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Second Half Starts Your Football Drive

August 31, 2014

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Just like that, the first weekend of MHSAA football season 2014 is in the books.

But we've got three more months of exciting stories to follow as September kicks off Monday.

Here's a brief breakdown of regular features to come this season on Second Half:

  • A Game for Every Fan: Weekly looks each Friday at the best games to be played in every corner of the state.


  • Drive for Detroit: Weekly reviews each Tuesday at the most significant results from the weekend across both peninsulas.


  • Be the Referee: Weekly series from our director of officiating, Mark Uyl, that will include a number of football topics during the fall.

  • This Week on MHSAA.TV: We'll fill you in on all the games available on-demand on MHSAA.TV from the week before and let you know which coming up can be watched live on a subscription basis.

  • Inside Selection Sunday: Our annual explanation of how playoff pairings are chosen and some of our toughest decisions when building brackets in October.


  • Live from the Finals: We'll cover all nine MHSAA Finals, beginning with the 8-Player championship game and through two days of 11-player title contests during Thanksgiving weekend.


  • Records Report: Each week we'll fill you in on our latest additions to the MHSAA record books, including for football, which has our largest set of listings.


  • All the scores, schedules and standings: Keep an eye on "Scores & Schedules" on MHSAA.com for scores every weekend as we receive them, and visit your favorite team's page for all results from this fall plus league standings, the rest of the schedule to come and playoff point averages.

Be the Referee: No Tackle Box

October 3, 2019

This week, MHSAA officials coordinator Sam Davis explains the difference between high school and college/pro rules in regards to the football tackle box and intentional grounding. 

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 - No Tackle Box - Listen

Today we are going to talk about the rules that govern the quarterback, specifically when the quarterback is being rushed and is looking to throw the ball away and avoid the sack.

Under both pro and college rules, they have what’s called the tackle box. When the quarterback gets outside of the original position of the offensive tackles and throws the ball and it reaches the line of scrimmage, there is never a foul for intentional grounding.

However, under high school rules there is no such thing as a tackle box. If the quarterback is either in pocket or scrambles outside of the pocket and now is trying to throw that ball away to avoid the sack, there always must be a receiver in the vicinity of the pass to avoid an intentional grounding foul.

Past editions

Sept. 26: You Make the Overtime Call - Listen
Sept. 19: Swimming Finishing Touch - Listen
Sept. 12: Curbing Gamesmanship By Substitution - Listen
Sept. 5: Football Safety Rules Changes - Listen
Aug. 29: 40-Second Play Clock - Listen