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A most unusual trick play

Sobriquet

By Sobriquet
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Sobriquet

Sobriquet

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Here’s a question for all you HS football experts. Especially for you experts with recent experience in HS football. I’m going to describe a trick play and ask, “Could this play be run in the modern game? Would the officials allow it? And would the other team be fooled?

Let’s start with a little historical background. One thing must be understood. There once was an occasion when a HS team really did run this play. It really happened. And when the QB crossed the goal line with the ball the officials scored it as a touchdown. It didn’t happen in Texas, and most of you weren’t even born at the time. In fact, maybe your parents hadn’t yet been born.

As best I recall the game was between two in schools in Nebraska or Kansas or somewhere in that general area. The year was either 1961 or 1962. The players at one of the schools concocted this play and during the game persuaded their very reluctant coach to let them try it. In the news item that came down on the AP wire service afterward the coach was quoted as saying, “I didn’t think it would work.â€

My understanding was that this was a completely original play worked up by the players. No one in the history of football had ever done anything like this before, and as far as I know it has never been repeated. And it has undoubtedly been forgotten by everyone except for characters like myself who have weird memories and unusual powers of retaining useless facts. It was a remarkable play, which was why AP picked up the story and sent it down the wire to all their newspaper subscribers.

OK, here’s how the play was run. The team broke from the huddle and formed their line of scrimmage. Everyone was set and all that remained was for the ball to be snapped and the play would be in motion. The QB was calling signals just like normal.

Suddenly, according to plan, the QB pointed to a player on the other team and yelled, “Hey, you can’t do that. That’s a penalty.†And then to the center, “Give me the ball, there’s a penalty.†The center, as planned, didn’t move and the QB yelled again, “Give me the ball.â€

And then slowly, as if bewildered and confused, the center lifted the ball off the ground, straightened up and twisting his upper body around handed the ball to the QB. Nobody else on the offense had moved and at that point the play was in motion. Naturally they had previously alerted the officials to what they were going to do. And with the play now in motion the rest of the offense started standing up and staring in well acted amazement at the QB and giving each other confused looks.

By this time the QB was acting like a man out of his mind. Yelling things like, “Football is a game of rules and when you break the rules you get penalized.†And more importantly, toeing up to the line of scrimmage, he started stepping off penalty yardage against the other team just the way an official would have stepped it off. And all the while the other players were yelling things to each other like:

“What does he think he’s doing.â€

“You talk to him. You’re his buddy.â€

“Joe, what do you think you’re doing? You’re going to get us penalized.â€

All this and turning to their own bench and giving arms spread out shrugs as if to say, “I don’t know what’s going on?

And the other team didn’t know what was going on either. They also stood up and just watched in confusion as the QB walked right through their defense, stepping off the penalty yardage and yelling like a maniac. Of course once he was through he suddenly stopped yelling and walking, and broke into a dead run for the goal line. And his teammates, in their milling about confusion, had managed to move along with him, enough so that they could block out any of the defenders who might suddenly wise up and take off in pursuit.

The QB raced all the way to the end zone and it was scored as a touchdown. It really happened—45 years or so ago. And maybe the point of telling it is not so much to ask if it could be done again. But rather because it’s just too good a piece of football history to be forgotten.

SETXsports Broadcaster

SETXsports Broadcaster

Posted
Posted

Jasper did a variation of that play several years ago. The QB was looking towards the sidelines for the play and the entire team was still in a two point stance...the qb raised his hands as if not understanding the signals. the qb started walking towards the sideline and the team (jasper) stood as if a time out were about to be called, hiked the ball to the running back and scrammbled some 40 0r 50 yards for a TD. :D

GoDogs27

GoDogs27

Posted
Posted

It was either my 8th grade or freshman year at Nederland we did a similar play. We alerted the officials about it beforehand so that way they wouldnt blow the whistle. We had the quarterback get behind center and look around at the defense and shake his head (in a 'no way' fashion) and then he looked to the sidelines and our coach yelled timeout, call timeout... well the QB jogged to the sidelines without signaling the officials and the defense thought we called a time out and all of the sudden, right before he got to the sideline, the center snapped the ball to the running back and he did a halfback pass to our wide open QB down the sideline... That was fun..

tvc184

tvc184

Posted
Posted

Nothing new about that play in its different variations. I have never heard of it where the qb calls the penalty and walks off the yardage however.

PN-G ran a decoy play last year on Nederland for a touchdown but it was the wide receiver that did the trick. PN-G only had 10 men in the huddle but obviously Nederland was thinking it was a full 11 man team. PN-G then ran one player in like he was a 12th man. Naturally a player from the huddle has to leave the field to make 11 players or so Nederland players thought. The only problem was that there were only 11 on the field and the guy running to the sidelines never left the field. He just stood about 2 feet from the sidelines like he was talking to a coach. No one covered him and he received the pass for a touchdown. Great trick play.... but they lost anyway.

tvc184

tvc184

Posted
Posted

When the center stands up and hands the ball to the QB' date=' wouldn't that be a false start?[/quote']

Not if he lifts the ball first. The center is always moving at the start of the play. He has to be the first one to move. Whether he gives the ball to the qb under his legs or turns and hands it to him, it is still a snap.... I think.

Lucky

Lucky

Posted
Posted

Great story, but I don't think it would work against most defenses these days but you never know ? If a QB started acting crazy like that it could throw guys off for sure.........but I got a feeling that if the refs don't stop it.........the Defense Tee's off on the QB !

  • 3 years later...
Sobriquet

Sobriquet

Posted
  • Author
Posted
The video of the recent trick play by Driscoll Middle School seems to really be an Internet hit.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UIdI8khMkw

I guess it answers the questions I asked four years ago.

[quote name="Sobriquet" post="85959" timestamp="1164167515"]
I’m going to describe a trick play and ask, “Could this play be run in the modern game?
[/quote]
They just did it.
[quote author=Sobriquet link=topic=10617.msg85959#msg85959 date=1164167515]
Would the officials allow it?
[/quote]
They did in this game.
[quote author=Sobriquet link=topic=10617.msg85959#msg85959 date=1164167515]
And would the other team be fooled?
[/quote]
The video speaks for itself.
Hupernikomen

Hupernikomen

Posted
Posted
[quote name="Tiger90" post="86123" timestamp="1164219922"]
WOS versus Tomball in '88 had the best trick play I had seen.  I'm sure Coop knows all of the details.
[/quote]

Game might of been in Tomball, but WOS used the Guard around against Jasper and I thought it was 86 or 87.
WOSgrad

WOSgrad

Posted
Posted
[quote name="Tiger90" post="86123" timestamp="1164219922"]
WOS versus Tomball in '88 had the best trick play I had seen.  I'm sure Coop knows all of the details.
[/quote]

I remember this play.  It was much the same play the setxsports broadcaster described.  While everybody was set and the quarterback approached the line, the coach acts like he is trying to frantically yell some instruction to the quarterback.  The quarterback acting like he can't hear, starts walking toward the coach (staying behind the line of scrimmage) motioning that he can't here what the coach is trying to say.  While everyone in the Astrodome, including all 11 guys on defense, are transfixed on this attempt of the qb to communicate with his coach, the ball is direct snapped to the running back, who I think took it in for the score.
WOSgrad

WOSgrad

Posted
Posted
[quote name="Hupernikomen" post="911834" timestamp="1290045788"]
[quote author=Tiger90 link=topic=10617.msg86123#msg86123 date=1164219922]
WOS versus Tomball in '88 had the best trick play I had seen.  I'm sure Coop knows all of the details.
[/quote]

Game might of been in Tomball, but WOS used the Guard around against Jasper and I thought it was 86 or 87.
[/quote]

It was in 1986 in the quarterfinal game.  Got the idea from Brenham who ran it on WO-S the week before.
PNG Proud

PNG Proud

Posted
Posted
[quote name="tvc184" post="86154" timestamp="1164225187"]
Nothing new about that play in its different variations. I have never heard of it where the qb calls the penalty and walks off the yardage however.

PN-G ran a decoy play last year on Nederland for a touchdown but it was the wide receiver that did the trick. PN-G only had 10 men in the huddle but obviously Nederland was thinking it was a full 11 man team. PN-G then ran one player in like he was a 12th man. Naturally a player from the huddle has to leave the field to make 11 players or so Nederland players thought. The only problem was that there were only 11 on the field and the guy running to the sidelines never left the field. He just stood about 2 feet from the sidelines like he was talking to a coach. No one covered him and he received the pass for a touchdown. Great trick play.... but they lost anyway.
[/quote]


Must have been year before last.  We won last yr.
baseball10

baseball10

Posted
Posted
[quote name="PNG Proud" post="911922" timestamp="1290052478"]
[quote author=tvc184 link=topic=10617.msg86154#msg86154 date=1164225187]
Nothing new about that play in its different variations. I have never heard of it where the qb calls the penalty and walks off the yardage however.

PN-G ran a decoy play last year on Nederland for a touchdown but it was the wide receiver that did the trick. PN-G only had 10 men in the huddle but obviously Nederland was thinking it was a full 11 man team. PN-G then ran one player in like he was a 12th man. Naturally a player from the huddle has to leave the field to make 11 players or so Nederland players thought. The only problem was that there were only 11 on the field and the guy running to the sidelines never left the field. He just stood about 2 feet from the sidelines like he was talking to a coach. No one covered him and he received the pass for a touchdown. Great trick play.... but they lost anyway.
[/quote]

nope wasnt the year before than either, thats when i played and we didnt run that...it was my sophomore year and we ran it at the Reservation  it was ummmmm the 2006 football season. It was called Hideout and we got it from WO-S. It was always fun running that haha

Must have been year before last.  We won last yr.
[/quote]
WhatHappened?

WhatHappened?

Posted
Posted
This play was just ran this year. It was a middle school game.(not sure on the teams) But exactly that happened other than the clowning around. The center picked the ball up handed it to the QB above his shoulder. the QB walked by the linebackers then started sprinting to the goal line. Check it out on youtube. "Middle School Trick Play"
baseball10

baseball10

Posted
Posted
[quote name="baseball10" post="911938" timestamp="1290053268"]
[quote author=PNG Proud link=topic=10617.msg911922#msg911922 date=1290052478]
[quote author=tvc184 link=topic=10617.msg86154#msg86154 date=1164225187]
Nothing new about that play in its different variations. I have never heard of it where the qb calls the penalty and walks off the yardage however.

PN-G ran a decoy play last year on Nederland for a touchdown but it was the wide receiver that did the trick. PN-G only had 10 men in the huddle but obviously Nederland was thinking it was a full 11 man team. PN-G then ran one player in like he was a 12th man. Naturally a player from the huddle has to leave the field to make 11 players or so Nederland players thought. The only problem was that there were only 11 on the field and the guy running to the sidelines never left the field. He just stood about 2 feet from the sidelines like he was talking to a coach. No one covered him and he received the pass for a touchdown. Great trick play.... but they lost anyway.
[/quote]
[/quote]
[/quote]
nope wasnt the year before than either, thats when i played and we didnt run that...it was my sophomore year and we ran it at the Reservation  it was ummmmm the 2006 football season. It was called Hideout and we got it from WO-S. It was always fun running that haha

Must have been year before last.  We won last yr.

Cheermom4

Cheermom4

Posted
Posted
[quote name="tvc184" post="86154" timestamp="1164225187"]
Nothing new about that play in its different variations. I have never heard of it where the qb calls the penalty and walks off the yardage however.

PN-G ran a decoy play [b]last year[/b] on Nederland for a touchdown but it was the wide receiver that did the trick. PN-G only had 10 men in the huddle but obviously Nederland was thinking it was a full 11 man team. PN-G then ran one player in like he was a 12th man. Naturally a player from the huddle has to leave the field to make 11 players or so Nederland players thought. The only problem was that there were only 11 on the field and the guy running to the sidelines never left the field. He just stood about 2 feet from the sidelines like he was talking to a coach. No one covered him and he received the pass for a touchdown. Great trick play.... [b]but they lost anyway[/b].
[/quote]


Couldn't have been last year because we won last year.  Now it could have been either the 2 years before that.
teeboan

teeboan

Posted
Posted
[quote name="tvc184" post="86163" timestamp="1164226120"]
[quote="baddog"]When the center stands up and hands the ball to the QB, wouldn't that be a false start?[/quote]
Not if he lifts the ball first. The center is always moving at the start of the play. He has to be the first one to move. Whether he gives the ball to the qb under his legs or turns and hands it to him, it is still a snap.... I think.
[/quote]
The snap has to be in one continous motion. It doesn't have to be between the legs. We have talked about this play many times in our meetings and we would not let them run it. You can't audibilize to trick your opponent. If they could run it without saying the words then it's fine. I saw the clip of the middle school doing it this year and that wasn't legal either. You can see the coach on the sideline saying something to the QB, that kills it. I was working the Ned/PNG game in 2005 when they ran their play for a TD, that was a good one. They broke huddle w 10 and the 11th guy game in to the slot, passing the wideout that went toward the sideline. He didn't leave but it appeared that he would. He did NOT turn as if talking to a coach, that would have killed it. He lined up looking down field, as wide as you possibly could be. I couldn't believe nobody covered him. He caught it and went 50-60 yds for a TD. Our guys running the clocks said the Ned coaches in the booth saw it but couldn't get word to the field in time. PNG JV ran the best trick play I've ever seen this year. Anybody see that one against Vidor?
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