Last Friday night, behind the unconventional ideas of head coach Kevin Kelley, Pulaski Academy, a high school in Little Rock, Ark., went up 29 by points. They did so, however, before their opponent, the Cabot Panthers, even touched the ball.
Kelley defies general football logic when making decisions for his team. After they score, Kelley prefers to attempt an onside kick instead of booting the ball deep to his opponent. According to SI.com, he has 12 different onside plays in his playbook, and he figures the chance of recovery outweighs the risk of allowing the opposing team to have the ball near midfield.
On Friday, Pulaski scored on its first drive and held on to the ball – for three more possessions, recovering three straight onside kicks. Before the fourth onside try, Cabot called a timeout and was finally able to secure the ball. Too bad they were already down 29-0.
"They were just stunned," Kelley said. "Emotionally, it takes so much out of you when the other team recovers an onside kick — or three of them in a row."
Check out the variety of onside kick formations Pulaski used in the video below.
