At the beginning of the season, Prince George had four running backs in a one-running-back offense. There was Nate Muavau, the starter from last year; Sidney Rose, a 260-pound thumper who also had experience running the ball; Dwayne Glaze, a senior who had improved and put his name in the conversation and Curtis Allen, a tall sophomore who was a budding ball carrier.
Then early on in practice, Muavau went down with a knee injury, thinning the competition to three players for one spot. When the first scrimmage in August came, coach Bruce Carroll put Allen in the tailback spot, and he immediately shined there. By the time the second scrimmage was finished, Allen, who is 6-foot-1, had won the job.
In four games this year, Allen has averaged 109 rushing yards, helping lead Prince George to a 3-1 record and the No. 10 spot in the Times-Dispatch Top 10, their first top-10 ranking in at least a decade. The Royals beat Dinwiddie 27-24 in overtime last week.
Still, Carroll figured he had two more running backs too talented to not get the ball. So Rose has taken handoffs in goal-line situations and late in games. Glaze has carried the ball 19 times and averaged 8 yards per carry.
Prince George runs a 12-personnel offense, meaning it puts one running back and two tight ends on the field. In this case, the second tight end is an H-back, a hybrid tight end and full back, a position held by Rose, a 6-foot, 260-pound senior.
“We’re like a dinosaur,” Carroll said.
But the Royals run this scheme out of the pistol, so maybe they are a modern twist on an age-old offense. The offensive line is big and strong – the five starters are all 6-foot 1 or taller, and Jaelin Montgomery is 6-4, 310 pounds.
But it’s also a young offense. Only one starter on the line is a senior, and the quarterback, Tahir Johnson, is a sophomore, too. He’s thrown for 481 yards, five touchdowns and four interceptions this year. Tavian Morris, a senior, has caught 18 passes for 278 yards.
Johnson played some junior varsity last as a freshman and also served as the backup quarterback for the varsity. By the time his sophomore year came, he had won the starting job on the varsity. And the new running back, Allen, is getting better every day, learning how to hit the line of scrimmage and scoot through a hole.
“He’s still learning how to run,” Carroll said.