Be the Referee: Blocking Below the Waist
November 13, 2014
This week, MHSAA assistant director Mark Uyl explains the differences between high school and the college and professional games when it comes to blocking below the waist.
"Be the Referee" is designed to help educate people on the rules of different sports, to help them better understand the art of officiating and to recruit officials. The segment can be heard on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays during the school year on The Drive With Jack Ebling on WVFN-AM, East Lansing.
Below is this week's segment - Blocking Below the Waist - Listen
Many times the key rules differences between high school football and those rules used at the college and profession levels deal with player safety. One of the best examples of this deals with the rules that cover blocking below the waist.
All of us have watched that game played on Saturday or Sunday; we’ve seen that wide out or the wide receiver blocking downfield, and they block the defender below the waist in springing that runner for a big gain.
At the high school level, the only offensive players that can block below the waist are those on the offensive line, generally positioned from tackle to tackle, and those blocks below the waist must be immediate – at the snap – and within that free blocking zone at the line of scrimmage.
Past editions
Nov. 5 - Tournament Selection - Listen
Oct. 29 - Uncatchable Pass - Listen
Oct. 22 - Preparation for Officials - Listen
Oct. 15 - Automatic First Downs - Listen
Oct. 8 - Officials & Injuries - Listen
Oct. 1 - Overtime - Listen
Sept. 25 - Field Goals - Listen
Sept. 18 - Tackle Box - Listen
Sept. 11 - Pass Interference - Listen
Aug. 25 - Targeting - Listen
Be the Referee: Untimed Down
October 13, 2016
This week, MHSAA assistant director Mark Uyl discusses untimed downs in football, a hot topic given a scenario involving one of our in-state universities earlier this season.
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 – Untimed Down - Listen
A few weeks back, the Central Michigan-Oklahoma State football game generated a lot of conversation about the playing rules when any period gets extended with an untimed down.
Many times announcers will wrongly talk about an accepted defensive penalty, that it then means the offense gets one more snap. Under high school rules, whenever there’s an accepted penalty on the last play of the period, there is one untimed down. The only exceptions to this – just like the college rules – are those penalties which also bring about a loss of down.
NOTE: Penalties which bring about a loss of down are: Intentional Grounding, Illegally Handing Ball Forward, Illegal Forward Pass and Illegal Touching.
Past editions
October 6: Soccer Penalty Kick Change - Listen
Sept. 29: Preparation for Officials - Listen
Sept 22: You Make the Call: Returning Kickoffs - Listen
Sept. 15: Concussions - Listen
Sept 8: Equipment Covering the Knees - Listen
Sept. 1: Play Clock Experiment - Listen
Aug. 25: Clipping in the Free Blocking Zone - Listen