In high school football What is a stick play?

Answer 1

The word stick can refer to multiple things in football. The "sticks" are the down markers, and in the past teams would call a pass play "stick" or "sticks" to refer to a pass play that had at least one route running past the first down marker so that a completion would result in a first down. Currently, many people use the name "stick" to refer to a play that has one receiver running his route straight upfield at 6-8 yards and an adjacent receiver running a "flat" route, which is a route that stretches to the sideline gaining depth to 3-5 yards by the time the receiver reaches the sideline. The quarterback typically reads the flat defender and throws to the stick or the flat opposite the reaction of the defender. Usually the "stick" play will include a receiver positioned wider towards the numbers with the job of running a deep route to remove the cornerback from the area being attacked by the stick-flat combination.