The playoff rematch last season with Maine Central Institute was approaching, and Nokomis quarterback Andrew Haining was out of ideas.
Until he came up with an unorthodox way to troubleshoot the MCI defense.
âWe really had no answer for their Cloud Cover 3 in Week 2 last year, so I knew we needed to figure something out,â he said. âSo believe it or not, I came home and I repped Madden time and time again. Which plays are good to beat Cover 3 and where the windows often are.â
Nokomis lost, but not because of its offense. After being shut out 12-0 in the first game, Nokomis gave MCI all it could handle in a 33-24 defeat.
âYouâd watch it on film and it was like the same exact thing,â said Haining, who threw for 192 yards and two scores in that 2017 game. âYouâd see the window was the same on Madden as it was on the live game film.â
Heâs not the only one making those observations. High school coaches and players alike say that Madden â the worldâs best-selling football video game â can provide in helping players learn the language, concepts and strategy of the sport. Even those who play Madden for fun are exposed to plays that have applications in high school football.
They even go by the names their coaches would call them in real games and practices.
âThe Xs and Os of it are very sound, itâs what we use,â said Nokomis coach and frequent football video player Jake Rogers, whose Warriors will play Fryeburg Academy in the Class C state title game Saturday.
âIt teaches kids terminology, especially pass routes and coverages. And itâs a universal language, really. Whatâs a slant, whatâs a curl route. Concepts like Smash. And on defense, it teaches man coverage, zone coverage, 4-3 defense versus 3-4 defense. They can see the inner workings of different schematics. Itâs pretty cool.â
The plays in the video game are carried out on the practice field and in games, allowing players to see where cornerbacks, safeties, linebackers, receivers and running backs go when a certain play is called.
âIf youâre running pass plays and stuff, and you watch your guy get open, you can almost copy how he did his route,â said Leavitt receiver and defensive back Keegan Melanson. âThat helps.â
Playing Madden can give young football players a head start on learning the complicated lingo of the sport, and make for less of a learning curve at the high school level.
âKids who play football video games, they definitely have an understanding of the terminology,â said Brunswick coach Dan Cooper, whose team will play Marshwood in the Class B state game Saturday. âAnd maybe even more of a passion for the game, because theyâre competing playing video (games) too.â
LEARNING THE LANGUAGE
Cony coach B.L. Lippert begins installing plays during preseason practices. And each time, he hears the same thing.
âEvery year, Iâll say something, whether itâs Smash or one of our concepts, and some kid will say âOh, they have that on Madden,'â Lippert said. âEveryone in the world calls hitch-flag Smash. ⌠Thatâs what itâs called on Madden. Itâs the exact same play.â
By learning the Madden language, players learn the language of the game. Madden players learn the Smash concept. They learn the Stick concept, a three-man set where one receiver runs a hitch, another runs a horizontal stretch and the wide receiver runs a vertical stretch. They learn Robber coverage, where a safety comes up to either defend the run or defend passes over the middle.
Then they return to real life, go to practice or film study, and find the terms are the same.
âThey donât necessarily know it when they come in, but then when you put Smash on the board and you show it, theyâre like âOh, Iâve seen this before,'â said Leavitt coach Mike Hathaway. âThe background knowledge is in there, and we can pull it back out by using some of the same verbiage.â
Hathawayâs son Wyatt, the Hornetsâ quarterback, used Madden as a way to catch up on all the complicated jargon he heard his father using.
âI noticed that some of the stuff that they were saying, all of the coaches, I didnât understand anything,â he said. âBut then Iâd go home, and if I were playing Madden, I could kind of see all the terms that they were using and what was really happening on the field. So I think it does kind of help, you can get ahead when youâre younger (with) your knowledge of the game compared to kids your age.â
Many coaches embrace it. Hathaway even uses plays in the Hornetsâ playbook taken directly from the game.
âDrive is a term that we use a lot, which came directly out of the Madden game,â he said. âSometimes weâll let the kids choose what terms are for our no-huddle stuff, and a lot of the terms are things that theyâve seen in Madden. ⌠Itâs got to be things they remember, and they play a lot of video games, so they remember.â
A VISUAL TOOL
Oak Hill linebacker Ethan Richard, who called the Raidersâ plays on defense, offered a quick explanation for how he honed his acumen on the field.
âI spend a lot of time playing Madden and watching football, so I spend a lot of time understanding stuff,â he said. âLooking at coverages in Madden, looking at plays in Madden. It sounds stupid, but it really has a lot to do with the game.â
Given Maddenâs nature as a simulator, kids playing it can get a sense not only for how a play is named, but how it is run as well.
âThatâs something I have said to kids before. Go on there, put in Cover 3 on the defense, and see where people end up,â Lippert said. âThe safety drops to the middle, the cornerbacks drop to the deep thirds. Itâs a tool that you really could use.â
Madden also has a practice mode, in which players can set up an offense and defense with specific plays and run them over and over, looking for ways to combat a particular scheme, all while picking up clues on how to read a defense that can correlate to real action on the field.
âIn Madden, the middle safetyâs probably going to go to the same spot he does in real life,â Haining said. âOr the way theyâre lined up, their stance. A Cover 3 stance is typically pretty obvious in the real game. Typically, you can see when itâs Cover 3 really quickly, and itâs the same thing in Madden.â
The benefits go both ways. Players can see how a play is supposed to be run, and coaches can gain an inspiration for drawing up or beating a play.
âIâve been in Madden before and said âWell, hey, I see a formation.â I watch my sons play and say âWell, what would I do out of that formation?'â said Madison coach Scott Franzose. âIf youâre constantly coaching, youâre kind of spit-balling things.â
NO SUBSTITUTE FOR FILM
Franzose sees the good in Madden as a learning tool. He also sees the caveats.
â(Players will) pipe in and say âOh yeah, I saw that on Madden,'â Franzose said. âIâll say âOK, thatâs great. Explain it to me.â ⌠Are they truly understanding how it fits on a three-dimensional plane on the football field?â
As supportive as coaches and players are of the game, they know itâs hardly a replacement for practice and film study. The game can be paused, moves at a slower pace that doesnât replicate the chaotic nature of a high school game, and doesnât have the benefit of someone to explain the uses behind a concept or scheme.
âI donât know if Iâd say itâs on par with film,â Haining said. âYou get the idea of the concepts, but I donât know if thereâs a substitute for film.â
Instead, the key, theyâll say, is to use it as a side device. Use it to build an interest and understanding of the game, and then to hone some finer points.
âI think any absorption of the game is great,â Rogers said. âIf theyâre watching it, thereâs a good chance theyâre going to love the game. A video gameâs no different than watching it, and I think itâs more interactive.
âI think any competition is great, and video games do that. I think theyâre helpful, I truly do.â
Drew Bonifant â 621-5638
dbonifant@centralmaine.com
Twitter: @dbonifantMTM
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