Since the Moms won the coin toss at the beginning of the game, the Dads now have the option to receive the ball or kick it off. The Dads decide to receive the kick.
The Moms send out their kick off team, and the Dads send out their kick off return team. But before we really get into the 3rd quarter, let’s take this time to review the many different special teams.
Kick off team: The team used at the beginning of the game, right after the half, and after a field goal or touchdown, to kick the football down the field.
Kick off return team: The team used at the beginning of the game, right after the half, and after a field goal or touchdown, to receive and/or return the football after it is kicked.
Punt team: The team used on 4th down, when the offense has not gained enough yardage for a new 1st down. In this instance, the punt team is used to kick the football.
Punt return team: The team that receives the punt after the ball is kicked.
Field goal and extra point team: The team used after a touchdown to score the PAT, or on 4th down to kick the ball for a potential score of 3 points. The field goal team is used when the coach feels that the kicker can make the field goal, and the distance he has to kick is within a reasonable range for that kicker.
Field goal and extra point block team: The team used to attempt to block field goals and extra point kicks.
Back to the game.
The Dads return the kick from the Moms to the 40 yard line. They then send their offensive team to the field; the Moms send their defense. The Dads’ offense starts their next play in a “pro” formation.
On offense, there are three basic parts to a play: the formation, the actual play, and the cadence (also called a “snap count”). The quarterback tells the team what play they will execute in “the huddle” – the little meeting the players have in a circle prior to a play. There are certain formations that are universal, and all teams generally call them in the same way. On offense the team will either run the ball or pass the ball. Run plays can be either through the interior line or around the end. Passing plays can either be short or long passes down the field. Another type of pass is completed behind the line of scrimmage, commonly known as the screen pass. The snap count can be different for each team but as an example the snap count could be “on One.” “On One” may go something like this – the Quarterback will put his hands underneath the center and bark out the cadence “set ….blue18….blue18…..hut. “On Two” would go like this “set …..blue18….blue18……hut, hut. The ball would be snapped by the center to the QB on the first hut when it is on “One” and the second hut when the snap count is on “Two.”
On this particular play, the Dads’ quarterback called a run play with the tailback getting the ball up the middle. The first play earns the Dads 5 yards. They are now at 2nd and 5. Dads throw a pass, which is complete for a 6 yard gain and a first down. On first down, they throw another pass, which the Moms’ defense intercepts, and returns to the 40 yard line.
So the Moms’ offense is back on the field, and the Dads send out their defense. On 1st and 10, Moms run a toss sweep right (run play around the end). The Dads run something called a 4-3 defense. There are a lot of defensive plays.
Here’s a brief overview for the purposes of this game. Usually a defensive play is called to tell the players how to line up across from the offense formation. In general, this is communicated by the number of “down lineman” first, then by the number of linebackers. These schemes are only general, and can have a lot of variations that we won’t even need to cover in this book. For example, a 4-3 defense is 4 defensive lineman and 3 linebackers. There will be 4 players in “down” stances, and 3 players (in linebacker positions) in “up” stances.
There will also be 4 defensive backs, which are the base, or normal amount. If the team were to run something called the nickel package, they would add an extra defensive back in the place of a linebacker to help them defend the pass better. The term nickel is used because instead of using the standard 4 defensive backs, the defense is using 5. If the team were to run something called the dime package, they would add two extra defensive backs in the place of linebackers, also to help defend the pass better. The term dime is used to continue the coin terminology (because we coaches are not smart enough to have a term that means "6" for 6 defensive backs): while the defense is not using 10 defensive backs, they are using 6, so the dime is the next logical name for the formation.
Score Big!
Coach Hrovat