The Wasilla "wild boar" formation?

WASILLA — The Wasilla Warriors showed their version of the “wildcat,” a hybrid offensive formation that’s sort of a descendent of the Wing-T, during a 58-0 homecoming win over Houston last Friday night.

The Warriors lined the 6-foot-3, 258-pound David Green — who typically mans the tight end and slot positions — behind center in a shotgun set for a handful of plays during the Warriors first offensive drive of the game.

But Green wasn’t exactly the biggest player Wasilla inserted at quarterback Friday night.

For one drive, late in the win, the Warriors reached past the “wildcat,” further into their bag of tricks, and found 6-1, 284-pound quarterback in waiting, right guard Gilbert Perez.

Flanked in the backfield by fellow senior linemen such as Adam Spencer, Nick Baker and Kaulen Pevan, Perez took the snaps for a series and led this substantial set down the field, moving the Warriors in position to try a late-game field goal.

Baker, at a svelte 210, took a Perez handoff and burst through the middle of the Wasilla offensive line for a 20-yard gain on Wasilla’s first play with the formidable formation.

Spencer also posted a 5-yard run during the drive.

Following the win, Wasilla head coach Glenn Nelson hoped the Palmer Moose — Wasilla’s opponent this week — were in the stands to see Wasilla’s version of the “wildcat.”

But while the formation with Perez at quarterback is also a new look for the Warriors, the opportunity was more of a reward for the Wasilla front-liners, rather than offensive breakthrough for the Warriors.

“We gave them some benchmarks, and they hit those benchmarks,” Nelson said of his senior linemen.

Criteria for the opportunity to live out every lineman’s dream of carrying the football included committing fewer penalties and not allowing sacks.

“We told them, you hold up your end of the bargain, we’ll hold up ours,” Nelson said.

But maybe it’s more than just a homecoming gift for the men in the trenches?

Maybe there’s something to this?

But what do you call it?

It’s obviously not the “wildcat,” the formation recently made popular by the National Football League’s Miami Dolphins. It’s not the “wild hog,” seen by the Arkansas Razorbacks.

But what about the Wasilla “wild boar?”

That sounds good, right?

There are not exactly many boars around, this side of North Africa. So the moniker is geographically imperfect. But Moose is already taken, and the “wild musk ox,” formation just doesn’t sound that flattering.

So, at least for now, I’m going to take the liberty to tag this set.

And you never know, maybe we will see the “wild boar” this weekend.

— Jeremiah Bartz