An 8-on-8 flag football playbook
Eight on eight with a real snapper, four down linemen and twin receivers — what each of the eight actually does, and where this ruleset comes from.
Honest about whose rules these are
There is no single set of flag football rules. This page describes SBMSA Junior Varsity Flag as written in its October 2023 rulebook, which is the league this playbook was built for. Your league's rules will differ — sometimes on things that change the football completely, like whether blocking is allowed at all, or whether the quarterback may run. Read your own rulebook before you take any of this to a practice.
The formation below also deviates from the printed league playbook on purpose: it fields four down linemen and twin wide receivers rather than a five-man line. That is a coaching decision, not a rule, and it is described here as one.
The eight positions
Left to right across the formation: W2 · LG · C · RG · RT · WR, with QB under centre and RB behind him.
- C — Centre. Snaps the ball, then screens the man in front of him. On most calls he has no route drawn, and that is correct rather than missing: standing still and occupying a defender is his job.
- LG / RG — Guards. Inside blockers. On a run to their side they screen the first defender who shows; on a pull they step around and lead the ball carrier.
- RT — Tackle. The end man on the line. He sets the edge — everything that runs outside him depends on him not letting a defender cross his face.
- W2 — Second receiver. Lines up split wide, or tightened onto the line one gap outside the end man when you want a fifth blocker instead of a second threat.
- WR — Wide receiver. The split man. At this age his most valuable snap is usually a crack block that springs a reverse, not a route.
- QB — Quarterback. Takes the snap. Hands off, keeps, or pitches.
- RB — Running back. Behind the quarterback, strong side or weak side. He gets most of the carries and he is the one who has to read a block.
Four rules that shape every play you can call
- Screen blocking only. You obstruct with your body. No hands, you may not leave your feet, and you may not step into a rusher. This is why nothing in this playbook ever says "hit him", and why a lineman with no route drawn is doing his job by standing still.
- One man in motion at the snap, moving parallel to or away from the line, and moving continuously. Two men in motion is a flag. (The Freshman division allows no motion at all — do not apply Freshman rules to a JV team or vice versa.)
- Minimum three men on the line at the snap.
- Every player plays two full quarters. This is a rule, not a courtesy, and it is the one most likely to cost you a game you were winning if you have not tracked it.
The five-carry cap some coaches quote is a Freshman-division rule. JV has no carry limit.
Why there are no passing plays here
Every play in this book is a run, a keep, a pitch or a handoff. At six and seven the completion rate on a thrown ball is low enough that a passing play is mostly a play where nothing happens, and the same snap spent on a well-blocked run teaches eight kids their jobs instead of two. Add the pass when your quarterback can throw it.
A complete flag football playbook as one web page: the plays diagrammed, a call sheet, and every position's job written out. Free, nothing to sign up for, and it prints.
The same book, animated
Show the Play is a free app of these plays where every one of them moves. On the sideline you call the play in its own words, flip the direction, and show the kids in one tap; a player taps his own name and watches his job. It runs with no signal at the field.
Open Show the Play · Coaching plays to six and seven year olds