JustRules

Florida was a different situation. There schools/conferences contract with local associations and those associations are responsible for assigning games. The association involved refused to work so the schools/conference hired a different association. I assume the other association had enough officials to cover those games, but I do believe the original issue was resolved and they went back to their original arrangement. In Indiana schools contract directly with individual crews on a weekly basis. If there was any organized refusal to work games or just a natural loss of official availability the schools would be limited to the pool they are already pulling from.

Not completely true any longer with NCAA rules. The referee has the discretion to flag the offense head coach for an unsportsmanlike conduct foul and the hold and reset the game clock back to what it was before the snap. That would still give the defense the safety and half the distance on the subsequent free kick. The impetus was a series of plays a few years ago where the defense was continually holding the receivers. They were OK with the 10-yard penalty, but this burned clock and prevented the offense from scoring. The circumstances would have to be pretty obvious, and I don't believe it's been done often. But they do now have rule support.

Correct. That's why I changed your answer from "R" to "any".

Minor correction for you. I'll also add if R muffs it or touches it and K recovers, K will be awarded a new series from the spot of recovery.

That would match the NCAA rule. The rules committee is often very adamant to not adopt NCAA rules. Unless they do. A good example was the number of players on either side of the kicker or the pop up kick. But even then they had to come up with a less logical enforcement because they don't want to copy NCAA.

To answer the original question, the way to change it is to submit a rule change to the NFHS via the IHSAA rep, Robert Faulkens. These rule changes are all due to the NFHS prior to November 1 so you would need to get started now. You'll need to include justification, include all impacted rule references as well as all impacted case book plays. I'm pretty confident your rule change proposal will not have much success with the rules committee though. I believe similar rule changes have been proposed in the past and rarely make it out of committee or get much support from the full rules committee. 15 yards is a pretty serious penalty already and usually results in a first down even though not automatic. Looking over the past 2 seasons, my crew has had a total of 14 DPI fouls in 22 games. I don't know how many of those would match your description of a receiver getting abused well beyond 15 yards, but I don't remember any meeting that description. NCAA doesn't feel this needs to be more than 15 yards so I doubt NFHS will seriously consider it. We had one recently where the DPI took place 2 yards beyond the LOS but the penalty was 15 yards. I think that's a bigger issue with the current DPI rule. I also think it should be an automatic first down.

You are correct on both statements. The first one should have been a touchback and the second one live ball as long as the ball hasn't crossed the goal line plane. The location of the feet is irrelevant in relation to the goal line.

Teams are required to be out for the 3 minute warm-up after halftime. It's possible they could have been out at the end of the 3-minute warm-up but not the beginning and that's when the penalty would be enforced. That's likely what happened.

Anywhere between the 10 and 20 I think the BJ should have some flexibility in their starting position. From the 15-20 I would normally default to goal line but be ready to retreat quickly if you see a receiver heading to the end zone. If you read run or all routes are short stay put. If the ball is snapped 10-15 start on the end line (I'm OK with mid-way but prefer end line). If you read run move immediately to the goal line. You'll have time if you have a mobile BJ. If you read pass read the routes. If they run a screen pass you'll have time to move up to the goal line as if it was a run read. This is a little more complex mechanic and some crews won't be able to handle it, but it provides much better coverage for good crews. With a 5-man crew you will often have gaps in these plays but do your best to cover it. The BJ standing directly behind the U is not good. Had the same experience on the other 2 points you made. We weren't sure which mechanic to use on checking the ball so we went with U based on past experience.

This is not something the officials track or enforce. I know the first answer is 6 quarters, but I'm not sure what they count as a quarter played. I believe at one time special teams didn't count but not sure if that's still true.

I think the PoE for intentional grounding was because too many officials bail out an obvious attempt to throw an incomplete pass under the current rules. One that gets anger from the coaches that we get is when the QB sails the ball over the receiver's head on the sideline and it lands on the track. He's not trying to complete that pass and by current rules should be a foul. I'm pretty sure many crews incorrectly let this go. I'm a big fan of the experiment others states are using similar to NCAA/NFL rules and hope it eventually passes. But that doesn't mean I should officiate it like we already have it.

I'm told this game is at Wabash and this is confirmed on Harrell's site.

The format is far fewer plays than a normal game so if they can't handle this number of plays I'm not sure how they would handle a game the following week.

There are two formats approved and the coaches much choose one of them. One involves kicking plays and the other doesn't. Both have sets for "reserves". It doesn't say varsity #2, JV, or freshmen. I'm sure that varies. It's not something the officials worry or care about. It seems like the coaches have always talked through this before the scrimmage. I've sensed they usually have JV in one segment and freshmen on the other. The varsity sets may mix 1s and 2s.

Comments above in red. Great observations and feedback.

You said Franklin and Washington Township districts are hanging by a thread and they are the only ones doing that well. You have clearly given up on them existing. That makes it pretty clear you consider them horrible and they need to go away. What else are we supposed to assume. It's very obvious you are not a part of any of these districts and your opinions are based on anecdotal information and data that doesn't tell a complete story. The districts are doing very well including children of low income and single-family parents. Some struggle and some don't just like any other district. What do you propose to fix the problem you perceive?

So you are saying any school district that doesn't have mostly two-parent households with college educated adults placing a high priority on education are horrible school districts that are barely hanging on. Should we just remove all those people from society so we only have A+ schools? That seems to be your solution based on what I'm reading. If that's not what you mean you aren't representing your position very well.

I had a longer response to your comments but it's obvious you aren't in education or understand how or why the grading systems work. A good analogy is you are saying the only people who have success on a football field are those who play on a team that makes it to a regional final. Everyone else is failing and should give up now. That is an absurd statement and anyone who is involved with any level of high school athletics knows is not true. The grading system benefits schools and systems that already good students from stable backgrounds. The less common that is the harder it is for a school to earn the top grades. A township or urban school to get a B or C grade would be similar to a team that has the talent to win 3 or 4 games in a season to reach a sectional final. That coach would be given major praise and kudos for doing that. If you spent any time in any of these districts and saw the programs they were providing and the success a large number of students were having you would be impressed. Some students will not be successful academically regardless of how much you provide for them and support them. IPS has many amazing teachers and administrators and their students are succeeding in all walks of life including academically. But if you only see the HS got a D from the grading system created to make them look bad then you will assume anyone from an IPS school is dumb and a failure. Fortunately I know that is far from the truth.

You realize North Central has one of the best tennis programs in the country and they are always a top contender in their swim sectional? They both do very academically as well. I know several families in both districts and their students are doing very well. The IOA game away 6 scholarships 2 weeks ago and 2 of them went to FC grads. While the township schools have more challenges than the suburban districts like Zionsville and Carmel, they are far from struggling. A couple years ago Lawrence was actually one of the fastest growing districts in the state despite having very little new development. Two reasons were families attending private schools choosing to return to public schools and students in nearby districts attending because of their outstanding programs. If you only look at macro data you don't get an accurate picture of what's happening in a district.

Based on what?

My kids attend one of the Marion County public schools mentioned in this thread. The school is far from dying a slow death. In fact they are thriving. They don't win championships in many sports because only 1 team out of the 30 or 60+ in each class does that. State championships is a horrible measure of success or failure. I believe this school has won sectional championships in like 10 of the 16 sports in which they compete. That's a very impressive record considering the level of competition they play in those sectionals. All of the district public schools are excelling with students academically and have some of the best and most progressive programs in the state, even better than many wealthy suburban schools. The economic diversity of most of the township schools is amazing and those students are far better prepared to function in a diverse society when they graduate. This isn't a knock against Carmel, CG, and others like them. There isn't much negative you can say about those schools and the students who graduate from them. But to say the county public schools are dying a slow death is a very naive statement.

As long as we don't have to stick our arms in front of us on the wing to indicate we have a legal formation (or whatever reason they do it) I'm good. From what I've heard they do have some weird mechanics but the officials I've talked to enjoy having a standard and being held accountable to that standard. If you don't follow it you don't advance. They have a much different process, one of which includes assigned as individuals and not having to work every round to get to the finals. Someone could work the first round and a semi-final. And you know when you are working before the tournament starts.

In summary, get jerseys that will cover the shoulder pads and can be tucked in. Make sure the numbers are solid and contrast with the jersey. Make sure the pants are long enough to cover the knees of the tallest player.

Most of what affects officials between the start and end of the game are the rules and those are mostly dictated by the NFHS and not IHSAA. A couple areas where the IHSAA can differ is the mercy rule and OT rules. Those are largely left up to the states to implement. I like the mercy rule the IHSAA put in a couple years ago. It seems to be working fine. OT doesn't happen often and in general the version the IHSAA uses seems to be fine. They use the recommended NFHS procedures outlined in the rule book. Some states start at the 25 rather than the 10. One thing I would like to see are more standard philosophies stated by the IHSAA. There are many gray areas in the rules that can be standardized more by the IHSAA. For example, intentional grounding. The rule clearly states that if a passer is intentionally throwing the pass incomplete it's a foul. Throwing the ball at the feet of the running back is obviously done to save time or yardage or both. But most referees won't flag that. Same with throwing the ball well out of bounds 10 feet of the head of an eligible receiver. That is less consistent. Some pass on it because it was in the direction of a receiver. Some flag it because it landed on the track. What philosophy does the IHSAA want us to follow? They should provide that and then evaluate crews based on how they follow it (per bobref's comments above). That kind of inconsistency drives coaches nuts when it's easy to provide an interpretation or philosophy. The IHSAA just says "what does the rule book say?" I understand the IHSAA (through the observer program) is working on some standard mechanics and philosophies. I hope this helps. The IFOA has attempted to do this, but they have no authority over the crews and only 10-15% of the licensed officials attend their clinic every year. Many of the very good crews in the state through apply what they've learned from the IFOA. One thing I think the schools could provide is better security for the officials going to and from the locker room during the game. Many provide someone to walk with the crew so there is at least a presence. Often times though we are walking through crowds on our own. I love the schools where the locker room is under the bleachers or an end zone building where fans are not allowed. I've never been really threatened by a fan walking through the crowd, but you never know. It only takes one crazy fan.

This is similar to the NCAA rule. The slight difference is if the ball touches the ground in the end zone prior to being touched by a receiving team member, it's an automatic touchback. If the return team player muffs it in the end zone or or field of play and it goes into the end zone, it's still a live ball and can be downed for a touchback. That's what I would prefer if given the ability to write the rule.