If they’re building chants around in you up in the bleachers and drawing funny little pictures of fences on white poster board then you’re probably pretty important. Defense. Not to sound like your JV high school football coach but it really does win games. It seems like the offensive players always get the recognition for prep football victories. You’ve got the Quarterback strutting around in the backfield. The running backs get the fans out of their seats when they break out past 8 yards and receivers. Don’t even get us started on the receivers who feel fewer hits than my golf balls at driving range (it’s really sad actually). The defense does the dirty work and they really do work as a team…a collective of hard hitting, attack dogs. Let’s talk a little about the un-recognized and unsung hero’s of any high school football team across the U.S…the Defense.

First a quick introduction to the major lines in the sand so to speak that make up the defense. Close up to the action is the Defensive line. When you hear comparisons of football to battle or war, it’s really the action around the line that makes any of those relevant. It’s not that far off from the old battle lines of World War I where each team…er..I mean army would batter each other along a line separating the two. The high school football line isn’t much different since the line (offensive or defensive) that controls that line most likely controls the momentum of the game. The defensive line players use raw strength, quickness, and intuition to do one of two things in general. They either have to fill the holes and manage the offensive lineman’s maneuvers to make sure a sneaky running back doesn’t break their ranks. The other primary concern is to put pressure on the prep football quarterback when he’s looking to pass. If the QB can just sit back there and take his time, that’s not good news for the Defensive backs. The D-line needs to put a little fear into the QB. This is where quickness and agility come into play. That’s a touch request…big, strong, quick, and cagey. We all have them in our schools and most likely they’re on the Defensive line.

Behind the Defensive line of any high school team, you have 2nd wall of defense. These players can step up and fill the holes on the run or they can break down field, generally in the interior, to cover passes. Typically, you have two line backers and they do just that. They are off the line and they must quickly make the “read” and either look to stop the running backs or go into pass protection mode across the middle. They also have to watch for running backs releasing for passes and that pesky tight end but they’re usually a good match for either with a combination of speed, size, and a general attack mode mentality. You’ve got to be a little screwy to be a successful linebacker. A little bit of crazy eyes never hurt. Backing up the Linebackers is probably the strong safety in an average defensive set. He needs to keep an eye on the Tight End and offer general pass protection up field.

Behind the Line backers and strong safety are your defensive backs although the strong safety shares membership in this group as well. You have your corners who are generally glued to receivers or zones of the field depending on the coverage. They also have to occasionally try to tackle running backs on sweeps which is not their favorite task. Way back in the D is the Free Safety. He’s the last line of passing defense. You get past him and it’s probably a touchdown. He’s got deep coverage responsibilities in most sets and he needs to be fast, long, and able to read the intent of the QB pretty well. The buck stops with him. As the final piece, he makes rounds out or various levels or zones of defense in a typical prep sport defensive set. Now we just need posters with D and picture of a fence to make it complete.

Author Bio: Dennis Jarvis writes about the world of Prep Sports including high school sports such as high school football, basketball, and baseball.

Category: Sports
Keywords: high school football defense,high school football,high school sports,prep sports