Monday, August 31, 2009

Making a gutsy call

The Westwood coaching staff made a gusty call Friday night against Chapel Hill in the season opener. And it was not the call to go for the two points and a win with about 20 seconds left on the clock.
The two-point conversion call was not a complete surprise. I have seen that call many times at the high school level as the teams want to go for the win instead of trying their luck in overtime. With the way Westwood was moving the ball on offense, it was not a bad call, it just did not work out in the Panthers' favor.
However, the gusty call that did work out in Westwood's favor was the play before the two-point conversion attempt. It was the screen pass that was called on a fourth down and 15 and the Panthers had to get to the 3-yard line for the first down or into the end zone to get within one point.
That was a do or die call because on the screen pass, the ball only travels a few yards and the rest of the play is up to the ball carrier and the blockers trying to get past the line of defensive players protecting the end zone.
The play call ran through my mind while Westwood took its timeout but I waved it out of my head just as quickly as it came in, thinking it was too risky to try. But Westwood did it and Cameron Shead got the screen pass in the middle of the field, turned around and had three defenders that had him in their sights and were ready to attack. But Shead made a quick cut on the damp turf, got the the outside and scampered into the end zone.
If it was not for the risky play call, Westwood never would have had the chance to make the decision to go for two points or not.

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