Football game ends on unique interception stolen off receiver’s rear end
Ever seen an interception where the ball was literally taken off the butt of the receiver for whom the pass was intended? Prep Rally hadn't either until it came across the video you see below.
As first noticed by USA Today, the clip above comes from the Mattawan (Mich.) High junior varsity football team's matchup against Lakeshore (Mich.) High's JV squad. With Mattawan desperately clinging to a 28-25 lead, Lakeshore's quarterback dropped back and lofted a pass toward the end zone in the final 30 seconds, hoping to put a bow on a remarkable comeback.
The pass downfield was a direct bullet and took a slight deflection near the line of scrimmage. Still, the Lakeshore wide receiver got to make a play for the ball, keeping it alive by tapping it directly up in the air with his left hand. The live ball then appeared to take a second deflection — off the receiver's helmet perhaps? It's hard to tell — popped back up in the air and then began one of the wilder bouncing ball routines in a while.
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First, it took a bounce up and landed on the receiver's back. It ricocheted back up and moved down toward the small of his back. Finally, it began to come to a rest on his rear end, at which point the receiver began to move up off the turf, seemingly sending the ball down to the turf in time to earn Lakeshore one final shot at the end zone or a game-tying field goal.
Instead, the receiver's attempt to get up coincided with one quick-thinking defensive back's arrival on the scene. With the unknown DB already closing in on the loose ball, he simply scooped up the ball as it rolled off the receiver's back and straight into his hands, pulling in an interception that effectively ended the game.
The resulting celebration was just as excitable as one might expect with Mattawan defenders leaping jubilantly as if they've just won the lottery. In a football sense, they almost had. After all, what are the odds that a player could seal a game with an assist from an opponent's butt?
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