In the video clip below, we have a legal forward pass that ends up simultaneously possessed by airborne offensive and defensive players. The defensive player in joint possession of the ball appears to return to the field of play in his own end zone prior to the offensive player. The ruling on the field by the side judge was touchdown.
Is this play a touchdown or an interception? Did the crew get it right?
The correct answer, of course, is… it depends.
This play highlights one of the areas where the NFHS (high school) and NCAA (college) rule sets differ.
Under NFHS rules, “a forward pass, legal or illegal, is complete and may be advanced when caught by any player A or B. If a forward pass is caught simultaneously by two opponents, the ball becomes dead and belongs to the passing team. (7-5-4)”. Since possession of a live ball in the opponents end zone is always a touchdown (8-2-1), this play would result in a touchdown under Federation rules.
Under NCAA rules, the legal forward pass is considered completed or intercepted by the player who first returns to the ground in bounds when joint possession is established with both players in the air (AR 7-3-6 II). In this case since the defensive player returned to the ground on the field of play first, the play would result in an interception. Since the ball became dead in possession of a player behind the goal line and the offense was responsible for the ball being there (8-6-1 [a]), the play results in a touchback under NCAA rules.
This is a high school game played under NFHS rules between the Blackhawk Cougars and Montour Spartans in Pennsylvania.
The side judge was in perfect position and ruled correctly, touchdown!
Who am I?
My name is Brett Anderson. I currently reside in Grayslake, IL with my wife and twin children. Since 2006 I have been a licensed official with the Illinois High School Association (IHSA). I am currently licensed in six sports: football, soccer, wrestling, basketball, baseball, & softball. My officiating career got off to an auspicious start in November of my first year when I tore an ACL and shredded a medial meniscus officiating my first contest. The rehab process was significantly slowed due to the fact that I had one month old twins (Owen & Marlo) at home at the time, so I was unable to take the field, court, mat, or diamond until the following August.
Undeterred by my initial experience and with the help of a wonderful extended family, I began to officiate games the following fall at the pace of 300 – 400 per year. I’ve developed a true passion for the avocation of officiating and the perpetual quest for the perfect game.
Professionally, I spend my days working as a software engineer. Since 2003, I have been employed byFry, Inc working out of our office in Westmont, IL.
Why bother with blogging?
Mostly for selfish reasons. I’ve found that to truly master a craft you have to be capable of instruct others in the various aspects of that craft. I spend a significant amount of time working to improve as an official and I believe this to be an extension of that work. I am hoping that people will find these blog posts factually correct, informative, useful, and/or interesting. I believe that blogs of this nature work better as conversations, so please feel free to leave on topic comments or send me an email message.
Isn’t this a bit presumptuous at this point in your officiating career?
Possibly.
However, I’m looking at this as simply an exercise where I can organize my thoughts on various aspects of officiating. Nothing more. Nothing less. Posting my thoughts publicly not only invites feedback that I might not be able to receive via other various channels, but allows for the possibility that others can benefit from my work.
The thoughts expressed here are mine and not representative of my employer, any association of which I am a member, or the IHSA.
