Alvis Johnson: It's a Hog, Not a Wildcat

The rest of the world calls it the “Wildcat.” At Mason County, we call it “Hog” and it’s variations are “Henry,” “Jack”, and “Venus”. One of the most popular trends in football right now is a form of the old fashioned single wing. No one runs the single wing today as well as Alvis Johnson’s teams did at Harrodsburg High School back in the 70s and 80s. Harrodsburg and Mercer County merged school systems in 2006. But, when my dad went to Mercer, and then when I played and coached at Mercer, the Harrodsburg “Hogs “ were our rival- and they were very good. Coach Johnson’s teams were unique on both sides of the ball. Offensively, it was the single wing. Defensively, it was an even front with man coverage and lot’s of blitzing. On our schedule, the two best teams were Boyle County and the Hogs. I still remember a lot about both of those teams from when I was a player. As good as the Hogs were, Coach Johnson made the biggest impression on me in how he treated me as a player and a coach. 

 Henry Parks was the best HS football player I had ever seen play the game until I came to Mason. And, I would still have to say, I have only seen two or three guys that might have been as good or better. The first time I saw him play he made an impression. I was on the sideline with my dad in 1975 when Mercer was playing at Harrodsburg. On the opening kickoff, the Mercer return team opens up a huge hole and our returner has probably 15-20 yards on anyone else on the field. I see this #25 coming across the field like a freight train. He didn’t tackle our ball carrier- he ran over him! 

 In high school, I played defensive end against the Hogs’ Single Wing. It felt like every play was an off-tackle play and half the town of Harrodsburg was coming to kick out the defensive end. My senior year of high school, 1982, it was a big deal when the Hogs put in some offense that required a QB. 

Excited to meet Henry Parks, on HIS field in NOVEMBER (2018), when he was our "Hog" 

 Jack Robertson was an outstanding offensive lineman at Harrodsburg High and then we coached together at Mercer. Later, Jack was back on the staff at Harrodsburg after I came to Mason. Jack has been a great resource for me as we have incorporated some of the single wing concepts in our offense. “Hog” is our base single wing set. “Henry” (Parks), “Venus” (Meaux- another great Harrodsburg player), and “Jack” (Robertson) are the variations that we also use. We have blended those ideas with our base offense and it has been very good for us. 

 Still, it was Coach Johnson’s defense that affected me the most. My senior year, we played the Hogs the week after we played Boyle. Although we had lost, our offense had enjoyed quite a bit of success moving the ball against a very good Rebel defense. Boyle played a 6-2 defense and did a great job with it. But, there were opportunities to throw the ball against that defense. Like most defenses in that time period, it was heavily geared toward stopping the run. As our QB, I knew there was really only one blitz that we had to be concerned with and one simple audible handled that the only time they ran it. 

 The Harrodsburg defense was completely different. They blitzed our passing game all night. The facemask of one of their linebacker’s was usually about 3 feet from my facemask before every snap and they were fast. Our offensive line made a good effort to pick up those blitzes but we were outmatched. That was the most beat up I ever got in a game. 

 Between the white lines, Coach Johnson made life tough. But, what stands out more to me was how he treated me. He was always very nice to me and complimentary in person and in the media. It seemed like he went out of his way to do that and I thought it was first class. We struggled my senior year of high school football and I was especially appreciative of the kind words. 

 The only time I got a bad vibe from Coach Johnson was in the fall of 1987. We were playing the Hogs in the opener for both teams. Coach Johnson and Coach French had one heck of a game of cat and mouse that summer hiding when we would each scrimmage. It felt like he stared a hole through me when I made that long walk down to what is now Alvis Johnson Field to scout their scrimmage. Supposedly one night a couple Harrodsburg coaches were sitting near 127, waiting for our bus, to follow us to our scrimmage. Coach French had us take the back roads out of town. We won that opener in overtime that season. The Hogs and Dogs had some great games. 

 The Saturday before Stephanie and I were married, we traveled to a school in western Kentucky that offered me their head coaching job. Before they interviewed me, they had already offered me the job, and it was from Coach Johnson’s recommendation. The single wing and that defense were impressive. But, Coach Johnson was always first class to me and I will remember that the most.