Who’s on line? Even the referees don’t know, when Piedmont High School plays its A-11 offense — which it considers the logical and inevitable next step in a game that is becoming faster and more spread out at all levels, but which other teams consider a gimmick that cleverly but unfairly takes advantage of a loophole in the rules:
By placing one of the quarterbacks at least seven yards behind the line of scrimmage, and no one under center to receive the snap, the A-11 qualifies as a scrimmage kick formation — the alignments used for punts and extra points. Thus interior linemen are granted an exception from having to wear jersey numbers 50 through 79. (The exception was intended to allow a team’s deep snapper not to have to switch to a lineman’s jersey if he was a back or an end.) Any player wearing jersey numbers 1 through 49 and 80 through 99 is potentially eligible to receive a pass.Piedmont’s basic A-11 formation calls for a center flanked by two guards, who are essentially tight ends. Two quarterbacks, or a quarterback and a running back, line up behind the center, with three receivers split to each side.
Under football rules, seven players must begin each play on the line of scrimmage and only five are permitted to run downfield to receive a pass — the two players at the end of the line and three situated behind the line. The difficult task for a team defending against the A-11 is to quickly and accurately figure out who those five eligible receivers are.
Prior to each Piedmont play, only the center initially goes to the line of scrimmage. The two “guards” and the split receivers each stand one and a half yards off the line. Then, just before the ball is snapped, Piedmont shifts into formation for the signaled play. With this simple movement, the possibilities for eligible receivers become dizzying.
At higher levels, the rules are too strict for the A-11:
N.F.L. rules governing jersey numbering are more limiting than high school rules, and coaches fear leaving their million-dollar quarterbacks unprotected by a standard offensive line. College rules permit the scrimmage kick formation only when it is obvious that a kick may be attempted.
This is all reminiscent of Coach Leach’s work at Texas Tech, which I’ve commented on before.