Be the Referee: Dead Ball Penalty
By
Paige Winne
MHSAA Director of Brand Management
September 15, 2026
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.
Below is this week's segment – Dead Ball Penalty - Listen
We’ve got 4th-and-10 on the football field today. Team A has the ball on their own 40 and is going for it.
The quarterback scrambles and is pushed out of bounds at the 49-yard line, one yard short of a first down.
A defensive player from Team B hits the quarterback after he’s been pushed out of bounds and is flagged for a dead-ball personal foul. Where should the ball be marked and who has possession?
Is it 1st-and-10 for Team A at Team B’s 36-yard line? Or does the defense get the ball, 1st-and-10 for Team B at their own 36?
If you said Team B’s ball, you are correct. The personal foul was a dead-ball penalty that is enforced after the change of possession.
Previous 2026-27 editions
Sept. 8: Libero Ejected - Listen
Sept. 1: Soccer Foul After Shot on Goal - Listen
Aug. 25: Fumble Out of Bounds - Listen
Listen to Coach, on Concussions
September 5, 2012
Farmington Hills Harrison football coach John Herrington has won 13 MHSAA championships and nearly 400 games over the last four decades. So when he speaks about concussion awareness, we all should listen.
As part of the MHSAA's ongoing concussion education, Herrington spoke on camera about the importance of proper perspective when it comes to those injuries.
(Click on photo below)
Also, this week's MHSAA Perspective with John Johnson discusses the importance of concussion awareness. Listen
PHOTO: Farmington Hills Harrison coach John Herrington led his team to a 38-28 win over Lowell in the 2010 MHSAA Division 2 Final. (Click to see more at Terry McNamara Photography.)