Be the Referee: Other Football Changes

September 7, 2017

This week, MHSAA assistant director Mark Uyl discusses a few final football rules in the final of a three-part series on changes in the sport for 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 – Other Football Rules Changes - Listen


Today in our final segment of a three-part series on the football rules changes for the 2017 season, we’re going to be looking at three items:

• On passing plays, pass interference will no longer be called when the defender is simply face guarding the receiver with no contact.

• In the final two minutes of a half, the team accepting a penalty will now have the option of restarting the game clock with the snap of the ball, rather than the referee’s ready-for-play signal.

• This is the second year of an experiment in Michigan with a 40- second play clock, which starts shortly after a play is over, replacing the 25-second play clock which was always started by the referee marking the ball ready for play.

Past editions
August 31: Pop-Up Onside Kicks - Listen
August 24: Blindside Blocks - Listen

Be the Referee: Soccer Penalty Kick

By Paige Winne
MHSAA Marketing & Social Media Coordinator

September 16, 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 – Soccer Penalty Kick - Listen

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

A player is lined up to take a penalty kick. His shot gets past the keeper and hits the post, rebounding back to him. Since the keeper dove to stop the shot, he has a wide-open net, and calmly sends his second attempt straight to the back of the net.

Good goal?

It is not. After a penalty kick is taken, the kicker can only play the ball again after the goalie or another player touches it. A ball kicked off the post and directly back to the original kicker cannot be played.

In this instance, the goal is not awarded, and the defending team is given an indirect free kick at the spot of the infraction.

If the original P-K had glanced off the keeper first, then hit the post and back to the original kicker who scored, then it would have counted.

Previous 2025-26 editions

Sept. 9: Forward Fumble - Listen
Sept. 2: Field Hockey Basics - Listen
Aug. 26: Golf Ball Bounces Out - Listen