JustRules

The crew has been warned. 🙂

One big difference between the NCAA and NFHS rule (and I presume the NFL rule is similar to NCAA) is you can now legally PUSH the runner. In NFHS I guess you could have contact to the runner while pushing the pile. The true element of the Tush Push you are seeing more now is they are lining up right behind him and pushing him immediately after the snap. That's a different situation than when the pile is already formed and another player starts to push the pile and his contact may include the runner as part of that push.

That automatic qualifying standard is extremely high so they don't end up with too many more than 32 qualifiers.

Yes and you are placed in a lane for your prelim heat based on your qualifying time. The fastest swimmers in the middle. The top 8 prelim times make the championship final and the next 8 make the consolation final. One thing with swimming though is the sectionals are regional. If you are in the sectional with Carmel, you are very unlikely to have anyone qualify for state unless you get one of the very few wildcard spots. You could finish second in the sectional championship heat behind a Carmel swimmer and not qualify while your time would have won a dozen other sectionals.

It wasn't the main reason. That was the huge disparity in enrollment from top to bottom. The fact the number of teams hit 320 was also fixed by doing it so the timing may have been related, but the primary reason was the size disparity in 6A. I agree with everyone else that having 6A and 1A be the classes with 32 teams is a better idea. The disparity in 1A is less than 6A but the it's probably more impactful. It's very possible for a school with 1800 students to compete with a school that has 5000 students. Not easier but definitely possible. While the same 4 teams have won most of the 6A titles the last 20 years, there are still several other schools who compete well with them but haven't been able to get over the hump.

Agreed. He's allowed to move as long as the movement isn't simulating action at the snap. He's going to look between his legs at the QB, holder or punter or look to side or various areas of the defense. As Bobref said, you have to see it.

To clarify, by TE he means the player on the end of the line (regardless of number), not the player identified as the TE in the program. TE appears nowhere in the rule book. All legal offensive players are either a lineman or a back. Backs or linemen on the end of the line could be a traditional wideout or a traditional TE. They are allowed to shift from a 3 point stance to a 2-point stance or another position and reset before the snap. If you are a back you can also be in motion at the snap as long everyone else was set for 1 second before going in motion and your motion is not forward at the snap. A simpler answer to the question though is once the snapper places their hand on the ball, any interior lineman who places his hand on the ground is considered locked. Lifting his hand for any reason results in a false start.

Others have mentioned the sectional champion will be the same regardless of seeding which is possibly true. The order of teams you face could affect the outcome of games, but it would likely be the result of external things like injury or weather and that is random. Every other competition (sport or otherwise) I've been involved with rewarded those who were successful in earlier competitions with the possibility of more competitions in an elimination event at the end. Using the Brownsburg and Ben Davis example, they should both have the ability to advance deep (not one or the other but both). It's a matter of how you define deep. Geographical limitations and trying to reduce (but not eliminate) costs for travel that mean the sectional final round. Or it could be deeper if you went to organizing/seeding at the semi-state or regional level for 5A and 6A especially. Everyone's season will end earlier than they wanted other than the 12 state final teams. But if your season ends week 2 because you lost to another very good team you had to face due to a random draw but a team like Pike or Avon who struggled throughout the season gets to prepare for one more game while you are sitting home, that's what defies logic. Let's say Avon played Brownsburg and Pike played Ben Davis and Avon upset Brownsburg because they played out of their minds in a rivalry game, then it's less of an issue. The team that beat you on the field got the extra week and you only have yourself to blame. But if they got the extra week because of some random draw, that's crazy. And I also think that's the main reason the coaches collectively haven't gotten behind a seeding or qualifying tournament. Enough of them are or have been in the position of Avon and Pike right now. If they are having a bad season, they hold out hope they will draw the other bad team and possibly get that elusive sectional game win. Sure it will lead to a slaughter in the next game but your kids get a tournament win and another week to practice. As for the meaningless regular season, I prefer to say a seeding and/or qualifying format would just make the regular season more meaningful. The current regular season is not meaningless. But there would be a tournament excitement around many games this Friday if making the playoffs or fighting for a seeding spot was on the line. Our game last week featured two pretty good teams but both around .500 this year. Neither is battling for a conference title, but they are in the middle of their class. A win would improve their chances of making the tournament and a loss makes that much more difficult. Both teams played hard and the coaches played to win, but deep down both teams knew the outcome had no impact on who or where they would play in the tournament. If you've been on the field for playoff game you know they feel different. This week we have one team that would be playing for a top 8 seed in their class and the other possibly needs to win to qualify for a top 32 spot in their class. They could possibly lose to the better team and not drop out, but they could also move up and get an easier opponent if you seeded all the way through. That's what gives the regular season more meaning. And aligns with every other competition that exists in the world. The final litmus test I give people is to explain this process to friends and family in other states or people in Indiana who don't follow high school sports closely. They will think you are joking. Nobody would ever come up with a system like that. 9-0 could travel to 0-9 in the first round? Two 1-win teams could play in the first round and then host the winner of two undefeated teams in the next round? I'm a huge proponent of a qualifying tournament with some level of seeding. I like the proposal of 8 teams in a sectional (5A and 6A would go to 8-team regionals) and you play the other 7 during the regular season. Add a 10th regular season game so the same number of games are played as today. Each team then gets 3 non-sectional games that are rivalry or regional or showcase (i.e. teams from other states). Some sectionals will be less than 8 so they get an extra non-conference game and 1 team gets a bye. In the first 2 rounds, 1 hosts 4 and 2 hosts 3. Or you pair 2 sectionals and call the first 3 rounds the regional tournament. #1 from one sectional plays #4 from the other and so forth. That rewards the teams who were more succssful during the regular season more of an opportunity to get to a regional final. They still have to win it on the field to get there though.

If I never have to invoke that rule though I'll be happy. It means things have gone sideways in some way. In 20+ years I've never worked with a referee who used it. I think you could probably handle this with a brief conversation with the coach as well. The mercy rules allows teams to still get live snaps against another team so while the outcome of the game is decided, it's still valuable for both teams. I doubt a coach would actually try to burn a half a quarter doing this.

As the R if there was more time remaining I would probably have a discussion with the B coach to see if he wants to run more offensive plays. If he does I invoke the God rule and order the clock stopped so team A is required to snap the ball.

I believe the NFL has changed their rule as well. NCAA still allows this intentionally. NFHS changed their rule 6-8 years ago. If you intentionally go OOB and and then influence the play (i.e. touch the ball in bounds to cause it to be out of bounds) you are guilty of illegal participation. In this case the penalty would be enforced 15 yards from the previous spot and re-kick. There is no foul for free kick out of bounds. The original play could have been ruled correctly as a free kick out of bounds if the crew determined the R player didn't step out intentionally and then touch the ball in bounds.

Obviously there are more crews than that during the season because we cover 160ish games each week including 150 games on most Friday nights. Some of those are done by mixed crews or a collection of individuals. Some crews choose not to apply because they don't agree with the rating process. We have definitely had a reduction in the number of crews registered though. Don't know the exact numbers, but they are definitely dropping. We used to cover 150ish first round games.

Crew chiefs got an email this week that 129 crews applied and there are 124 games in week 1 of the tournament. 96 in the second round. That means 75% of crews will get at least 2 games.

That was a change after the original rule so it's possible the document is outdated.

Watched the clip. The crew did none of the things you should do when enforcing a penalty. No conversation between the U and another official (maybe they had radios and someone communicated to him or the near side wing gave a visual signal? He didn't check off the distance with the wing before moving. He didn't verify with a wing he was at the right spot before putting the ball down. This not only looked like a situation of going to fast. It skipped a bunch of steps that could have prevented this from happening.

Sometimes crews just make mistakes. Someone needs to recognize this isn't right and correct it before the next down. A common communication when the ball is near mid-chain (4 to 6 yards from the LTG), the H will communicate things like "5 will get us one" or "uphill/downhill". What they are saying is a 5-yard penalty by the defense will result in a first down. I wonder if the H looked at the chain and saw the box was in front of the mark midway on the chain an announced "5 will get us 1" without thinking they were at the B8. That was still in the head when the R and U processed the penalty enforcement so they didn't consider half the distance. Maybe they went to fast and overlooked it. None of that excuses this error. They were wrong and this should not happen. But this proves if you don't concentrate and slow down, you will make mistakes like this.

This is one where you have to trust the covering official that is in the right position and looking at all the action. There is no hesitation in his call and he appears confident. But he doesn't oversell to try to convince everyone he is right. I agree this is a very good crew so based on that, I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt. None of these video angles show anything definitively either way and people on both sides can probably use it to prove it was the right or wrong call.

At quick glance this looks accurate. One thing Indiana does differently from a mechanical standpoint is in regards to the dead ball signal (arm raised over their head). If the covering official signals to stop the clock for a first down in bounds or any runner out of bounds or if they signal incomplete, they also need to give the dead ball signal. The IHSAA doesn't think play clock operators are able to know to se the clock to 40 and start it without that signal. I ask the play clock operator every week if they know what to do without that signal and every one has said yes.

Rose did replace that field a few years ago. It ended up being too time consuming and costly to maintain that type of field. It's much harder than a regular bluegrass field. It was an amazing surface. Their turf is also really nice and using some advanced technology thanks to the engineering at Rose, but the Bermuda grass was still better.

To be fair the Bermuda grass the NFL players get to play is very different than the hard ground and Kentucky bluegrass on high school fields. Those surfaces look and feel like an artificial surface but nicer.

This is close. The defender is not guilty of a personal foul against a defenseless receiver if he wraps him up as part of the hit. It looks like the defender may do this, but I can't tell for sure. You also have a potential targeting call since his helmet may have hit the defender high causing the helmet to come off. I can't tell for sure on this video if the helmet was contacted. Helmets do come off on legal hits like this if they aren't tight enough.

They are allowed to line up in a free kick formation (same as a kickoff). Put the ball on a tee and the receiving team has to be at least 10 yards from the ball. If the kick goes through the uprights they are awarded 3 points. It needs to happen near the end of a half. The team needs to have fair caught a kick. And they need to be close enough their kicker has a fighting chance to make it. It's very rare for all those items to line up at the same time.

Correct. The IHSAA piloted this class last year with a few HSs around the state. They are very involved with the efforts to recruit new officials as well. We'll see how good engagement and follow up is from them and the local officials as well.

Great play! Hopefully they include this. This is a great example of why I tell coaches and players by rule a FG is generally the same as a punt but it can score 3 points for the kicking team. If this had been downed at the spot of recovery, it would have been your ball at that spot 1st and 10. Most think it would return to the previous spot or the 20, but that's now how the HS rule is written. Just like if you punted it to the R5 and downed it, that's where R will get the ball.

The thing is there is no "coaches box". There is the restricted area and team area, but many coaches feel the restricted area is their area and this is the area where the chain crew operates so I assumed that was the area he was referring to. I could be wrong. Teams get excited over there and often get in the way unintentionally. It's not uncommon though for chain crews to have to move through several coaches and players to get to the next line to gain. Since only players entering the field as a substitute and 3 coaches are supposed to be there, it should be fairly clear. But often it's not. It's not likely something that would get flagged. If the chain crew is trying to get into the team area for some reason, that's on them if it gets tight. I've never seen a chain crew try to move in the team area though.