TIME MANAGEMENT?

Okay, Jefferson is leading 13-10 with about 1:40 remaining in its football game against Plant. The Dragons have the ball inside Plant's 30-yard line. It's third down. Plant has no time outs.

What should Jefferson do?

Throw? An incompletion is basically a free timeout for Plant. Two incompletions is two timeouts for Plant.

Jefferson proceeds to throw two incompletions.

Plant scores a touchdown to win from the 3-yard line with 19 seconds remaining after Panther QB Robert Marve completed his first pass for 52 yards.

Should Jefferson have run on that third and fourth down, thus giving Marve much less time -- around 30 or seconds -- to move down field? What would you have done?

--SCOTT PURKS, Times Staff Writer

Comments

[MT]

Yes they should have run, they had the game won and handed it away. Doesn't seem like the best thing to do by either the coach calling the play or the QB executing. Tuck and run and win the game.

On third down? Yes. They scored the TD with 19 seconds left, running the ball would have been worth at least 45 seconds...

but on the fourth down? NO, throw it if you want, the important thing is to get the 1st, if you don't, the clock will stop in high school on the change of pocession anyways. So throw or run on 4th doesn't matter, getting the first does.

If it was me...I would have run on third...AND KICKED THE FG ON FOURTH, in a worse case you run another 45 seconds and even if you missed the FG you put them back a little further on to the 20 yard line.

[Andy]

If I was the Jefferson coach I would have run it all 4 downs so by that time 1:40 prolly be either down to 10-20 seconds or there prolly not be any time at all to run anything except maybe a hail mary attempt for Plant....but I really don't see any point in throwing the ball 3 consecutive times at all....it does not and will not make sense cause if ur trying to win you don't want to give a QB like Robert Marve anytime back there to have a chance to make plays and win....but Jefferson gave him time and look what Marve did.....he won.

No brainer, run

[Da-wood]

Of course they had to pass,they had to try and get Garcia some stats so he wouldn't pout.His stats and ego are more important than winning.At least to the Jefferson coaches and Garcia himself.