File this one in the ‘You don’t see this everyday cabinet!’
Watch as Johnston High School football player Joey Acciardo does multiple backflips to distract the opposing defense and it actually works as they proceed to run the ball up the middle for a touchdown.
From Providence Journal:
The play had no name. In fact, the Johnston football had run it before — only to get flagged by an overzealous referee. But playing Pilgrim in a game that was scheduled two days before it took place, the Panthers decided to break it out again — and much like wide receiver Joey Acciardo does on the play, the entire internet flipped out.
Acciardo’s not your normal over-athletic receiver; his mother Jo-Ann runs High Steppin’ Dance Academy in Johnston where Acciardo trained before he even picked up a football. He’s danced on stage with Bieber, performed at the Macy’s Day Parade and auditioned for a TV show hosted by Jennifer Lopez.
Johnston had trouble with the flip play in practice because of the difficulty in getting the timing down with Acciardo’s motion, the flips, and their traditional goal-line counts. To solve this, Johnston basically threw what it normally does out the window and had Remington wait a moment for Acciardo to get started before snapping the ball on a modified count.
WATCH THIS!!
I've never seen this in a high school football game…@JHSRI_Panthers WR Joe Accicardo does multiple backflips to distract the other team and it works! Panthers score the touchdown.
Incredible. @wpri12 @RyClifton pic.twitter.com/vwYPlVpDLY
— Rosie Langello (@RosieLangello) November 25, 2021
By now everyone’s seen the video shot by WPRI of Johnston’s Joey Acciardo doing handsprings as he goes in motion to try and distract the Pilgrim defense.
This video, shot by his mother Jo-Ann, gives you another peak at to how crazy it actually was. pic.twitter.com/heSwqQX2Cr— Eric Rueb (@EricRueb) November 26, 2021
