East Henderson football unleashes new offense, snaps 16-game losing streak

East Henderson football coach Colton Brackett installed the victory formation on Wednesday during practice despite the program's 16-game losing streak. As the Eagles practiced it, he told his team he felt they would need it this season.

It didn't take long for East Henderson to use it in a game. The Eagles ran the victory formation — so named because the quarterback kneels to the ground after receiving the snap to run out the final seconds on the clock and secures a win. It gave East Henderson a 28-22 victory vs. North Buncombe that snapped their 16-game losing streak on Friday at home. The Eagles (1-0) earned their first win since Sept. 9, 2022, when they defeated North Buncombe 28-24.

Brackett said he's glad to get the monkey off of their back.

"Our kids put in the work, put in the effort," Brackett said. "That's it. We can move on to bigger and better things."

Even though East Henderson (1-0) is in its second year under Brackett, he elected to overhaul the offense this offseason. Beckett implemented a triple-option offense.

In its debut, the offense thrived. The Eagles collected 368 total yards and 28 points. Brackett said the key to running the triple option is to keep it simple.

"We don't have to run 700 plays and overthink," he said. "It's been our mantra the last couple of weeks. Football is easy. We make it too complicated. Just do your job. Your rules don't change; just execute."

Brackett credited North Buncombe coach David Hines' wing-T offense. He said they had three drives that took 14 to 15 plays and wore out the East Henderson defense. But he was proud that the Eagles defense gave up only one touchdown in the second half.

"They were relentless and just kept fighting," Brackett said. "It proves conditioning, going on a little bit of an extra runs at the end of practice, pays off because we weren't the tired team tonight."

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Now East Henderson takes aim at starting a winning streak and potentially snapping a 36-game losing streak in conference play. It hosts Madison on Friday at 7:30 p.m.

"I told the guys we're going to celebrate," Brackett said. "We're gonna get after it tonight. But tomorrow we're moving on to the next one."

Zachary Huber is a high school sports reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times and Hendersonville Times-News. Email him at zhuber@gannett.com or follow him on X @zacharyahuber. Please support this type of journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times and Tim es -News ,

This article originally appeared on Hendersonville Times-News: East Henderson football unleashes new offense, snaps 16-game losing streak