Kennedy Catholic football’s ‘common sense’ Air Raid lights up the stat page and the scoreboard

In most high school football circles, whenever the Kennedy Catholic football team is mentioned, more than likely the subject of the conversation is quarterback Sam Huard, who has signed to play college football at the University of Washington.

Huard is one of the best high school quarterbacks to ever play in the state and will likely break the state’s all-time passing yardage record this Saturday when the Lancers host Kentwood in a matchup of unbeaten Class 4A North Puget Sound League teams.

But Huard’s star status isn’t the only thing that makes the Lancers unique.

If you’ve attended a Kennedy football game since coach Sheldon Cross took over in early 2016, you might have noticed that the Lancers run an offense that not many high school teams use — and up until very recently, was a rarity at the collegiate and professional levels as well.

That offense is called the Air Raid and Cross says the concept is simple.

“It’s common-sense football,” Cross said. “It’s sideline to sideline. We’re going to spread you out and we’re going to make your defenders have to cover all the field. We’re going to look like a very repetitive passing game and offense and it’s very based on geometry. If they are here, we’re not going there. We’re going to go where they’re not. It’s repetition based. We’re going to run the same things over and over again and we’re going to get really good at executing it.

“There are only a certain amount of things you can do with 11 people on the field,” Cross added. “We just believe in this offense that we’re always going to take the space in the grass. There is always grass to have and we’re going to take it. So, it really is common sense.”

Cross, a Stadium product, played collegiately at Iowa Wesleyan, which is credited by some as the birthplace of the Air Raid and has connections with Hal Mumme and former Washington State and current Mississippi State coach Mike Leach, who are both considered founding fathers of the Air Raid.

Air Raid offenses are known for throwing the ball nearly every down. Traditional running plays are few and far between. Often, the closest thing to a run play is a bubble screen or a shovel pass to a running back or receiver in the back field.

The Air Raid is designed to move the ball down the field quickly and efficiently and to put up points — something Huard and his teammates do quite well.

“It’s definitely every quarterback’s dream offense to just be able to sit back there and spread the ball all over the field,” said Huard, who is the son of former University of Washington and NFL quarterback Damon Huard. “Especially with the receivers that we have here, it just makes it that much more fun.”

It’s not just a dream for the quarterback. The receivers are also quite fond of the offense.

Kennedy’s receiving corps is led by seniors Jabez Tinae, Junior Alexander and Reed Shumpert, and senior running back Leland Ward also plays a prominent role in the offense. In any given game, any one of them can have a big night and in some games, they all do.

“Honestly, I think it’s a receiver’s dream to play in the Air Raid,” Alexander said. “We sling the ball 80-90% of the game. We get a lot of balls and we just have fun running routes and getting open or getting each other open.”

And if you think any of the receivers have egos or care about stats, that isn’t the case. That’s not something they have to worry about in the Air Raid. Ultimately, everyone gets to fill up the stat sheet.

“It’s definitely fun,” Shumpert said. “When all four of your boys are eating and getting touchdowns and you’re doing it at the same time, it’s probably one of the most fun experiences you could have playing football.

“You don’t know who is going to score, but you know every single game everyone is going to get their chance to shine.”

And the receivers have made the most of their opportunity. Tinae will join Huard at UW. Shumpert will play his college ball at Washington State, and Alexander is signed to Arizona State.

Perhaps the most interesting thing about the Air Raid is how complex and not complex it is all at the same time. It can be a difficult offense to learn early on, but Kennedy’s core group of stars has been running it so long that they have all become masters, according to Cross.

“Sam and our receivers have a master’s degree in it,” Cross said. “They come to the sidelines and they know where the green grass is, and they know what the other team is doing.”

Unlike other offenses where receivers run specific routes on every play, the receivers in the Air Raid offense can change their routes based on what the defense is doing or how they are playing them. For that reason, Air Raid teams can run the same play multiple times in a row, but it might look different every time.

And sometimes the routes they run aren’t even for themselves to get open, but to open things up for one of their teammates.

“I think that’s the best part of this offense, getting each other open,” Alexander said. “Not only the best, but it’s fun. When you see your teammates score, or doing good, it makes you feel good inside, like, ‘Yeah, I did that. I got him open.’ With the chemistry we have and the bond that we have, we just click.”

In two games this season, Kennedy has scored a total of 102 points, and they have had similar success throughout Huard’s career as a Lancer.

Kennedy’s ability to score and score quickly has led to them seeing an assortment of defenses over the past several seasons and though they haven’t won a state championship in that time, they also haven’t really played an opponent that can stop their offense.

“We see a lot of funky defenses, but at the end of the day, they can’t stop us,” Alexander said. “We’re the show.”