Downing a punt

[gonzoron]

If a player from K touches a punt to down it at the 1 yard line, and the ball remains there. The player’s momentum takes his legs past the goal line while still touching the ball which remains at the 1. 
Where is the ball placed for R to begin offense?

[Bobref]

2 minutes ago, gonzoron said:

It was ruled a touchback. I'm not disputing that, because I do believe the ball broke the plane, but it was after the K player caught it in the field of play, and I do believe he had possession of it at that point. K should have just batted the ball downward or backward is what I'm thinking.

I edited my previous answer to address your question. Sounds like they made the right call. The key is that the player doesn’t actually possess the ball while airborne, since his recovery doesn’t occur until he both holds the ball securely and returns to the ground inbounds. Since the ball had already broken the plane when the player holding it returned to the ground in the end zone, it’s a touchback.

Edited September 4, 2021 by Bobref

[Bobref]

1 hour ago, gonzoron said:

If a player from K touches a punt to down it at the 1 yard line, and the ball remains there. The player’s momentum takes his legs past the goal line while still touching the ball which remains at the 1. 
Where is the ball placed for R to begin offense?

The 1. The position of any player’s body relative to the goal line is irrelevant in high school football. The position of the ball is everything.

[gonzoron]

16 minutes ago, Bobref said:

The 1. The position of any player’s body relative to the goal line is irrelevant in high school football. The position of the ball is everything.

Ok, thank you. After watching the video, the player from K caught the ball off a bounce in the air in the field of play , landed in the end zone and the ball was either thrown or fumbled back into the field of play.

Here is a link to the video. 2:04:11 mark. https://www.facebook.com/bombersportslive/videos/282298539964084

[Bobref]

30 minutes ago, gonzoron said:

Ok, thank you. After watching the video, the player from K caught the ball off a bounce in the air in the field of play , landed in the end zone and the ball was either thrown or fumbled back into the field of play.

Here is a link to the video. 2:04:11 mark. https://www.facebook.com/bombersportslive/videos/282298539964084

I’m not at all sure that’s what happened. It does not appear that the K player ever actually possessed the ball. The only question then is whether the ball broke the plane of the goal line. Can’t really tell from that angle. If the K player did grab the ball in the field of play while airborne, and landed in the end zone with the ball having broken the plane, that’s a touchback. He hasn’t completed the recovery until he returns to the ground, so when the ball broke the plane, it was still a kick. 

Which brings me to the real substance of my post: that is absolutely terrible officiating by that back judge. He should be nailed to the goal line in that situation. If the ball was either possessed or touched by the K player in the field of play, there should be a beanbag at that spot. If the ball broke the plane, he should signal the touchback. After the play was over, he needs to kill the clock, and point in the direction the receivers will be going. And he needs to look like he gives a s*it while doing it.

Edited September 4, 2021 by Bobref

[gonzoron]

1 minute ago, Bobref said:

It does not appear that the K player ever actually possessed the ball. The only question is whether the ball broke the plane of the goal line. Can’t really tell from that angle.

Which brings me to the real substance of my post: that is absolutely terrible officiating by that back judge. He should be nailed to the goal line in that situation. If the ball was either possessed or touched by the K player in the field of play, there should be a beanbag at that spot. If the ball broke the plane, he should signal the touchback. After the play was over, he needs to kill the clock, and point in the direction the receivers will be going. And he needs to look like he gives a s*it while doing it.

It was ruled a touchback. I'm not disputing that, because I do believe the ball broke the plane, but it was after the K player caught it in the field of play, and I do believe he had possession of it at that point. K should have just batted the ball downward or backward is what I'm thinking.

[oldtimeqb]

On 9/4/2021 at 12:48 PM, Bobref said:

Which brings me to the real substance of my post: that is absolutely terrible officiating by that back judge. He should be nailed to the goal line in that situation. If the ball was either possessed or touched by the K player in the field of play, there should be a beanbag at that spot. If the ball broke the plane, he should signal the touchback. After the play was over, he needs to kill the clock, and point in the direction the receivers will be going. And he needs to look like he gives a s*it while doing it.

Looks like a back judge that wasn't sure of the rule and wanted to confer with the white hat before signaling anything.  I guess it's better to get the call right than be forcefully demonstrative in your call?  

[Bobref]

2 hours ago, oldtimeqb said:

Looks like a back judge that wasn't sure of the rule and wanted to confer with the white hat before signaling anything.  I guess it's better to get the call right than be forcefully demonstrative in your call?  

The lesser of two evils. These are very basic procedures any varsity level back judge should know.