Be the Referee: Football Rules Changes
August 23, 2018
In this week's edition, assistant director Brent Rice discusses a pair of rules changes coming to high school football this fall.
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 Rules Changes - Listen
The biggest rules changes in high school football across the country this year involve player safety.
When any required player equipment is missing or worn improperly, an official's time-out shall be declared, and the player must come out of the game for one down. This includes players not wearing knee or thigh pads or rolling their pant legs up over their knees and equipment such as shoulder pads or back pads being exposed.
The other change continues to hone the definition of a defenseless player, this time affecting the quarterback once he has thrown the ball and becomes a passer. Until that time, he is defined as a runner. As a passer, he continues to be defenseless until the pass ends or he moves to participate in the play.
The penalty for hitting a defenseless player is 15 yards.
Be the Referee: Baseball Pitch Count
By
Paige Winne
MHSAA Marketing & Social Media Coordinator
June 10, 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 – Baseball Pitch Count - Listen
Do you know the pitch count limits for high school baseball in Michigan?
- If a pitcher throws 25 pitches or less, he can throw again the next day with no rest.
- If more than 25 but 50 or less pitches are thrown, one day of rest is required.
- 51 to 75 pitches require two days of rest.
- And throwing 76 or more pitches requires three days of rest.
The maximum pitch count for one day is 105 pitches. But if pitch number 105 occurs during the middle of an at-bat, the pitcher can finish that at-bat, but then must be taken out.
Teams are required to track all pitch counts and indicate before a game who is ineligible to pitch that day.
In the postseason, a neutral person tracks the pitch count. If a violation occurs, the pitcher becomes ineligible, and his team forfeits the game he pitched in.
Previous 2024-25 Editions
June 3: Soccer Overtime - Listen
May 28: Track & Field False Starts & Restarts - Listen
May 21: Fixed Obstruction in Tennis - Listen
May 13: Golf Cart Path Roll - Listen
May 6: Illegal Softball Bats - Listen
April 30: Golf Relief - Listen
April 22: Soccer Scoring Area Penalty - Listen
April 15: Fair or Foul? - Listen
April 8: Girls Lacrosse New Stoppage Rule - Listen
April 1: Base Runner Interference - Listen
March 25: Pine Tar Usage - Listen
March 11: Basketball Replay - Listen
March 4: Gymnastics Deduction - Listen
Feb. 25: Competitive Cheer Inversion - Listen
Feb. 18: Ice Hockey Delay of Game - Listen
Feb. 11: Ski Helmets - Listen
Feb. 4: Wrestling In Bounds or Out? - Listen
Jan. 21: Block or Charge? - Listen
Jan. 14: Out of Bounds, In Play - Listen
Jan. 7: Wrestling Scoring - Listen
Dec. 17: Bowling Ball Rules - Listen
Dec. 10: Neck Laceration Protector - Listen
Dec. 3: Basketball Goaltending - Listen
Nov. 26: 11-Player Finals Replay - Listen
Nov. 19: 8-Player vs. 11-Player Football - Listen
Nov. 12: Back Row Setter - Listen
Nov. 5: Football OT - Listen
Oct. 29: Officials Registration - Listen
Oct. 22: Volleyball Serve - Listen
Oct. 15: "You Make the Call" - Soccer Offside - Listen
Oct. 8: Roughing the Passer - Listen
Oct. 1: Abnormal Course Condition - Listen
Sept. 25: Tennis Nets - Listen
Sept. 18: Libero - Listen
Sept. 10: Cross Country Uniforms - Listen
Sept. 3: Soccer Handling - Listen
Aug. 24: Football Holding - Listen