FOOTBALL STUDY GUIDE
Touch/ Flag Football
Forward Pass: Any ball thrown in a forwardly direction from behind the line of scrimmage. It can be thrown overhand, underhand, sidearm, etc. by either the quarterback, a running back or a wide receiver. You may only attempt 1 forward pass per offensive play.
Lateral: Any ball thrown in a backwardly direction to a teammate anywhere on the field. You may attempt as many lateral’s as you wish at anytime during the “run of play”.
Running Play: When the quarterback “hands” the ball off to a running back or wide receiver and they attempt to run up field with the ball without attempting a forward pass.
Field Goal: When the offensive team fails to get a first down and they are close enough to attempt it, they will try to kick a field goal. The center snaps the ball to the holder, who places it in position for the kicker to kick it up through the upright goalposts. A field goal is worth 3 points.
Touchdown: When a team advances the ball into the opposing teams “End Zone”, the result is a touchdown which is worth 6 points.
Extra Point: After a touch down has been scored, the scoring team will attempt a short “field goal” style kick to try to add an additional point.
Tackle: When a defensive player stops the forward progress of the offensive player carrying the ball effectively ending the current play. In the professional game, they must physically wrestle the player to the ground or force him to go out of bounds. We play either “two-hand touch” which means that a defensive player must physically touch the ball carrier with both hands at the same time, or “flag-football” where each player has a flag on each hip and the defensive player must grab one of the flags to “tackle” the offensive player.
Quarterback: The field general on offense. The quarterback starts 995 of the plays having the ball snapped back to him. He then decides which teammate(s) are the best option(s) for him to get the ball to in order to advance the ball as far as possible toward the opposing team’s end zone.
End Zone: The area at either end of the field that is 10 yards deep and the width of the entire field into which players are trying to advance the football in order to gain a score.
First Down: The offensive team gets 4 downs in order to gain the 10 yards necessary for them to get a first down and a new set of 4 downs to keep moving the ball forward.