It’s the kind of play sandlot football players draw up in the dirt. But this trick play led to a thrilling overtime victory for a Georgia high school team.
A trick play involving a behind-the-back pass led to a winning touchdown for Loganville High School against rival Monroe Area High School on Friday night, the Athens Banner-Herald reported.
The play broke a tie in the game’s fourth overtime period, and Loganville would score on the next play and eventually win 45-39.
4th overtime, no look, over the head pass for the win.
— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) August 20, 2022
What a play. @UnnecRoughness
pic.twitter.com/3YtCaiA18N
Video from Austin Davis, a freshman and football player at Loganville, shows the Red Devils line up in a third-and-long situation at the Monroe 13 -yard-line, Yahoo Sports reported.
Loganville coach Brad Smith, exasperated after trying practically every play in his arsenal, called a play that had only been run three times and succeeded just once.
“Banana in the tailpipe,” Smith called.
“It’s kind of a joking play just to get the kids excited at the end of practice,” Smith told the Banner-Herald.
The Red Devils lined up in the shotgun formation with a tailback and two tight ends to the right.
At the snap, the quarterback ran straight ahead and handed the ball to tight end Connor O’Neill going in the opposite direction. O’Neill, a senior playing in his first high school football game, channeled his basketball trick-shot artistry and flipped the ball backward over his head toward the goal line, the newspaper reported.
The other tight end, Joshua Ruder, made a sliding catch near the goal line, the Banner-Herald reported. The Red Devils scored and then held off the Purple Hurricanes to secure the victory in a game between the two Walton County schools.
“We practiced it, we drew it up and told them that it’s just a gimmicky play that we’re probably never going to use, but there’s a good chance that when you do stuff like this it’s going to work,” Smith told the newspaper. “Nobody is expecting it, nobody would remotely think that someone is going to throw it over their head like that toward the end zone.”
Loganville freshman Austin Davis filmed the game-breaking play.
“They call the play the ‘Loganville Lob’,” Brandon Davis, Austin’s father, told Storyful.
The video went viral over the weekend, and while many applauded Smith’s creativity, some questioned the coach’s call.
“It’s funny reading all these comments like the coach should be fired,” Smith told the Banner-Herald. “I mean, I’m right there with you, man. But I’m sitting there looking at my play call sheet and I’ve crossed through everything. We’re running out of plays to run. It wasn’t desperation, but it was just ‘let’s take a chance here, what have we got to lose?’
“I’m a big fan of (former Tampa Bay coach) Bruce Arians (who says) ‘no risk it, no biscuit,’” Smith told the newspaper. “That’s what it was.”
©2022 Cox Media Group
