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
Unforgettable 5ive: 2021 Football Week 3
By
Jon Ross
MHSAA Director of Broadcast Properties
September 15, 2021
Here's a look at our Week 3 "Unforgettable 5ive" from MHSAA.tv and MHSAA media partner broadcasts:
► Goodrich's Caden Kolanowski takes the punt back 51 yards for the score in the Martians' 48-0 win over Clio.
► Livonia Churchill gets a touchdown just before half when Bailey Brooks hauls in the tipped pass from Taj Williams. Churchill would go on to defeat Belleville 28-21.
► Watervliet beats Buchanan 19-13 thanks in part to this 79-yard touchdown pass and catch from Tyson Williams to Chase Tremblay,
► Detroit Martin Luther King's Dante Moore finds Joseph Williams for the touchdown as King would defeat Cass Tech 41-34.
► Ovid-Elsie gets a 25-yard game-winning field goal from Colin Fluharty with 11 seconds left in a 23-22 win over Montrose.
Previous clips