Another good one from Coach Bill Mount Joy:
One of the BIGGEST misconceptions about ZONE plays is that the entire O-Line zone blocks. You only ZONE from the “BUBBLE” to the next man out towards the callside. APPLY the “Uncovered/’covered” rule: If you are uncovered – zone with teammate towards call. If you are covered – zone with teammate away from the call. If you are BOTH covered – MAN block!
EXAMPLES:
1. NO BUBBLE – NOBODY ZONE BLOCKS. All 7 “MAN” with a “DRIVE” block (on IZ), or a “REACH” block (on OZ):
———————————V-V-V-V-V-V-V
———————————E-T-G-C-G-T-E
2. ONE BUBBLE – YOU HAVE ONE ZONE COMBINATION (EXAMPLE: ZONE PLAY RT.) – Only the uncovered man (Center) & his play side teammate (RG) ZONE. The other 5 all “MAN” block.
——————————————B
———————————V-V-V—V-V-V
———————————E-T-G-C-G-T-E
3. TWO BUBBLES – YOU HAVE TWO ZONE COMBINATIONS (EXAMPLE: ZONE PLAY RT.) – the uncovered LG ZONES with the Center, & the uncovered RG zones with the RT. The other 3 all “MAN” block.
—————————————B—-B
———————————V-V—-V—-V-V
———————————E-T-G-C-G-T-E
4. THREE BUBBLES – YOU HAVE THREE ZONE COMBINATIONS (EXAMPLE: ZONE PLAY RT.) – the uncovered LT zones with the LG, the Center zones with the RG, & the RT zones with the RE. The 1 remaining OLM “MAN” blocks.
————————————B—-B—-B
———————————V—-V—-V—V
———————————E-T-G-C-G-T-E
REMEMBER: Zone blocking BEGINS at the “bubble” & zones TOWARDS the play side (RIGHT in all examples above). “NUMBER OF BUBBLES” = NUMBER OF DOUBLES!!!
Coach and Coordinator 