What was Grandview thinking?

One of the things I love about covering sports is you never know what you're going to see. But two plays in Friday's Chaffee vs. Grandview football game leave me scratching my head.

Grandview punted on third down TWICE. That's right, not once, but twice. One of the times I sort of understood. The Eagles were backed up at their own 17-yard line and maybe they were worried about not getting the first down and having a punt blocked. But the distance wasn't overwhelming. It was third-and-8. The least a team can do is try a pass play. Maybe you'll get defensive holding or pass interference or, even better, a completed pass. Nope, Grandview punted. It's possible the Eagles got confused because there was a holding penalty on first down. But Chaffee took the penalty, which means it's still first down. I'm going to guess someone got confused.

The second time it happened really threw me off. I don't think anyone saw it coming. The Eagles completed a pass on second down for a 7-yard loss, setting up third-and-21 from the Chaffee 43-yard line. Why go for it when you can punt?

It was one of those weird games in Chaffee. The Red Devils looked ripe for a loss, but Jordan Yahn tossed a pair of touchdown passes in the fourth quarter to sneak out a win. But it's the Chaffee defense that deserves the credit for this one. The defense delivered three crucial turnovers in the fourth quarter that provided tremendous field position for the offense.

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Spread this

The spread offense may be fun for receivers but its tough on the crowd. It draws out the game like molasses in the winter. The Chaffee vs. Grandview game ended about 10 minutes before 10 p.m., while the Jackson vs. Riverview Gardens didn't wrap up until after 10 p.m. Riverview and Jackson both employed the spread. Three-hour high school games, where there are no timeouts and the quarters are three minutes shorter than the NFL, don't seem right.

Here's another problem with the spread -- a team has to know how to run the ball. Grandview tried clinging to a six-point lead against Chaffee, but it was forced to keep throwing the ball. If it had a running attack, it could have ground out yards and made Chaffee sweat. Instead it kept throwing the ball.

The spread may be fun, but at some point you've got to be able to accomplish the little things to win the game. What do you think of the spread? Do you like it or does it take way too long?