Officially Speaking: Crossing the line
Editor's Note: Officially Speaking with Steve Hall is a feature that allows readers to ask questions about high school football rules, and runs weekly throughout the season. Hall has been a New Hampshire high school official since 1989 and has officiated nearly 300 NHIAA regular-season varsity games. He has also officiated more than 25 playoff games, and worked his 11th championship game last year (Pinkerton at Nashua South). Hall, who is a member of the New Hampshire Football Officials' Association Board of Directors, has been the NHFOA rules interpreter since 2001, and is also the New Hampshire representative on the National Federation of High Schools rules committee. Questions, which may be edited for clarity, can be submitted to rbrown@nhfootballreport.com. Please include your hometown.
Question: Central has a first down on its own 20 yard line, and gains 15 yards on a running play. Central is called for holding on its 25-yard line on the play and is penalized 10 yards. Is it now first and 5, or second and
5?
-- Manchester
Answer: Neither. A foul by the offense that occurs behind the end of the run is enforced from the spot of the foul. Therefore, we would enforce the penalty from the 25-yard line to the 15-yard line and replay the down. First
and 15. If the foul occurred beyond the end of the run, it would be enforced from the end of the run. Assume the foul was on the 40-yard line. We would penalize from the 35-yard line (the end of the run) and replay the down. First and 5 on the 25-yard line.
Question: Question for Steve Hall. Can you explain why the play is not allowed to continue when a defensive player crosses the line of scrimmage before the snap, but doesn't make contact with an offensive player? If the
offense scores a touchdown or makes a kick, the play will still have to be run again.The offensive team is penalized more than the defense. Even other big plays can be taken away. This is not the rule in the pros, and I
would argue that the NFL rule is better.
-- Raymond
Answer: The Federation rule states that encroachment by either team is a dead ball foul. As soon as the player breaks the plane of the neutral zone, the whistle is blown and a flag is thrown. NCAA and NFL rules differ
in that a player breaking the plane of the neutral zone can legally get back to his side of the line of scrimmage prior to the snap. If he doesn't, it's a foul at the snap and the play is allowed to continue. Whether one set of codes is "better" than another is a matter of preference. I believe that the Federation's rule is much easier to
officiate, because we don't have to judge whether the player got back onto his side of the neutral zone prior to the snap.
