What do you call on fourth and one in 7v7 flag football?
Still a throw, but now they can cover the spot. 7v7 gives a defense six players, which is enough to crowd the marker and keep the sideline, so the sit-down route that converts at 5v5 is contested here. The answer is a concept with two receivers at the same depth, so the defense has to choose which one to squeeze.
Three answers, in the order to try them
- Start here
Stick
Start here
A receiver sits at the marker with a route breaking away from him, and now you have to read it rather than throw it blind. If the underneath defender widened, the sitter is open; if he squeezed, the route away from him is.
- If you would rather use numbers
Spacing
If you would rather use numbers
Receivers at staggered depths across the formation with one yard to gain. Somebody is uncovered and the quarterback does not need to know who before the snap, which is the safest way to run this down with a young passer.
- If they are all sitting inside
Jet Sweep
If they are all sitting inside
Six defenders crowding the marker have committed to the middle of the field. Getting the ball moving laterally at speed turns one yard into a footrace to the edge that a stationary defense cannot win.
What changes at this size
Enough defenders to crowd the marker
Blocking is still illegal, so this is still a passing down, but the arithmetic that makes 5v5 short yardage easy has gone. Six defenders can put three or four bodies inside the numbers at exactly the depth you need and still keep the perimeter honest, which means a single receiver sitting at the sticks is now covered rather than merely guarded. The fix is to stop asking one receiver to get open and start asking one defender to cover two. That is why the concepts on this page are paired routes rather than single spots. The other thing 7v7 adds is that your back becomes a real weapon on this down, because with six defenders committed to the receivers there is frequently nobody assigned to him at all. Check that before you call anything clever.
When not to call it
Still no blocking
Seven a side does not change the rule that matters. Anything that depends on moving a defender out of the way is illegal, so the jet sweep wins with speed and angle rather than with contact.
Against a defense playing the sticks perfectly
Six defenders can genuinely cover the marker at every window. If they have, take the checkdown and the field position rather than forcing a throw into a crowd on fourth down.
Take it to your team
Draw your plays in the free play designer, collect them in the football playbook maker, and print wristband play cards so every player knows them come Saturday.
Draw any of these in about a minute
Open the designer, change the routes, save it to your playbook.
Open the designerRelated questions
What do you call on fourth and one in 7v7 flag football?
Related guides
Coach Ray Carroll
Coaches 5v5 flag football from kindergarten through 7th grade in San Mateo and San Carlos, California, and built RC Football to design, teach and print the plays his own teams run.