By David Henry Published 7:45 pm, Wednesday, November 2, 2011
The day before every football game, West Brook head coach Craig Stump throws the ball to the front five players on his kickoff return team.
It’s to get them ready in case the ball comes their way on a short kickoff in a game.
It paid off last week.
With his team down three points with 24 seconds left in a must-win game last week against Channelview, Stump told the front five players on his kickoff team three words – “don’t fair catch it.”
The short kickoff from Channelview, designed to prevent a big return, backfired as Caleb Bluiett a 6-foot-3, 235-pound defensive end returned the ball to the 9-yard line, setting up West Brook’s game-winning touchdown. “I looked and saw a hole when I caught the ball so I just ran as fast as I could,” Bluiett said. “People said I broke a few tackles but I don’t remember that.”
Short kickoffs, referred to as “pooch kicks” are a common occurrence in high school football. It causes fans to moan and groan because it usually gives the kickoff return team field position no worse than the 35-yard line.
But that’s better than giving up a touchdown. Port Neches-Groves head coach Brandon Faircloth said he would much rather kick the ball short than take his chances kicking the ball to a speedy kick returner. PN-G practices the short kickoffs every Tuesday and Thursday.
“We look at the film and see who they have back there and it all plays into a formula of who we want to kick it to,” Faircloth said. “As the game goes along, it can change as well as teams make adjustments.”
