Be the Referee: Football Overtime Penalty
By
Sam Davis
MHSAA Director of Officials
October 4, 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 Overtime Penalty - Listen
What happens when the defense commits a penalty on an extra point try in overtime?
First, the set up. Team A starts with the ball 1st-and-Goal from the 10. On their very first play, they score a touchdown. The extra point is good – but the defense roughs the kicker. What are Team A’s options?
They can accept the penalty, move the ball closer to the goal line and maybe go for two.
Or, they can take the result of the kick and have the penalty enforced when Team B takes over — which means that instead of 1st-and-Goal from the 10 with a chance to tie the game and send it to a second overtime, Team B would have 1st-and-Goal from the 25.
This costly penalty will certainly have an impact on the next possession, where Team B will need a touchdown.
Previous Editions:
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
In Shoulder Pads & Stripes, Michigan Superbly Represented at Super Bowl LX
By
Jon Ross
MHSAA Director of Broadcast Properties
February 9, 2026
MHSAA football champion? Check.
NCAA football champion? Check.
Super Bowl champion? Check.
Winning has become routine for Muskegon’s Anthony Bradford.
Bradford starred on the offensive line for the Big Reds, helping deliver the MHSAA 11-Player Division 3 championship in 2017. He kept collecting titles at LSU as part of the Tigers’ national championship team in 2019. Now, he’s reached the sport’s biggest stage as a Super Bowl champion.
The Seahawks’ starting right guard played a major role in Seattle’s second Super Bowl title, a 29-13 win over New England on Sunday in Super Bowl LX. Seattle rushed for 141 yards and allowed just one sack in the victory.
Bradford wasn’t the only former MHSAA athlete connected to the Seahawks this season. Wide receivers Tyrone Broden (West Bloomfield, 2019) and Cody White (Walled Lake Western, 2016), along with offensive lineman Logan Brown (East Kentwood, 2019), spent time on the practice squad or injured reserve. Defensive lineman Johnathan Hankins (Detroit Southeastern, 2010) was released in early December.
New England also featured MHSAA ties, with offensive lineman Mike Onwenu (Detroit Cass Tech, 2016) and punter Bryce Baringer (Pontiac Notre Dame Prep, 2017) on the Super Bowl roster.
Super Bowl LX was officiated by referee Shawn Smith, a graduate of Detroit Cody, where he played football and ran track. Smith was a registered MHSAA official for 18 years before advancing to the college ranks and eventually the NFL.
PHOTOS (Top) Shawn Smith, center with white hat, poses for a photo with his officiating crew at Sunday's Super Bowl. (Middle) Muskegon's Anthony Bradford lines up against Farmington Hills Harrison in 2017. (Smith photo courtesy of the NFL/Ben Liebenberg.)