The “Snag and Go” Variation off Four Verts

By Braden Mitchell
Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks
Stevens Point Area Senior High (WI)
Twitter: @TheeBMitch_XV

 

 

These are our go-to shot plays to get the ball down the field. We will install these concepts at the start of each season and have them in the game plan depending on what coverage we expect to see that week. I believe in creating big plays. When you can get those 25+ yard plays, they can change a game. I just moved out to Wisconsin and this will be my first year at SPASH, so all my clips are from Northridge HS in Utah, where I was coaching for 12 years.

 

4 Verts

I know everyone has this in their system, so I won't spend a ton of time talking about the basic version of this, but we do prefer to run this out of 3 by 1 formations.

 

 

Coaching Points:

We want our outside receivers to take the outside release and force the corners to stay wide with us. Defenses are getting better at having corners trying to split the outside receiver with the skinny post or modifying the coverage to combat the 4-verts. So, the wider we can get them, the better. We like our tight end being the #3 receiver because he is our bigger body to run that deep cross. Their landmark is 15-18 yards opposite hash, but more than their landmark, I tell them they want to pull that free safety with them, so they need to get his attention and make him move with him. Our #2 receiver is running our skinny post and must avoid any contact and get up that hash. He should be seeing the free safety and noticing if he is getting pulled to that opposite hash by the tight end, if he is then he knows he can bend it a little bit to the middle because he has a little more room there. Quarterback is reading that free safety, and more than reading him he is trying to manipulate him to take that deep crosser. So, I tell him on his 3-step drop to make it look like you want that tight end, then when you hit that last step you should have 2 choices. Either the safety is carrying the cross and you can hitch and throw that skinny post, or he didn’t take the crosser and you need to hitch and drive that ball to him.

 

Variations:  

Defenses have gotten good at corners splitting the receivers or the “flat” defender carrying that 4th vertical.  Now we must get a little more creative with the 4-verts. To combat the flat defender, carrying the vertical we will quick motion our back out.

 

The first time we show this we will just run a key screen with him and have the three receivers block it head up. Then we’ll come back with this look and the quarterback is just seeing who comes hard to stop the key screen and replaces him with the vertical. In this case, it is the strong safety that comes down hard.