Top Football Plays

Last week, Rockhurst football punched its ticket to the Missouri Class 6 playoffs with a thorough 71-10 drubbing of Lee’s Summit North.  KU football has gone from utterly hopeless to absolutely miserable over the past four weeks with embarrassing losses against Oklahoma State, Oklahoma, and in-state rival Kansas State.  The Kansas City Chiefs dominated an injury-ridden Oakland Raiders squad and extended their winning streak to three games.

Among the highlights of NFL, NCAA, and high school football games over the weekend were the astounding plays made by individuals, intelligent play calling, and knucklehead streakers.  Here’s what I mean...

Florida Player Leaps 5 Yards into the Endzone
Apopka High wide receiver KJ Dillon scored on one of the more athletic plays you’ll ever see.  When the video is slowed down, you can see KJ take flight from the 5 yard line.  Not surprisingly, Dillon has scholarship offers from West Virginia and Arkansas, and has received interest from Auburn, Clemson, Miami (Fla.), Michigan, and Ohio State. 

Free-Kick Leads To Victory
Only the most avid of football fans know about an obscure rule whereby a team can take a free-kick following a fair catch.  Miami (Fla.) Belen Jesuit Prep trailed Northwestern High 28-27 with less than 30 seconds remaining.  After his team made a fair-catch at the Northwestern 39 yard line, Belen coach Rich Stuart had his team attempt a free kick.  A free kick means a team can attempt a field goal after it fair catches a punt and the opposing team must stand 10 yards away from the line of scrimmage.  The kick is worth three points, just as a normal field goal.  Belen kicker Sergio Sroka drilled the 49 yard kick to give the Wolverines a 30-28.

Michigan State Wins On A Bomb Pass
In the last play of regulation, Michigan State quarterback Kirk Cousins launched a pass downfield with the scored tied 31-31.  The pass was caught by Keith Nichol who was originally ruled down at the 1 yard line.  After the officials reviewed the play, they ruled that Nichol broke the plane.

Fake Ref and Fight
In the final seconds of Arizona’s 42-7 victory over a hapless UCLA squad, a 22-year-old Jace Lankow sprinted on the field masquerading as a referee and asked for the football.  After the real officials didn’t give the pigskin to him, the young man took off his pants and shirt and proceeded to evade security for about 10 seconds.  Meanwhile, a fight broke out between the UCLA and Arizona players.  Punches were thrown and shoving occurred between both sides.  Eventually, both sidelines emptied onto the field.  The streaker now faces up to 18 months in prison for his actions.

Texas QB Rushes for 560 Yards and 7 Touchdowns
Whitewright High School Tyrone Swoopes has already garnered national attention before his most recent game against Tom Bean High School.  He’s received offers from Texas A&M, Texas Tech, TCU, Notre Dame, Stanford, and Baylor.  Widely regarded as a dual-threat quarterback, Swoopes rushed for 560 yards and seven touchdowns on a mere 28 carries in a 47-27 victory.  That’s an per carry average of 20 yards.  His tremendous night put him only 27 yards short of the state rushing record currently held by Somerville’s Daryl Ellis.  So far this season, Swoopes has 1,974 overall yards, 25 rushing touchdowns, and 11 passing TDs.