Before Troy Hattori's dad deployed to Afghanistan in 2009, he gave his son a small bit of advice to carry with him on the football field.
The elder Hattori, a coach for the Fort Lee Cobras, told Troy to watch out for deceptive trick plays, which he had noticed on the internet.
With his father in Afghanistan, the scene played out as if it were a movie script. Troy's squad faced an opponent that attempted the "Wrong Ball" trick play, and Troy knew exactly how to respond.
The play, which is technically illegal
according to USA Football, purports to use a disguised handoff, where the quarterback walks the ball over to the referee, claiming he accidentally has a practice ball, not an official game ball.
As he walks toward the ref, the quarterback bursts into a sprint down the field as opposing players and fans stand around trying to make sense of it.
It came to national prominence in 2010, when Corpus Christi's
Driscoll Middle School ran the play and shared it online. Subsequently, El Camino Real
executed the play during a junior varsity game. Last fall, a Missouri middle school
called it "The Ugly Kardashian," creating an instant internet sensation.
Each time, the quarterback was able to utilize the ruse to find the end zone.
Not in the case of Hattori's team, however. He knew better.
As the quarterback jogged toward the sideline under the pretense of swapping balls, Hattori sprinted toward him. As his teammates stood motionless, Hattori leveled the quarterback. Rather than reaching for any sort of flag, the refs merely blew the whistle.
Official scoring: A sack.
After the game, when the opposing coach asked Hattori how he was able to sniff out the play, and his reply was disarmingly simple.
"Youtube," he said.
Check out Hattori — now a high school senior — in action in the video above, and
click here to watch what might become the next trick play craze.
