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"Behind the Stripes" is written by veteran WIAA official B.J. Ligocki, an active message board poster who has helped many people on the forum with rules questions and clarifications over the years. The purpose of this feature is to help educate readers on any rules changes, clarify procedures and rules, provide case studies and examples, and answer any questions people may have on officiating or rules.

Feel free to email any rules or officiating questions you have at wissports.ask.a.ref@gmail.com for inclusion in future articles.

B.J. Ligocki:  Football (Master Level – 9 yrs – State Championship); Basketball (Level 5 – 17 years – Regional); Baseball/Softball (Level 5 – 17years - Regional)

The rules of high school football are complicated, sometimes even more so because of the differences between them and NCAA and NFL rules. Here are some possible rule changes to discuss:

Penalize fouls behind the line of scrimmage from previous spot

Right now if there is a foul on the offense, it is penalized from the spot of the foul. For example, if a lineman holds in pass protection 3 yards behind the line on first down, and the foul is accepted, the next snap will be 1st & 23. At least once a year you hear a coach or fan yelling the spot is wrong because holding is a 10 yard penalty. Changing this would align the NFHS rules with what people expect and see on TV, and I think offensive coaches will agree 10 yards is enough of a hurdle to overcome.

Intentional Grounding

This is another call that is very different then NCAA and NFL and what people expect. In NFHS, there is no such thing as the tackle box or throwing the ball away. It is almost a guarantee that either the coach or the QB will complain about an intentional grounding call when he rolls out and throws the ball away out of bounds. High school passers must throw a forward pass in the area of an eligible receiver. Making this rule match the NCAA version would prevent explaining it 5 times a year and better prepare the players for the next step.

Another issue with throwing the ball away is how teams kill the clock late in a half. By rule, in order to spike the ball legally, the QB must take a snap under center. With so many teams running shotgun formation almost exclusively, it would make sense to allow an immediate spike from the shotgun to kill the clock. I don’t see an advantage gained by the offense in allowing this. Last week we had a team snap into the shotgun from their own 1 yd line, I believe because they had little to no experience snapping under center. When a coach has to decide whether to snap under center to kill the clock but worry that it won’t be fumbled, it is not a good situation.

Low Blocking (blocking below the waist)

How many fans of football know what the free blocking zone is, who is in it, and when it exists? I would guess not many. Without knowing those terms, it is impossible to know when low blocks are allowed. For the most part, if a lineman blocks low at the snap, without delay, it is legal. Although this year there was an interpretation that blocking low from a 2-point stance while in shotgun is “almost impossible.” If I could write this rule, I would allow an immediate low block at the snap by linemen, and penalize blocking low everywhere else.

Targeting

As High school football increases its focus on safety and “risk minimization” the NFHS has included new rules and terms to penalize unnecessary and excessive hits, especially to the head. From what I have seen, however, these types of hits are being penalized differently based on the crews training and experience. Some officials will penalize as 15 yd personal fouls (I think this is the most common), some crews will penalize and be more likely to eject for hits to the head, and some crews will still view these plays as good, hard football. I would like more guidance on which helmet hits should be deemed flagrant and possibly some type of review by the WIAA on these calls in the following week since the ejected players would have to sit out the next game as well.

Kickoff formation

This is definitely a small thing, but when the NFHS enacted new rules for kickoff formations, they interpreted that players being within 5 yards of the free kick line as having both feet inside the line, usually the 35 yd line. Where the NCAA, who developed the rule first, only requires one foot to be within 5 yards, so the players can straddle the 5 yard line, usually the 30. Why not just make the rule the same for both codes?

6th Official

NFHS mechanics use 5 officials. With the development of the spread offense and the passing game, it is increasingly difficult for 5 officials to adequately cover the eligible receivers. Consider a formation with 3 receivers spread wide, trips, to one side. All 3 are covered by the wing official (responsible for the interior WR) and the back judge (responsible for the 2 outside). If both the back judge’s receivers are pressured at the line, it is very difficult for him to cover them both, read the play as a pass or run, and maybe watch a receiver from the other side of the formation crossing into his zone later in the play. There is holding, pass interference, pick plays and all the other usual fouls to watch for. Adding a sixth official to the backfield would help relieve some of these responsibilities and provide better coverage. I would make this a conference option if they feel the offenses run at their schools could benefit from it.

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These are just a few issues that are discussed. I’m sure there are many more for this constantly evolving game. What other issues would you like to see addressed?