SAN DIEGO COUNTY FOOTBALL OFFICIALS ASSOCIATION - THE WEEKLY BULL FOR FLAG FOOTBALL – August 11, 2025
Screen Blocking in the Backfield – The officials reported that while working flag games this weekend, the screen blocking in the backfield was one of the most challenging plays to officiate. In some cases the contact is so slight that a penalty is not warranted. No problem. But in cases where there is more significant contact, judging who initiated (is responsible for) the contact. I suggest the referee get involved early and work with the players to set a good standard for the game. We don’t want to take the athleticism out of the game, but we need to penalize illegal and unsafe contact. Start with warnings, and guidance, then move to penalize as is necessary to set that safe, competitive level.
Length of Games – Early reports are that the games are definitely longer, as much as one hour and forty-five minutes long. Please report the lengths of your games to Tom Ables so we can begin to share that data with CIF. We anticipate that the referee will be entering the length of your games into the game report feature of Arbiter. More on that soon.
Progress Spot – Reminder, the accurate progress spot is the location of the ball when the flag is pulled. It is much more common for a runner in flag football to be extending the ball forward from their body in an attempt to gain extra yardage. They should be given that extra yardage. Do not get in the habit of marking progress where the flag was pulled. This too may be accurate, but not always! See the flag pulled, see where the ball is!
