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

Metro Detroit Crew Recognized as September's "Crew of the Month" by Lions, MHSAA

By Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor

September 29, 2026

A Metro Detroit football officiating crew has been named the inaugural Michigan “High School Officiating Crew of the Month” by the Detroit Lions.

Shelby Township’s Mike Gentry and Craig Goepper, Grosse Pointe Woods’ David Prince, Ann Arbor’s Shane Smith, Roseville’s Scott Suminski and Jordan Pearson, and St. Clair Shores’ Carson Roose make up the crew, which combined has been part of officiating 10 MHSAA Finals, nine Semifinals and more than 50 District Finals. Gentry received the MHSAA’s Vern L. Norris Leadership in Officiating Award in 2017.

The crew also was recognized for its dedication to the avocation, participation as members of the Motor City Area Officials Association and recruitment of new officials. 

The Lions, in partnership with the MHSAA and National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS), will recognize an officiating crew monthly this season.