East Coast
Offense

The plays

One look. Four answers.

Every diagram is drawn to scale against a four-man front with two deep safeties, as one example. The assignments are rules, so they hold against any front.

  • Ball carrier
  • Pass route
  • Block
  • Fake
  • Tide motion before the snap
  • Defender

How the looks pair up. With Jet in Tide motion the defense sees one picture and has to defend five plays. Give him the ball and it is Riptide. Fake to him and hand to Anchor and it is Nor’easter. Add Anchor’s counter step and it is Undertow. Fake both and throw and it is Gale or Buoy. Fake both and keep it and it is Boardwalk.

Five runs

Wall and Wrap
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Nor’easter
Power
RunHarborTide

To the Hinge side. The base play. Anchor runs downhill behind a double team, a kick-out and a pulling guard.
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Undertow
Counter
RunHarborTide

Away from the Hinge. Same motion, same first step by Anchor, but the pullers and the ball come back the other way.
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Riptide
Jet sweep
RunHarborTide

With the motion. Give the ball to the fastest player at full speed. A forward touch pass, so a dropped exchange is an incompletion and not a fumble.
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Breaker
Quarterback power
RunJettyTide

To the Hinge side. Nor’easter with the quarterback carrying and Anchor leading, so the offense blocks with one more player than the defense can account for.
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Keel
Quarterback sneak
RunJetty

Straight ahead. The highest-percentage call in football with a yard to go. Seven blockers close shoulder to shoulder and the quarterback follows the center.

Six passes

Three off the run look, three for the pass downs
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Gale
Play-action post and over
PassHarborTide

Off the Nor’easter look. The deep shot. Everything looks like Nor’easter for a full second, then two receivers cross behind linebackers who stepped up to stop the run.
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Buoy
Play-action pop
PassHarborTide

Off the Nor’easter look. The Hinge starts his kick-out, slips past the end and pops up in the seam behind the linebackers.
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Boardwalk
Bootleg
PassHarborTide

Away from the Hinge. The backfield shows Nor’easter one way and the quarterback walks out the other, with three receivers at three depths in front of him.
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Jab
Quick slant and flat
PassCape

Both sides, mirrored. The ball is out in under two seconds. The same two routes run on both sides, and the quarterback picks a side before the snap.
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Four Winds
Four verticals
PassCape

All four lanes. Four receivers run straight up the two sidelines and the two hashes. No high school coverage has a deep defender for each of them.
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Slipway
Slip screen
PassCape

To the quick side. Let the rush come, then throw over it to Anchor with three linemen in front of him.

Common questions

Questions coaches ask.

How many plays are in the offense?
Eleven: five runs (Nor’easter, Undertow, Riptide, Breaker, Keel) and six passes (Gale, Buoy, Boardwalk, Jab, Four Winds, Slipway). Three of the passes come off the run look and three are for the pass downs.
Which plays look the same at the snap?
With Jet in Tide motion the defense sees one picture and has to defend five plays. Give him the ball and it is Riptide. Fake to him and hand to Anchor and it is Nor’easter. Add Anchor’s counter step and it is Undertow. Fake both and throw and it is Gale or Buoy. Fake both and keep it and it is Boardwalk.
What defense are the diagrams drawn against?
A four-man front with two deep safeties, as one example. The assignments are rules, so they hold against any front. Every diagram is to scale with high school hash marks, drawn with the strength to the right, and each play page can be flipped.
What is the Storm check?
Each run has one paired pass from the same look and to the same side: Nor’easter and Breaker pair with Buoy, Undertow with Boardwalk, Riptide with Gale. When the quarterback counts eight or more in the box and the staff has cleared him to check, he calls “Storm” and the offense runs the paired pass.
How often does the quarterback run?
On three plays, two of them short-yardage calls: Keel, Breaker and Boardwalk. On Boardwalk he slides or steps out of bounds. Across a game that is a handful of hits.
Why is Riptide thrown rather than handed?
It is a short forward pass to the Jet in motion, so a dropped exchange is an incompletion rather than a fumble, which removes the pile-up over a loose ball.