What is commonly referred to as the "Counter Trey" or "Counter Gap" play emerged in the 1980's as a component in many different offensive schemes. The success enjoyed by the Washington Redskins of Joe Gibbs in those years certainly helped popularize the play and it remains a staple of most offenses nearly twenty years later. Although it has been modified by many coaches to fit their schemes and formations, the signature features of the play have remained the same.

     The two most obvious characteristics are:

• the misdirection by the ball-carrier before receiving the handoff, and
• the pulling of both the backside guard and tackle to block at the point of attack.

     Although the Counter gained prominence as an I-formation play, the basic blocking scheme derives from the principles of Wing-T play, with the essential elements of the scheme being:

• down blocking on the playside,
• a block out at the hole and a lead through by the pulling linemen, and
• a fill for the pulling tackle by the Fullback in the I.

     It is the very effective marriage of a misdirection play with an off-tackle power play.

     Next, we'll look at the Blocking assignments.