Be the Referee: Football Finals Replay

By Sam Davis
MHSAA Director of Officials

November 22, 2022

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 – Football Finals Replay - Listen

There’s a change to the instant replay process for the Football Finals at Ford Field.

All potential scoring and turnover plays will continue to be automatically reviewed. But new this year, coaches will be allowed to challenge one play per regulation, with some restrictions.

First, a team must have a time-out available and call it to initiate a review.

Second, there are a limited number of items that can be reviewed. Those include catch or no catch. Ball carrier in or out of bounds. Forward or backward pass. And a handful of others.

If successful, the coach will be given back the timeout and can make one more challenge in regulation.

In overtime, coaches can challenge once, no matter how many overtime periods are played – and only if they have a time out.

Previous Editions:

Nov. 11: Back Row Illegal Blocker - Listen
Nov. 4: Swim Turn Judges - Listen
Oct. 25: Soccer Referee Jersey Colors - Listen
Oct. 18: Cross Country Tie-Breaker - Listen
Oct. 11: Soccer Shootouts - Listen
Oct. 11: Safety in End ZoneListen
Oct. 4: Football Overtime Penalty - Listen
Sept. 27: Kickoff Goal - Listen
Sept. 20: Soccer Timing - Listen
Sept. 13: Volleyball Replays - Listen
Sept. 6: Switching Sides - Listen
Aug. 30: Play Clock - Listen
Aug. 23: Intentional Grounding Change
- Listen

Be the Referee: Forward Fumble

By Paige Winne
MHSAA Marketing & Social Media Coordinator

September 9, 2025

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 – Forward Fumble - Listen

We have a Football “You Make the Call” for you today.

Team A has the ball at their 20-yard line. Team A’s quarterback gets the snap and starts running toward the sideline.

He’s tackled and fumbles the ball forward, towards the sideline. The ball rolls forward four yards and goes out of bounds before anyone can recover it.

Whose ball is it, and where is it marked?

Since the offense fumbled the ball, it went out of bounds and it wasn’t recovered by anyone, it remains the offense’s ball.

But the ball is marked back to the spot of the fumble. There’s no advantage to fumbling the ball forward.

If the ball had been fumbled backwards and out of bounds with no recovery, then the offense would retain possession where the ball went out of bounds.

Previous 2025-26 editions

Sept. 2: Field Hockey Basics - Listen
Aug. 26: Golf Ball Bounces Out - Listen