MIDDLETON — Two years ago with his team on its way to missing the state playoffs for the fourth season in a row, Middleton coach Bill Brock decided to shake things up.

With the Vikings' running game struggling, Brock and the rest of the Middleton coaching staff decided to scrap their option attack in favor of the double-wing formation. The Vikings ran the new formation for the final three games of the 2007 season.

"I just got tired of being frustrated," said Brock, now in his 10th year at Middleton. "So we put it in in two days, and played a game with it. We had some success with it, and by the second week we were able to run with it."

It's the same offensive scheme the Vikings will use today against Sandpoint in the first round of the 4A state playoffs.

Kickoff is at 8 p.m. at Sandpoint High School.

Middleton lost at Sandpoint 36-14 on Sept. 11.

Through Middleton finished the 2007 season with a 2-7 record, Brock liked what he saw with the new formation and the team continued to work on it during the offseason.

"We just knew it was a different opportunity for us to win," senior running back Dean Coombs said. "What we were doing wasn't working at the time. We knew we were going to try anything to win and it worked."

The double-wing formation keeps all 11 offensive players close to the center. There are two tight ends outside the tackles, running backs on both wings — aligned right off the tight ends — and a fullback behind the quarterback. There are no wide receivers.

The quarterback's primary job is to handoff the ball — and block.

The Vikings returned to the state playoffs last season, their first full season of running the offense. They lost in the first round of the state playoffs and finished with a 5-5 record. It was the first time Middleton had made it to state playoffs since 2003.

"It was just a real close, punch in the face kind of offense," senior running back Bobby Skinner said. "It gave us an opportunity to be good at it."

A majority of the handoffs last season went to Erik Foreman, who ran his way to first team All-4A South Idaho Conference and second team All-State selections.

Middleton's double-wing remains despite the loss of Foreman to graduation. Using the double-wing, the Vikings have ran the ball on 89.7 percent of their snaps this season. The only difference this year is that the Vikings are spreading the ball out more.

Coombs, Skinner, KJ Herbert, Weston Volpei and Justin Scott have all played a big part in a running game which averages 267 yards per contest.

Coombs leads the team with 78.8 yards rushing per game. Skinner (62.8 yards rushing per game), Herbert (51.4), Volpei  (34.4) and Scott (34) all have contributed in the ground attack.

"They just spread the wealth," Brock said. "And these guys have bought in, they don't care if one guy gets 15 or 16 carries and that's fine. When you run the ball 65 times a game, there's enough carries out there for everyone."

Even when Middleton's running backs don't get the ball, there's still plenty for them to do. The two backs that don't get the ball join the offensive line and tight ends in blocking schemes. Even quarterback Mason Foote turns around after handing the ball off to help the blocking effort, effectively giving the Vikings 10 blockers on nearly every play.

"We're only running the ball half the time," Herbert said. "If you don't block, this can't work. This is one of the most (team-orientated) offenses ever."

With so many blockers on any given play, it's just a matter of who gets the ball.

"It's all the same play," Scott said. "It's just different running backs switching in. It's mostly about running (the play) correctly. Whoever's running the ball has to get through the hole. That's all it is."