“36 Blast” out of the Balanced Wishbone Formation
The “36 Blast” out of the balanced wishbone formation is an excellent play in youth football. It is easy to implement and it is a very powerful play. This play utilizes double teams at the point of attack with the fullback (2) kicking out the edge defender. There are several different ways you can block this play. If you do not want the (2) kicking out, you can cross block. Cross blocking will have the (RG) kick-out the defensive end and the (2) will lead block through the hole. You can even bring the (7) or (LT) over and run this behind an unbalanced formation to the right. If you run the wishbone formation this is the play that every other play works off of. You can also run these plays out of the Inverted Wishbone where you can utilize a mobile QB.
“36 Blast” out of the Balanced Wishbone Formation
(C): Block head up defender. If there is no head up defender and he is seeing double A-gap defenders, he is to block the backside A-gap defender.
(RG): Work onto a linebacker. You can elect to have him double team a tough nose guard (N) or even cross block and kick-out. Otherwise, he is responsible for his inside gap first.
(RT): Double team defensive tackle (T) with the (8).
(LG): Work onto a linebacker- cut off. Guard must always secure his inside gap first.
(LT): Block defensive tackle.
(7): Get onto a linebacker or safety. Cut-off a back-side defender running to the football. If you are concerned about the back-side defensive end (E), just have him block the D-end. He must always protect his inside gap first.
(8): Double team the defensive tackle (T) with the (RG).
(2): Kick-out the play-side defensive end (E). If you are cross blocking or just having the (8) block the defensive-end (E) out, he will then lead block through the hole- looking to pick up any inside penetration.
(3): Take hand-off at the 6 hole. The (3) cannot belly towards the QB. His path should be right to the 6 hole. It is the QB’s job to get the (3) the football in the backfield.
(4): Lead block.
(1): Take snap, hand-off to the (3) at the 6 hole. It is the QB’s job to get the (3) the ball deep in the backfield. This will allow the ball carrier to get his eyes up and see which way he needs to adjust his path. If there is penetration he has room to adjust.
Running this out of a balanced formation will make the defense have to defend both sides of the formation. Once you pound the defense with this blast play, you will open them up for traps and counters. The line splits can be whatever you want them to be. You can 1′, 2′ or even zero line splits. You can also run the wedge play out of this formation if you go zero line splits. This is a very flexible offense.
Other Wishbone Plays:
Inverted Wishbone- QB Cross Lead Play
