Football rules chages

[White hat]

The NFHS released its news release regarding rules changes for the upcoming season. The final wording has not been released, but the rules that were changed (or in this case, added) have been announced.


In a move that moves the high school game closer and closer to the college game, but "targeting" and "defenseless player" have been added as definitions. Not bad rule changes. My worry is that it will just say any hit to a player above the shoulder is targeting, and we'll have flags for hits to ball carriers who lower their heads in a normal football move.

We see how hard it is to call targeting by the D1 boys on TV, and they go through long hours of intense training. I see little chance at consistency when the new rules will be duiscussed for a half hour at an association meeting and then enforced on the field. We'll see.

Another change, which I personally think is a solution looking for a problem in h.s. football, is changes to kickoffs where no player, other than the kicker, can be farther than five yards from the team's free kick line (prohibits long run-ups). Also, at least four players must be on each side of the ball when the ball is kicked.

A couple of other technical aspects of the rules were cleaned up.

My guess is most fas won't notice a difference since most of them think we play by college rules anyway.

There are some of us disappointed that a few changes weren't made to blocking below the waist rules, but maybe another year. I also thought the automatic first down for defensive pass interference might be brought back. Guess not.



http://www.nfhs.org/content.aspx?id=10392

 

[FBRef]

Beat ya to it.

 

[Hampton Roads 6]

I wish they'd change kick-off rule to where kicks can be returned from end zone. I understand why they don't allow them, but I don't think there would be an increase in injuries.

 

[White hat]

The reason they don't allow them is because coaches don't want them returned. Coaches have enough riding on the decision-making of 15-18-year-olds now, mos don't want those kids deciding whether running out of an endzone is a good idea. It's not.

 

[Hampton Roads 6]

I thought it was strictly to avoid injuries to returners.

 

[FBRef]

Originally posted by Hampton Roads 6:

I thought it was strictly to avoid injuries to returners.

No. It has nothing to do with injuries. It's no more dangerous to return a kick from 1 yard deep in the end zone than it is to return one from the 1 yard line.

 

[GilliamRatings]

I actually like the rule. Once you understand it, the fact that a kick crossing the plane of the end zone is a touchback is very easy to understand and decide. I would imagine that with high school kids there were all sorts of cases where they almost brought it out of the end zone, or did bring it out and then stepped back, etc. that made for some tough calls.

Now it's just this...It is a kick until it is POSSESSED by the receiving team. While it's a kick, if any part of the ball touches or crosses the plane of the receiving team's goal line (in bounds), then it's a touchback (unless the kick scores a field goal).

I did see this call blown, about 5 years ago (in my team's favor) somehow, however. The kick off was picked up by a player on the receiving team at about his own five yard line. He ran sideways (and maybe even a little backward) for quite a ways and there was no question he had possession. He then fumbled the ball for no apparent reason and the ball rolled out of the back of the end zone and the referees called it a touchback.

That wasn't a kick that went into the end zone...that was a fumble and it should have been a safety. It had no effect on the game as we were already beaten, but I was amazed how no one else seemed to think the call was blown (I was on the side of the field with the team who benefitted, however). I am friends with the coach of the team that would have benefitted from the call and he argued about it and told me they had some explanation that since the fumble wasn't caused by a hit by the kicking team that it was a touchback. If that's the rule (actually, I think it was back in 1870's before safeties scored two points), I've got a whole 'nother strategy for 3rd and 25 from my own 3 yard line.