This story appears in the Jan. 14, 2018, issue of Sports Illustrated. For more great storytelling and in-depth analysis, subscribe to the magazine—and get up to 94% off the cover price. Click here for more.
Even now, the boys of Liberty Christian can walk you through the finer points of 28 Gator Halfback Pass. They were sixth-graders back in the fall of 2012, running around a turf field in late-afternoon practices, ironing out a few wrinkles under the darkening north-Texas sky. And this particular trick play was the brainchild of their new offensive coordinator, who’d drawn up Gator for his 11-year-old son, Connor, an offensive linemen with skill-position aspirations.