Officially Speaking: Vermont game ends with controversy
Editor's Note: Officially Speaking with Steve Hall is a feature that allows readers to ask questions about high school football rules, and runs periodically 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, including 11 championship games. 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 name and contact information (not for print).
Question: Roger, the following play occurred last weekend in Vermont. Can you ask one of the officials you deal with to clarify?
Otter Valley took a 16-14 lead by kicking a field goal with 16 seconds to play. Mount Mansfield attempted a game-winning field goal (I believe it was 46 yards) with 1.3 seconds left. The kick was short and an Otter Valley player caught the ball in the end zone. He then ran the ball out of the end zone and spiked the ball. A Mount Mansfield player picked up the ball and scored to give Mount Mansfield a 20-16 win. From what I've read no whistle
was blown. From what I've also read the ball should have been blown dead when it was kicked into the end zone (as it is on a kickoff). If this is true is there anything in place to correct the call and award the victory to Otter Valley?
Answer: Under NFHS rules, it's a touchback if a scoring kick breaks the plane of the goal line and the kick is unsuccessful. Vermont plays under NFHS rules, but their prep schools play under NCAA rules, which allow kicks to be returned from the end zone under certain conditions. Assuming that these are not prep schools, and that the kick did indeed cross the goal line, the play should have been blown dead and the game should have been over. f an error was made by the officials, it has to be corrected before the next snap, or before the referee declares the game over. Since that didn't happen, there is no ability to make a correction after the fact under NFHS rules.
Virtually every NFHS official knows that an unsuccessful field goal attempt that enters the receiving team's end zone is a touchback, so it would surprise me if the entire crew made this error. During a field goal attempt, there are two officials under the uprights. On a short kick, one of the officials sprints to the goal line to determine if the ball broke the plane. I've been told by an officiating colleague that he's seen a video of the play, and it's unclear whether the ball broke the plane of the goal line, contrary to what was reported. I can only speculate that maybe the kick was caught or recovered in the field of play and not in the end zone.
Answer: Sure. You can find it in the rule book under "illegal forward pass." ;-)
Intentional grounding is a pass intentionally thrown into an area not occupied by an eligible offensive receiver, or a pass intentionally thrown incomplete to save loss of yardage or to conserve time. Generally, what we look for is an eligible receiver in the area of where the pass is thrown. However, even if there's an eligible receiver in the area, intentional grounding can still be called if the passer is under pressure, the receiver is covered by the defense, and it appears that the passer intentionally throws the pass incomplete (several feet out of bounds, for example). Moreover, there are situations where a pass is thrown into an area where there are no eligible receivers, but intentional grounding is not called. For example, if the pass is thrown over the middle of the field, the benefit of the doubt might be given to the offense under the assumption that a receiver ran in incorrect route. We also have to judge the ability of the passer, the amount of pressure being applied by the defense, and whether the pass is being "dumped" to save a loss of yardage. Ultimately, the call rests exclusively on the judgment of the referee.
Question: This play happened in a California high school game I saw on TV. The home team had the ball deep in its own end and had a third-and-long situation. The quarterback took the snap from the shotgun formation and attempted a quick kick, but he kicked the ball into the back of one of his blockers.The ball bounced into the end zone. The quarterback scooped it up and then threw a pass that was intercepted. I'm pretty sure the officials got the call wrong (or maybe California has different rules than New Hampshire). Once the ball is kicked isn't it illegal to kick it a second time or throw a forward pass? Also, if the kick was blocked and bounced past the line of scrimmage, can the kicking team pick up the ball and gain a first down?
Answer: California, like New Hampshire, plays under NFHS rules. The play that you describe is legal. A legal forward pass is a pass thrown from behind the neutral zone before a change of possession. A blocked kick does not constitute a change of possession. Therefore, the ball can be recovered by the kicking team and a pass can be legally thrown from behind
the neutral zone after such recovery. The kicking team could have also legally kicked the ball a second time, as long as possession had not changed and the second kick was made from in or behind the neutral zone.
If the kick was blocked and recovered by the kicking team beyond the line of scrimmage, the ball is awarded to the receiving team at the spot of the recovery. However, a kick recovered by the kicking team behind the line of scrimmage can be advanced by the kicking team.
Question: Question for Steve Hall: When a team is attempting to down the ball on a punt, can a player's feet be in the end zone while he downs the ball on the 1-yard line (assume that the ball never crosses the goal line)?
Answer: Yes. Unlike in the NFL, it's the location of the ball that's the determining factor. Once the ball breaks the plane of the goal line, it's a touchback. The location of the player is irrelevant. In the play described above, the ball would be awarded to the receiving team at their own 1-yard line.
Question: I attended the St. Anselm/Plymouth State game this year that St. Anselm won in five overtimes. I know that overtime in high school is similar to overtime in college. Just wondering if a game lasts more than one overtime how is it determined which team gets the ball first? Is it automatically reversed after each overtime session or do teams get to
choose? I realize in almost all cases a team would want to play defense first.
Answer: There is no standard practice nationwide for overtime games under NFHS rules. he rule book has a recommended 10-yard line overtime procedure which we use in New Hampshire. (I believe under NCAA rules, it's a 25-yard line procedure.) Under the overtime procedure, there is a coin toss to begin the overtime. The winner of the toss gets to select offense or defense, or they can select which end of the field will be used for the overtime. he loser gets the remaining option. If the game is tied after the first overtime, we don't have a second coin toss. Rather, the loser of the overtime coin toss gets the first choice of options. If additional overtime periods are required, then first choice of options will be alternated.
