High School Football Definitions: The Key To Understanding the Rules - Sample Chapter

High School Football Definitions: The Key to Understanding the Rules

From Referee and the National ASSociation of Sports OfficialS

Table of Contents Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 In the Field . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Players and Nonplayers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Before the Snap . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 The Ball in Play . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 Blocking and Tackling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 Legal and Illegal Kicks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 Scoring and Touchbacks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81 Fouls and Penalties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

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F

ootball’s roots are in rugby, an English game that started gaining popularity in prep schools around 1830. Rugby rules allow players to use their hands and pass the ball (albeit backward), unlike soccer, in which use of the hands by anyone other than the goalkeeper is a violation.

Rugby has scrums, the method by which play resumes after a stoppage. Scrum is an abbreviation for scrummage. It is from that term that football gets the word scrimmage, which is defined as the action of the teams during a down. A scrimmage down or a scrimmage kick down begins with a snap. A free kick down begins with (you guessed it) a free kick.

A down is a unit of play and part of a series. The essence of football is this: A team in possession of the ball has four chances (downs) to advance the ball 10 yards. By achieving that, the team with the ball earns a new series, more commonly called a first down. Depending on penalties, the distance team A needs to advance to earn a first down may be more or less than 10 yards. The yardline team A needs to reach to be awarded a new series is called the line to gain.

To make the ball live and start a play from scrimmage, team A must execute a legal snap. A snap is legal when the ball is transferred hand-to-hand or passed backward by the snapper to a teammate. More on the snap later in this chapter and in Chapter 4, The Ball in Play.

At one time it was common to refer to ball as being “centered,” owing to the fact that the player who usually snaps the ball is the center. That term is rarely used today. A term that is even older and should be avoided is to say the ball was “hiked.”

A down ends when the ball next becomes dead. Put another way, a dead ball is not in play. The ball may become dead in a number of ways. On the vast majority of plays, the ball becomes dead when the runner is tackled (a body part other than his hand or foot touches the ground); he is held in such a way that he is no longer advancing (forward progress is stopped); or he goes out of bounds. Another common

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occurrence that results in a dead ball is a forward pass striking the ground (incomplete pass).

Fouls can occur while the ball is dead, but the ball cannot be advanced and a dead ball cannot score points.

Usually, but not always, teams will form a huddle before a play. A huddle consists of two or more teammates (offense or defense) gathered before the next down. A huddle is not required.

The definition for a huddle is important because it affects substitutions (see Chapter 2, Players and Nonplayers) and other activities before the snap that are detailed below.

Ready for Play Before the ball may be legally put in play, the referee must give the ready for play signal. The signal is a chopping motion of the arm accompanied by a short, sharp blast of the whistle A (PlayPic A). Once the ready for play signal (often shorted to “the ready�) is given, the ball may be put in play, either by a snap or a free kick. It also lets everyone know that the ball must be snapped or free kicked in 25 seconds or a foul for delay of game will be called.

The ready for play signal.

Line of Scrimmage and Neutral Zone The ready results in the establishment of two imaginary areas, the line of scrimmage and the neutral zone. Both are depicted in MechaniGram B on page 32.

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Both the neutral zone and the line of scrimmage serve as landmarks for officials and players on certain types of plays. For instance, in order for a forward pass to be legal, the passer must have both feet in or behind the neutral zone. As explained in Chapter 2, Players and Nonplayers, the line of scrimmage helps determine (among other things) whether a player is a back or a lineman.

B

S S TEAM B’S LINE OF SCRIMMAGE

CB

LB

CB

LB

LB

NEUTRAL ZONE

DE SE

DT

T

G

DT C

DE

G

T

TE FL

QB

RB

FB

TEAM A’S LINE OF SCRIMMAGE

The neutral zone and the team’s respective line of scrimmage.

The line of scrimmage comes into play when the ball will be put in play by a snap. Actually, there are two lines of scrimmage — one for each team. And it’s not a line but a plane. Specifically, it’s a vertical plane that extends from sideline to sideline using the end of the ball closest to each team’s goalline.

The neutral zone differs from the line of scrimmage in that there is a neutral zone on free kicks as well as on scrimmage downs.

For a scrimmage down, the neutral zone is the area between the two scrimmage lines — in other words, the length

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of the football. The neutral zone also comes into play after the snap and during kicks. Those situations are covered in Chapter 4, The Ball in Play.

It is a foul for a player of either team to enter the neutral zone any time after the ready and before the snap or free kick.

That foul is called encroachment. Most public address announcers, fans, coaches and even some officials mistakenly refer to it as offside. That term is used in other codes but not in NFHS play.

The most common occurrences of encroachment are when a player mistimes the snap and enters the neutral zone, a player lines up incorrectly or a player other than the kicker or holder enters the neutral zone before the ball is kicked on a kickoff.

There is an exception for encroachment and it involves substitutions. For the purpose of the encroachment rule, substitutions do not apply. The following play illustrates that exception.

Play 1: Second and 10 from team A’s 20 yardline. After the ready has been given, substitute A1 legally enters the game from his sideline, replacing A2. In order to get where they need to go, A1 and A2 cross the neutral zone. Ruling 1: Although A1 and A2 entered the neutral zone after the ready, that is not encroachment.

It is unreasonable to expect substitutes and replaced players to enter and leave the field without passing through the neutral zone.

Shifts and Motion When team A breaks its huddle or gets set in a formation, all team A players must come to a complete stop for one second.

After that, if a team A player assumes a new set position, it is considered a shift.

A shift can be something as subtle as a quarterback moving his hands from one position to a position under the snapper (PlayPic C page 32), to a player who moves from the line to the backfield or vice versa (MechaniGram E, page 32).

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After a shift has been completed, all team A players must come to a complete and simultaneous stop and remain motionless for at least one second before the snap. Failure to do so results in an illegal shift foul at the snap. The head bob in PlayPic D is a false start.

C

D

Placing hands under the center (C) is a shift. A head bob (D) is a false start.

PRESS BOX

E

A8

A4

A3

A6

A5

A5 A2

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A11

A1 A4

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A7 A10

A9