until 10 years later when his younger brother Maty eclipsed the mark with 18,932 yards.
Bringing the show to Springfield
Mike’s wife and daughter are Evangel alums. With Maty playing at Mizzou and Mike’s daughter living in Springfield, Mauk pulled the trigger on the Glendale coaching opening in January of 2014.
Freshly enshrined into the Ohio Football Coaches Hall of Fame, Mike and his trusty offensive coordinator Ben began implementing their plan with the Falcons, who went 2-8 in 2013.
The Falcons went 2-8 the first year under Mauk, 4-7 last year, including a first round playoff win. Offense hasn’t been a problem as they easily led the Ozark Conference in points scored both seasons. But while the scoreboard was lighting up on offense, the defense was giving up even more points.
Breakthrough in 2016?
Soaking in Mauk’s system has been an adjustment for the Glendale players, but the hall of fame coach believes this is the year it all clicks. And don’t be surprised if you see a little more running than the past two years.
“We’re probably going to be a little more conservative,” said Mauk. “We’ve got to put our opponents in better field position for our defense. The biggest thing is a confidence factor and trying to play as a group and try to become more dependent on each other.”
Mauk says his team is a little bigger, a little stronger, a little more experienced, but that the key will come on defense.
Eight starters return from that unit led by middle linebacker Kyle Doran, who led the team with 218 tackles last fall and lineman Ian Marshall, who had a team-best 16 tackles for a loss.
“I think the mentality is a little bit different this year,” said Doran. “We’ve developed an attitude that you’re not going to score on us and if you do then something’s up. We’re going to stop teams this year.”
Offensively, the Falcons figure to be even better than last year. Junior quarterback Alex Huston, who grew up in Ohio learning the Mauk offense, enters his second year starting after transferring to Glendale a year ago.
Huston has a full complement of weapons around him with the top three receivers from last season returning; all seniors now. Luke Montgomery broke DGB’s single season state records for receptions (123), yards (1,936) and touchdowns (27). Von Oeser was close behind with 113 catches, 1,095 yards and 12 TDs last season. Jeremy Almeida added 82 grabs, 912 yards and 11 touchdowns.
Up front, the Falcons feature no seniors, but are solid, led by 6’3”, 290 lb Remy Bilodeau, who is receiving D-1 interest and returning starters Sean and Scott Finch.
Cancer free!
The best news of the offseason came early this summer when Coach Mauk was pronounced cancer free, a year after being diagnosed with colorectal cancer. With chemotherapy treatment in the past, now Mauk can focus 100% of his attention on his team and of course his family.
“Football is important, but your relationship with your family and other coaches is really important as well,” said Mike Mauk.
No one recognizes that sentiment more than Ben, who passed on college coaching opportunities to stay with his dad.
“Last year it hit home that this is where I need to be because if I was somewhere else when he was going through that I would have been just miserable,” said Ben Mauk. “So to be able to be here through his fires and see him walk out cancer free, there’s nowhere else I’d rather have been than with him through that.”
1-2-3, CHAMPIONSHIP!
The Falcons breakdown with the same thing each time; 1-2-3, CHAMPIONSHIP! It may seem like just something you say, but Mauk and his players are believing it more than ever this fall.
“You always set your goals at being the best you can be and I can’t imagine being with a group of guys saying average or mediocre,” said Mauk. “I think it’s just a way of life you try to teach.”
Glendale, who was picked sixth in our preseason conference fan poll, looks to prove the voters wrong this season, and it begins Fri. Aug. 19 at Joplin.
