Mercy, mercy, mercy
By Roger Brown
nhfootballreport.com
If you've ever sat through a slow-moving second half in a lopsided game, you know what the NHIAA football committee was thinking when it approved a mercy rule for the 2007 season.
When a team builds a second-half lead of 35 points or more this year it will trigger the use of a running clock. Normal timing will resume if the point differential becomes less than 35 points.
According to the National Federation of High Schools, 28 states had some form of a mercy rule in place during the 2006 season.
Sixty-three NHIAA games were decided by 35 points or more last year. Here's the breakdown by division: Division I (seven), Division II (seven), Division III (10), Division IV (22) and Division V (17).
