Bobref

I know Andrean is in Merrillville, but I meant at the Merrillville - Warsaw game. 😉

Who will be at Merrillville Friday night ... besides me, I mean?

There most certainly was, and I was the Referee on that game. Valpo had a big lead and appeared in control. Mishawaka mounted a furious comeback on the strength, of all things, of their passing game. Al Smith was the coach at Mishawaka, and his attitude toward the forward pass was somewhere to the right of Woody Hayes. 😅 Outside the hashes the field was OK, but between the hashes was solid ice. The big play that won it for the Cavemen was a long punt return TD where the returner literally skated right down the middle of the field. Perhaps @maroonman can confirm my recollection, if he’s lurking out there somewhere.

ART. 3 . . . After the ball is marked ready for play, and until the ball is kicked, the following formation requirements must be met: a. No player, other than the kicker and the holder for a place kick, may be beyond his free-kick line ...” The kicker may be beyond the free kick line when he kicks the ball. This is something I would suggest you address with the crew in the pregame conference, to make sure everyone is on the same page.

First of all, crew locations are determined by the residence of the Referee. But second, there simply are not enough good crews at this point in the tournament to be that picky. A single crew might have members from 5 different school districts. Simple geographic location has never been considered a disqualifying factor, nor should it be. If there were an over abundance of officials, the IHSAA might be able to cut it that fine. But, unfortunately, the opposite is true.

It’s a relatively recent rule change, following the trend of “risk minimization.”

As we get deeply into the playoffs, one would think the games would get closer and closer. Close games often mean onside kicks. The high school rules regarding onside kicks differ significantly in some respects from those you see on Saturday and Sunday. Onside kicks are a real challenge to officiate, because there's a lot happening in a very short time and a restricted space. Also, it's usually a critical play in the game. So let's review. An onside kick, like all kickoffs, is considered a "free" kick. For a free kick, the kicking team (K) may place the ball anywhere between the hashes to kickoff. After the ball is whistled ready for play, there are certain formation requirements for K: No K player, other than the player who ultimately kicks the ball, may be more than 5 yds. behind K's free kick line, which usually means they can't be behind the 35 yd. line. The object is to prevent K from getting a big running start, which increases the risk of injury. At the time the ball is kicked, there must be at least 4 K players on each side of the kicker. Doesn't matter where they line up initially, only at the time the ball is kicked. Any K player can catch or recover a free kick and then K gets to keep it, provided it is not kick-catching interference or first touching. More on that later. If a K player catches or recovers the kick, the ball is immediately dead and they cannot advance it. K may legally recover the ball before it goes beyond the receiving team's (R's) free kick line, usually the 50 yd. line, if it is touched first by an R player. Such touching by R is ignored if it is caused by K pushing or blocking R into contact with the ball, of if K muffs the ball into contact with R. Any K player may legally recover a free kick if it has both touched the ground and goes beyond the plane of R's free kick line. These two requirements may be fulfilled in any order. If K touches a kick before it has crossed R's free kick line, and before R has touched it, it is referred to as "first touching." R may take the ball at the spot of first touching, or may choose the result of the play. As before, "first touching" is ignored if it is caused by R pushing K into contact with the ball. The right to take the ball at the spot of first touching can be canceled if there are fouls, but it gets a little complicated to explain here. You'll know if there's first touching because the covering official will drop a beanbag on the yard line where the first touching occurred. Or, at least, he's supposed to. While the free kick is in flight, R is entitled to an unimpeded opportunity to catch the kick. This includes a prohibition against not just contacting R players in position to catch the kick, but obstructing R's path to the ball. This does not apply after R touches the kick while it is in flight. Unlike at other levels, in high school K cannot touch or catch an onside kick on the fly. This is kick catching interference regardless of whether an R player was in position to catch the kick. If K touches or catches an onside kick on the fly, the foul can be enforced several different ways, at the option of R: R may accept the result of the play R may accept an awarded fair catch after 15 yds. enforced from the spot of the foul. The significance of an awarded fair catch is that it allows R to then elect to try a free kick for a field goal. R may accept a 15 yd. penalty from the previous spot and a re-kick. But no one in his right mind is going to elect that, unless it was a "surprise" onside kick, rather than one at the very end of the game by a trailing team. Also unlike at other levels, a "pop-up" kick is illegal. A pop-up kick occurs when the kicker drives the ball immediately into the ground, the ball strikes the ground once, and goes into the air in the manner of a ball kicked directly off the tee. If K attempts a pop-up kick it is a free kick infraction, the ball is dead immediately, and K is penalized 5 yds. On an onside kick, no member of the kicking team can initiate contact with an R player until the kick has traveled 10 yds., K is eligible to recover the kick, or R initiates a block in the neutral zone. That's a lot to digest. Now picture the back judge and line judge standing on the teams' free kick lines, in the last minute of a close playoff game and trying to run all these things through his mind while the crowd, and coaches, and players, are all going crazy.

In fact, this week’s game won’t have a field judge at all, since that position does not exist in a 5 man crew. I would think an “Unbiased Official” would know that ... if he really is an official, that is.

This “discussion” with @Cow Bell reminds me of a piece of advice a wise veteran official gave me when I was first starting out: ”Arguing with a coach is like mud wrestling a pig. Eventually you realize you’re covered in filth ... and the pig is enjoying it.”

😴

Absolutely correct. Always on the snap following a delay penalty. I was addressing the possibility of consecutive false starts as a tactic to consume time.

But we don’t suffer fools on the GID.

If Cow Bell actually tries to read this, I’m pretty sure his head will explode. 🤯

😂🤣😅😆 I have to believe his language and/or spelling skills would be better if he had a P/P education.

Forecast for Friday night in the 219: Game time temp of 28 with winds from the northwest at 8. Feels like 20. No precipitation. Bundle up !

Words you should take to heart. “It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to talk and remove all doubt.” - Mark Twain

For that matter, you could do it in the 1st or 3rd quarters as well. I can honestly say, however, I’ve never seen it in a high school game. And if people start to do it, you can be sure the word will get around, and the Referee’s index of suspicion will go way up.

This should never happen in high school. We have 2 rules that prevent it. First, inside 2 min. remaining in either half, if the game clock is running and there’s a foul, the offended team can elect to have the game clock next started on the snap, not the ready for play signal. Rule 3-4-7 Also, the Referee has the authority to order the clock started or stopped, at his discretion, if a team is attempting to illegally conserve or consume time. Rule 3-4-6.

That would be interesting ... since Arkansas is paying a visit to South Bend next season.

That is very weird. I’ve never heard of such a thing. Very surprised that the IHSAA would permit a tournament game - especially at this level - on a non-regulation field. You mean the playing surface is less than 160’ wide?

No doubt. This happens very rarely at the high school level.

Not exactly. It’s true the NCAA and NFL rule that allows you to throw the ball away when you’re outside the tackle box does not exist in high school. But intentional grounding occurs only when the pass is purposely incompleted to save loss of yardage or conserve time. If there’s no one open, and the QB just decides to give up on the play and just throw it away, it’s not a foul if he’s not under duress while doing so.

I’m fully on board with how good they are. I’ve got my Ohio State hoodie on right now. I’m a Buckeye fan and a native Ohioan. Just being realistic. I don’t know any of the circumstances, and haven’t addressed whether he should be suspended, only potential ramifications if he is, in fact, suspended. But in a game against Penn State, or at the Big House, he could be the difference. He’s that good.

That is a pretty naive viewpoint. If he got a loan that came to him from someone who is considered a “representative of the university,” i.e., a booster, it doesn’t matter if he paid it back. Being able to get a loan when you’re in college without a job is a benefit. Just saw on the ESPN ticker that OSU believes he will get a 4 game suspension. Assuming it’s retroactive to today’s game - and they’ve already announced he won’t play today - he’ll miss both Penn St. and Michigan. They get beat by Penn State and they’re out of the B1G championship game. If that knocks them out of the playoff, IMO it’s no better than 50-50 that he comes back for the bowl game. There is, regrettably, plenty of precedent.

He’s clearly demonstrated the ability to reload rather than rebuild. They haven’t lost more than 1 game in a season since 2012.