A 29-second video clip of an unusual touchdown pass in Bethel’s final game of the 2009 football season has become a sensation on YouTube, the Web site on which users share videos. The trick pass in the Nov. 14 game can be viewed on YouTube.
Soon after the clip was posted on YouTube, it rocketed to most-watched status for the day, then was most-watched for the week. Currently it has had more than 2.86 million hits.
With the Threshers leading 20-0 in the third quarter against Sterling College, quarterback Garrett Hiebert, junior from Goessel, made a no-look, over-the-shoulder throwback at the goal line to senior defensive end Joel Maple, Umatilla, Fla., who caught it in the end zone for the score.
After appearing on YouTube, the video was picked up by rivals.com of Yahoo sports, which dubbed the play the “bouquet toss” and shared it with subscribers worldwide. The frenzy grew from there.
KWCH Channel 12 in Wichita ran the video the morning of Nov. 20. ESPN featured it on its “College Football Live” show later that day. Other Web sites across the country featured it, from “The Wichita Eagle” online to fox4kc.com in Kansas City to 620 WTMJ in Wisconsin to the “New York Post.”
CNN’s Campbell Brown show Nov. 20 closed with the clip and a lively debate about it between commentators Rick Sanchez and Mike Galanos.
The Threshers won 30-0. What made the win and the play even more special was that the game was Coach Mike Moore’s last with the Threshers. After 13 seasons, Moore has resigned to spend more time with his family.