[hawk65]

I've had the opportunity to officiate as a flank official for both a varsity and a JV game for Piedmont HS, the originator of this A-11 offense. For what it's worth, I'm sharing some thoughts.

The varsity coach gave us a laminated card before the game illustrating all the various positions they might get into during the game. That was useless because we would never pull it out and look at it during the game nor would we try to mentally equate what we saw with one of the formations on his card.

Only the center was on the line when A first approaches the LOS. The QB is in scrimmage-kick-formation depth usually with another back near him, all the other players are spread out the width of the field and at least 2 yards off the LOS. Upon command, at least 6 others stepped up to the LOS in varying positions across the width of the field. There may also be a shift at this time, or they may shift a second time after this initial step up to the line. They might also send a back in motion after either the first or second shift.

As a flank official, it took a moment to adjust to this new look. Soon, it became routine to simply look to make sure there were no more than 4 in the backfield (easier to count than 7 on the line), identify eligible backs on your side and eligible end man on the line (irregardless of number), then watch for a moment after the snap to make sure only those eligibles went downfield. THIS WAS NOT DIFFICULT TO DO - no more so than conventional formations with shifts and motions.

As crews (both JV and varsity), we enjoyed officiating the games. In some ways, it is MUCH EASIER than some "conventional" offenses: holding stands out like a sore thumb in so much open space; it was easy to keep track of the ball so there should be less likelihood of inadvertent whistles; forward progress was easy to mark in the open field; it was a more entertaining game!

I've done a game where the offense was in a bunch formation for much of the game: line had no splits; QB, FB and Tailback stacked in less than 5 yards depth, HB toe-to-toe next to the FB and lined up behind a guard. They ran the ball into the middle of the line 90% of the time and simply tried a "rugby scrum," push-the-pile-forward, ball control game. It was much more difficult to officiate because it was hard to see who had the ball and to judge forward progress in the mass of bodies -- and, it was BORING!

As for "deception" and "trickery," this was a piece of cake compared to some other offenses I've officiated that use the double-wing belly series, or the "fly" back in motion across the backfield, etc. I'd rather officiate one of these games any day compared to the challenges of some other offenses I've officiated when they are executed by well-coached teams with skilled players!

Defenses will adjust to this very quickly. They'll use zone coverages with some adjustments on the number of rushers, they'll scout and figure out who the real threats on the offense are and man up on those threats if they have the personnel, they'll use man-up on better offensive personnel and zone the field otherwise, they'll rush/blitz the QB and try to overwhelm him before they can be beat on their man-to-man coverages, and they'll do any number of adjustments from their standard defensive schemes, just as they make adjustments for the various offenses they face during the year. In spite of the claims of the coach, it is not a big deal and it does not create a big offensive advantage. It will be interesting to consider the wins/losses and scores Piedmont has had since implementing this offense.

Piedmont won but only barely and they didn't score a lot of points. They won because they made some good plays down the stretch - plays that stood out because of they were good athletic plays, not because they "tricked" or "deceived" the defense with an unconventional offense.

Before passing judgment on whether the NFHS should tweak their rules to prevent this type of innovation, I hope you'll wait for the opportunity to officiate one of these games yourself. And I hope they'll listen to feedback from those officials who have actually officiated one of their games. The consensus from both crews I worked on was it was not difficult and it made for an entertaining game. If you get a chance, I think you'll enjoy it!!