We play NYS 7 on 7 with no rushing. I mix it up quite a bit so they can't adopt their offense. When on man to man we float a safety that focuses on reading the QB. In 8-10 year old, the QB almost always telegraphs his pass. Our boys aren't the fastest although we have two or three speed demons, so we do occassionally play a zone. We play 2-3-2, 3-2-2 or 3-3-1 depending on what we think they will do on offense. Keeping the boys in the zone has become easier over the years. We put our two speed demons up front, which shuts down any run. We put our good kids in the middle as that is generally the range of the other team. Our tallest and slowest kids are in the back and their instructions are to close on the play for an interception or to assist in tackling. On offense we eat up zone defenses by passing with crossing routes where the zone gets confused who is to cover. Additionally we overload a side and do a silent snap to get us unfair odds on receivers and defenders. If they compensate, our RB heads over to the open side as an outlet pass receiver and then uses his speed down the field. Man to man can easily be beat with using your linemen to pick the receivers coverage, leaving them wide open. We spent a year building our attack, it takes time. Focusing on the basics of passing, catching and blocking lead to success. Good luck out there.
