Trick Play Brings National Attention to Robinson

Bailey Adams, Sports Editor
October 28, 2015

In just a few short days, Robinson football has made its way into the national spotlight. What started as a trick play in last Friday night’s district match-up with Spoto, has caught on with ESPN, SB Nation, CBS Sports, USA Today and the NFL Network.

The oddity of a play was called by offensive coordinator Craig Everhart with the Knights leading 21-8 in the second quarter, threatening to score again. Quarterback Najee Fitzgerald (’17) took the snap, faked a handoff and unleashed a no-look pass over his head to Marcus Tomlin (’16) for a touchdown.

Prior to the snap, Everhart didn’t relay the play call to head coach Shawn Taylor in fear that Taylor would call a timeout. That fear had merit, if only because the Knights ran the play 10 times in practice and didn’t complete it once.

“With any gadget play there is always some hesitation,” said Everhart. “Sometimes you have to believe in the preparation and catch the opponent off guard. Also, the flag football coach told me I wouldn’t call it in the game so clearly I had to.”

CBS Sports expressed interest in posting the video on their site on Tuesday afternoon, with ESPN including the play on Wednesday’s 9:00 a.m. edition of SportsCenter. Since ESPN caught wind of it, the play has been featured by SportsNation and His & Her’s. SB Nation’s Jacob Price uploaded the video, acknowledging the guts it took to draw up a pass like that.

“It’s awesome for the kids,” said Taylor. “[It’s] something they can share and remember with their teammates and coaches.”

With national attention coming their way, the Knights still have to shift their focus to Friday night’s win-or-go-home match-up against Jefferson.

“Once the game was over, my thoughts and preparation have been absorbed in Jefferson prep,” said Everhart. “I somewhat forgot about [the play].”

Kickoff for Friday night’s regular season finale is set for 7:30 p.m. at Jack Peters Field on the campus of Robinson High School.