Bobref

Thanks for providing that. I will get to the bottom of this inconsistency and report back. Obviously, with the number of games in which the Mercy Rule is involved, there needs to be consistency on this issue.

For those who have never seen it, here is the complete text of the Mercy Rule, which went into effect April 29, 2019: IHSAA Football Mercy Rule The Indiana High School Athletic Association in cooperation with the Indiana Football Coaches Association have created a protocol to expedite the conclusion of football contests when the point differential between schools reaches a particular threshold. These measures are placed to promote proper sportsmanship between member schools and potentially reduce the chances of injury to student athletes when mismatches between teams occur. Rules and Procedures 1. Beginning with the second half of any high school football game, when the point differential between teams is at or reaches 35 points, the game clock shall convert to a running clock. A running clock is defined as a clock that does not stop during play with the exception of timeouts, scores and/or injuries. 2. Once the running clock is implemented, the clock may not revert back to standard timing protocols regardless of the score of the contest. 3. The 40 second play clock shall remain in effect throughout the contest. 4. Coaches do not have the ability to override the implementation of the Mercy Rule during a contest. The Referee shall notify the head coach of each school when the Mercy Rule goes into effect. The home team is responsible for notifying timing personnel of the running clock.

There is only one person (2, I guess, if you count the Commissioner, who has ultimate authority) at the IHSAA with the authority to offer an official interpretation of the National Federation football rules, and that is Asst. Commissioner Robert Faulkens. He has told me personally, face to face, unambiguously, that since the implementation of the Mercy Rule, that is the exclusive manner in which timing rules may be altered. The whole idea was to take the “coaches’ agreement” out of it. There, I named my source. You name yours.

First time I’ve watched Pittsburgh in a while, and I was shocked by the deterioration in Roethlisberger. He was so inaccurate. His mechanics have completely deserted him.

Just because you “can” doesn’t mean you “should.”

Inquiring minds want to know. May be a good story here.

Let’s hope this convinces some people to take a step back, and reevaluate their thinking on certain subjects.

Oops! Didn’t mean to step on your question. I should have known this one was too easy for you. My bad.

Never forget. 😂

I understand what you’re saying. The remedy is to petition the IHSAA to change the rule. Simply put, game officials are not at liberty to disregard the rules, no matter how much we don’t like the rule. That’s way too slippery a slope. And the way to prevent this is don’t schedule an obviously non-competitive game and then expect the officials to bail you out.

If the foul occurs prior to the ball being ready for play on 1st down for the new series, it’s going to be 1st and 10 after enforcement. If after the ready, it’s 1st & 25. “When a new series of downs is awarded, the penalties for all fouls (including nonplayer and unsportsmanlike) committed prior to the ready-for-play shall be administered before the line to gain is established.” 5-3-1.

OK, so the formation is strong to the L’s side, with trips. That means L’s initial key is the 3rd wide receiver, while the back judge has the two widest on the strong side. But no one is in press coverage, so after his first read, L’s mechanic is to stay on the LOS and read the play. As the receivers on his side moved downfield, he would float to approximately linebacker depth. However, if he read “screen” right away, he’d stay right on the LOS. He should definitely be part of the conversation regarding the Umpire’s flag. That’s one that’s easy to pick up if, after discussion, you decide the ball didn’t cross the neutral zone. That’s not a call you want to nitpick, so the ball should be clearly beyond the NZ before calling the foul. The umpire doesn’t know, so he was right to throw the flag. One of the wing officials has to help there.

In order to give a complete description of the line judge’s mechanics on the play, I’d like to see the offensive formation at the snap. That will tell me the strength of the formation which, in turn, determines the line judge’s initial key. We can start there.

Ineligible receiver downfield is a Point of Emphasis this year.

I have no problem with any way you want to write the Mercy Rule. Start it anytime you want. Let the coaches agree to anything they want. Use whatever point differential you want. But that’s not what the rule says now, and the officials who allowed that to happen were wrong, because the rule, as written, does not permit it. There’s no discretion or judgment involved. This interpretation of the timing rule comes straight from the IHSAA. We now have a Mercy Rule. It’s the only way the timing rules can be varied. Officials are not empowered to disregard the rules just because, in this case, everyone was OK with them doing so.

That’s something to be proud of. A lot of coaches spend their time actually coaching.

I presume you mean the umpire, who lines up behind the linebackers. The umpire has primary responsibility for calling ineligibles downfield.

I don’t make the rules.

Doing a little research, I discovered that crews have been quite inconsistent in interpreting this rule, despite the pretty clear language. So, I sent the following play situation to Asst. Commissioner Faulkens and requested an official interpretation of the application of Rule 1-5-3c(2) to the situation. As you can tell from the disclaimer at the bottom of my posts, the IHSAA is the only source of official interpretations of the National Federation football rules. On the first scrimmage play after the opening kickoff, Team A’s offense goes directly to the line from the sideline. All of the players are wearing wristbands containing information on plays, blocking schemes, etc. As the offense gets to the line, all the players turn to the sideline where a coach is holding an electronic LED message board containing 2 red numbers and 2 green numbers. The players then look to their wristband for the corresponding numbers, and run the indicated play. It took about 5 minutes for Mr. Faulkens to respond. The official ruling: “Absolutely illegal.” Spread the word.

There are no exceptions. If timing was altered in the first half, that is a mistake by the officials.

The Mercy Rule is the exclusive manner in which normal game-timing can be altered. It doesn’t start until the 2nd half. Anything other than that is an error. That’s correct. No exceptions. No agreement can alter that.

Anyone seen these popping up on the sidelines, used to signal plays to the players on the field? Just a reminder, Rule 1-5-3(c)(2) includes as illegal equipment “Electronic communication devices used to communicate with a player except during an outside 9-yard mark conference (7- yard marks in nine-, eight- and six-player competition), including electronic signage to signal plays or information from the sideline.” Rule 9-8-1(e) makes it unsportsmanlike conduct to use “any illegal communication equipment as specified in 1-5-3(c)(2) …” The penalty for using the equipment is 15 yds. and, of course, you have to stop using the equipment. These are common at the college level. Anyone see them being used in our game?

I don’t think Coach Marshall gets enough credit for what he’s done with that program, especially when you consider the circumstances under which he got the job.

For what it’s worth, LaSalle is currently ranked #2 in their Region in the Ohio playoff picture. This puts them on track to host a first round playoff game — as long as they keep winning. A loss tonight seriously jeopardizes that.

I always do. 😉