By Mark Uyl, Asst. Director, MHSAA

Punts & missed field goals

One of the differences between high school football rules and rules at the collegiate and professional levels deals with punts and missed field goals.

Essentially, the place kick is treated like a punt as it relates to team possession from the goal line and out of bounds. If either goes out of bounds from inside the field of play, the defensive team takes possession at that spot. If either goes into the end zone, the defensive team may not return the kick.

And a missed field goal in high school that goes into or through the end zone, resulting in a touchback, has the defense taking over, first and 10, at their own 20, regardless of the previous spot.

Be the Referee is a weekly message from the Michigan High School Athletics Association that is designed to help educate people on the rules in different sports, to help them better understand the art of officiating, and to recruit officials.

By Mark Uyl, Asst. Director, MHSAA

What officials don’t do 

Game officials at all levels have a lot of responsibilities. But there are some critical things that take place at local high school games where officials don’t have the authority that some folks think they do. Let’s start with injuries – specifically concussions. Concussion management starts and ends with the local school. If an official suspects a concussion–or any injury–all he or she can do is notify the coach of the team. The school makes the decision about whether or not a player stays in the game. We often get calls about whether or not an official is responsible for enforcing MHSAA Handbook rules. Again, it’s up to the school, which agrees to follow and enforce the rules when joining the Association. Even if the official suspects an ineligible player is in the game, it’s not his or her role to enforce that rule. It’s all on the school.

Be the Referee is a weekly message from the Michigan High School Athletics Association that is designed to help educate people on the rules in different sports, to help them better understand the art of officiating, and to recruit officials.

By Mark Uyl, Asst. Director, MHSAA

Always first and goal during overtime

In Michigan, football overtime for each team starts with first and goal at the 10-yard line. Other states which allow overtime begin anywhere from the 10 to the 25-yard line, and in some of those states, you could actually pick up a first down while on offense.

But Michigan is always first and goal. Even in those situations where a dead ball foul from the end of the first team’s possession in an overtime may start the second team’s series at the 25, it is still first and goal.

The only way a team on offense can pick up a first down in overtime is on a penalty providing yardage plus an automatic first down, and those are only the roughing calls: roughing the passer, the kicker, the holder and the long snapper.

Be the Referee is a weekly message from the Michigan High School Athletics Association that is designed to help educate people on the rules in different sports, to help them better understand the art of officiating, and to recruit officials.

By Mark Uyl, Asst. Director, MHSAA

You make the call: face guarding

Let’s check out your knowledge of high school football rules with a you make the call. The quarterback drops back to pass and his intended receiver gets a step on the cornerback. As the ball approaches the receiver, the defensive player sticks his hands and arms out in front of the receiver’s face without contact. The receiver loses sight of the ball, and the pass falls to the ground. What’s the call?

A national high school playing rule instituted last year removed the  penalty for face guarding without contact. The change brought high school football rules in line with collegiate and professional rules.

The pass is incomplete and there is no flag for defensive pass interference.

Be the Referee is a weekly message from the Michigan High School Athletics Association that is designed to help educate people on the rules in different sports, to help them better understand the art of officiating, and to recruit officials.

By Mark Uyl, Asst. Director, MHSAA

There may be no hit in football that generates more oohs and aahs than the blind side hit. It’s also one of the most dangerous hits in the game.

A defensive player in pursuit of the runner, who does not have a reasonable opportunity to see the oncoming blocker, is considered defenseless. In keeping with putting player safety first, national high school rules, now allow blocking form the blind side only when contact is initiated with the hands – achieving the same effect without all the contact.

That big blind side hit will now result in a 15-yard penalty and possible ejection form the game.

Be the Referee is a weekly message from the Michigan High School Athletics Association that is designed to help educate people on the rules in different sports, to help them better understand the art of officiating, and to recruit officials.

“Be The Referee” is a series of one-minute messages designed to help educate people on the rules of different sports, to help them better understand the art of officiating, and to recruit officials. “Be The Referee” features MHSAA Assistant Director Mark Uyl’s insights on officiating.

Wrestling & Technology

Technology seems to grow and expand in just about every facet of American life. Ironically, technology is even now moving into high school athletics, even in the sport of wrestling.

Current National Federation playing rules allow coaches, in the corner during a wrestling match, to use technology – which could be the use of video or still photographs – to instruct wrestlers during any timeout or dead clock situations.

The only thing at coaches can’t do is transmit audio information into an ear piece that a wrestler is using, or use that video to argue or contest a call.

By Mark Uyl, Asst. Director, MHSAA

In all contact sports, the biggest issue of the day continues to be concussions. Game officials play a vital role in keeping athletes safe on the field, court, ice and mat. While officials are never placed in the position to diagnose a possible concussion, the officials can often see when a player first becomes injured. When that possible injury is noticed by an official, all game rules require the contest be stopped and the student is evaluated by the school’s health care team. It then becomes the call of the school to determine if the player has suffered a possible concussion. If yes, the player is out for at least the rest of that day. If no, the player can return to the contest.

Be the Referee is a weekly message from the Michigan High School Athletics Association that is designed to help educate people on the rules in different sports, to help them better understand the art of officiating, and to recruit officials.

This week, MHSAA assistant director Mark Uyl explains the increased focus on making sure knee padding is worn correctly in football.

Everything in the game of football, from a rules-making perspective, starts and ends with an increased focus on player safety.

One big point of emphasis for the 2016 season centers on equipment being worn properly by all players. Too often we see college and pro players, especially those at the skill positions, wearing football pants that come nowhere close to covering the knee area.

With a continued focus on all high school players to lower the target zone when hitting an opponent to keep the head out of football, kids must wear pants with knee pads that completely cover the knee area to avoid those types of injuries.

Be The Referee is a series of short messages designed to help educate people on the rules of different sports, to help them better understand the art of officiating, and to recruit officials.

Play Clock Experiment 

From time to time, the MHSAA receives permission from the national rules making body, the National Federation of State High School Associations, to experiment with a new rule.

This fall in high school football, Michigan schools can experiment with a 40-second play clock.

In this experiment, the 40-second play clock begins at the end of the previous play, giving teams consistency from week to week when the offense can next snap the ball.

With using the traditional 25-second play clock, it really depends on the referee of the game in terms of the pace on how quickly the offenses can go.

Be the Referee is a weekly message from the Michigan High School Athletics Association that is designed to help educate people on the rules in different sports, to help them better understand the art of officiating, and to recruit officials.

By Mark Uyl, Asst. Director, MHSAA

Be the Referee is a weekly message from the Michigan High School Athletics Association that is designed to help educate people on the rules in different sports, to help them better understand the art of officiating, and to recruit officials.

Slide Rule 

Recently there’s been a lot of conversation and discussion about Major League Baseball’s new slide rule – both at second base, as well as some of the new collision rules that are in effect around home plate.

For many years at the high school level, both baseball and softball playing rules have been ahead of the curve in keeping players safe.

In both high school baseball and softball, when runners do elect to slide, they must slide directly into the base on a force play. On those plays at the plate, runners must do everything they can do to avoid a collision with the catcher; by either making a legal slide, giving themselves up, or moving in a way to make those collisions at home plate a thing of the past.

By Mark Uyl, Asst. Director, MHSAA

Be the Referee is a weekly message from the Michigan High School Athletics Association that is designed to help educate people on the rules in different sports, to help them better understand the art of officiating, and to recruit officials.

Wrestling weight monitoring 

It has often been said that wrestling is the toughest and most grueling six minutes in all of sports. It is a sport that requires great dedication, discipline and conditioning from those kids that step onto the mat.

One of the most important parts of the high school wrestling program in Michigan is the weight monitoring program. Prior to the season, every wrestler undergoes a body composition test where the body fat percentage of each student is determined and based on that data, a minimum weight and weight class is established for every participant.

This data provides a safe and healthy plan for kids that wish to drop weight and move down to a lower weight class as a wrestler can never lose more than 1.5 percent of their body weight in a given week. This program has made wrestling a safer and healthier sport for every single wrestler in the state of Michigan.

By Mark Uyl, Asst. Director, MHSAA

Be the Referee is a weekly message from the Michigan High School Athletics Association that is designed to help educate people on the rules in different sports, to help them better understand the art of officiating, and to recruit officials.

Make the call: Intentional grounding 

A quarterback is rolling out wide toward the sideline and is being chased by two large defenders. To avoid a certain sack, the QB throws the ball away, deep down the field, where no offensive receiver is even in the same zip code where the ball hits the ground. What’s the call?

Under high school rules, this is intentional grounding, as there always has to be a receiver in the general area of the pass. At the college and pro levels, all the QB has to do is throw the ball beyond the line of scrimmage, if he has scrambled outside of the tackle box. When at your next game, know this important difference when it comes to intentional grounding.