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Strange Play, Strange Ruling.........

NNDman

VaPreps All District
May 29, 2001
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This happened Friday night:
B goes for onside kick. However the kicker strikes the ball with the side of his foot and it goes spinning behind the B40 yd line. A2 alertly scoops up the ball and is finally tackled at B8. However a flag was thrown for A being offside. The White Hat said the ball had to go 5 yds before A could touch it.
Correct or incorrect ruling???
 
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On kicking plays in high school we use the designation K for kicking team and R for receiving team. Just FYI. To rephrase, K onside kicks, but the kick spins behind the K-40 yard line where R recovers and is tackled at the K-8 yard line.

There is no “offside” in high school, only encroachment. If R encroached, this means they crossed their restraining line (the 50 in this case) prior to the ball becoming live (the kick). Doesn’t sound like this happened, so there shouldn’t be an encroachment. A side note: encroachments are always dead ball fouls, so the play should always be killed immediately. R can recover the ball anywhere at any time during a free kick or scrimmage kick. There’s no rule that restricts R from ever recovering a kick. I’m hoping what happened here was a miscommunication of the actual foul that occurred during the kick by the WH during his signaling.

Rule 6-1-5: Any receiver may catch or recover a free kick in the field of play and advance, unless an R player has given a valid or invalid fair-catch signal. R may catch or recover a free kick in K's end zone.
 
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Yes, I couldn't quite understand how R committed an infraction when they didn't move until the ball was struck. It was a bizarre evening all the way around. Took more than 3 hours to play the game. Yes, the WH told R's coach it had to go 5 yards before R could touch it.
 
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Yes, I couldn't quite understand how R committed an infraction when they didn't move until the ball was struck. It was a bizarre evening all the way around. Took more than 3 hours to play the game. Yes, the WH told R's coach it had to go 5 yards before R could touch it.
Ouch. Looks like a mistake was made.
 
Yes, I couldn't quite understand how R committed an infraction when they didn't move until the ball was struck. It was a bizarre evening all the way around. Took more than 3 hours to play the game. Yes, the WH told R's coach it had to go 5 yards before R could touch it.

What could have happened here is that R lined up on or over their restraining line (the 50) before the kick and the official covering that restraining line did not blow their whistle to kill the play (could be a new guy still learning the ropes... we all have been there!). This enforcement would still be 5 yards and re-kick even though the official didn't blow their whistle because the play was dead by rule once R encroached.

If the WH actually told the coach this, then I have no explanation for you. What I said above is my best guess for a correct enforcement.
 
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