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Quick Reference
Not in any team playbook.
Breakdown
Mtn PA Cross Choice is a play-action shot play out of Shotgun Spread Dbl Flex Wk that sells the run fake before releasing three vertical stems into the secondary. The backside receiver runs a deep crossing route working from one sideline all the way across the field, the inline receiver on that side breaks off into a deep in-cut, and the frontside receiver on the numbers runs a vertical seam that stems upfield. The HB stays in to fill the play-action fake and check release as an underneath option. This is a man beater that stretches the field horizontally with the deep crosser while stressing zone defenders vertically with the seam route, so it works against both coverage shells if the play fake holds the second level. Primary progression is the deep crosser first since it exploits man coverage leverage, then to the deep in-cut against zone drops, with the seam route as the explosive shot if the safety bites on the run fake.
Defensive Reads
Identify two high safeties pre-snap, this usually means zone coverage underneath the crosser, so bail your corners into their zones and get depth on the seam threat immediately. Watch for a single high safety rotating late, that is your cue man coverage is coming and the deep crosser will be the quarterback's first look, so have a user lurk defender ready to jump the crossing lane. Key the linebacker depth at the snap. If they sit shallow to respect the play-action fake, they open a throwing lane on the deep in-cut route, so a defender with pattern-match rules needs to sink under that route immediately. Bring pressure off the edge on early downs since the play-action fake requires the quarterback to hold the ball an extra beat, a well timed nano blitz off the weak side can disrupt the throw before the crosser fully develops. If the safety bites hard on the run fake, the seam route becomes uncontested, so disciplined safeties must read pass keys immediately and stay deep against this specific play.
Usage Tips
Run this on early downs (1st and 10, 2nd and short) so the play-action fake actually holds linebackers and safeties for a beat.
Check the safety alignment before the snap. Two high safeties sitting deep signal zone, so key the deep in-cut and seam as your primary answers instead of the crosser.
If the defense shows single high or crashes a safety into the box pre-snap, expect man coverage and prioritize the deep crosser since it clears out underneath defenders and creates natural rub leverage.
Use hot routes to convert the HB check release into a flat route against blitz-heavy fronts if you need a quick outlet against pressure.
Pair this with Mtn Cross Choice or Mtn Corner in your play-calling sequence so the defense sees a similar backfield action and route stem, then hit them with this deeper shot once they start jumping the shorter combo.
