SECTION 1. VALUE OF SCORES
ARTICLE 1. The point value of scoring plays shall be:
Touchdown – 6 points
Safety (points awarded to opponent) – 2 points
Successful try by Team A:
Touchdown from the 3-yard line — 1 Point
Touchdown from the 10-yard line — 2 Points
Safety — 1 Point
Touchdown during a try after a change of possession – 2 points
ARTICLE 2. The score of a forfeited game, or a suspended game that later results in a forfeit, shall be: Offended Team – 1, Opponent – 0. However, if the offended team is ahead at the time of the forfeit, the score stands.
ARTICLE 1. A touchdown shall be scored when:
a. A ball carrier advancing from the field of play has possession of a live-ball when it penetrates the vertical plane of the opponent’s goal line. This plane extends beyond the pylons only for a player who touches the ground in the end zone or a pylon.
b. A player catches a forward pass in the opponent’s end zone.
c. A fumble or backwards pass is caught, intercepted, or awarded in the opponent's end zone.
d. The referee awards a touchdown under the provisions of Rule 9-2-4 (Unfair Acts).
Referee’s Responsibility and Team’s Choice
ARTICLE 1. The referee must ask the coach or captain whether the try shall be from the 3- or 10 yard line for 1 or 2 points respectively. Once this decision is made it can only be changed after a charged team timeout. The value of the try may not be changed if a dead-ball foul occurs after the ready for play signal, or if a live-ball foul occurs during the try. Enforcement of penalties does not change the value of the try.
ARTICLE 2. A try is the opportunity for either team to score one or two points while the game clock is stopped after a touchdown. It is a special interval in the game which, for purposes of penalty enforcement only, includes both a down and the “ready” period that precedes it.
a. The ball shall be put in play by the team that scored a six-point touchdown. If a touchdown is scored during a down in which time in the fourth period expires or in extra periods, the try is not attempted unless it will affect the outcome of the game. (Exception: If the scoring team is ahead by one or two points, they have the option to forgo the try).
b. The snap will be midway between the hash marks at or from any other point on or behind the yardage declared by the team that scored the six-point touchdown before the play clock is at 30 seconds or before any subsequent ready-for-play signal. The ball may be relocated after a Team B foul or a charged timeout to either team, unless the timeout is preceded by a Team A foul or offsetting fouls.
c. A try ends when:
1. Either team scores.
2. The ball is dead by rule.
3. An accepted penalty results in a score.
4. A Team A loss-of-down penalty is accepted.
Fouls During a Try Before a Change of Team Possession
ARTICLE 3.
a. Offsetting fouls: If both teams foul during the down and Team B fouls before the change of possession, the fouls offset and the down is repeated even if additional fouls occur after the change of possession. Any repeat of the down after offsetting fouls must be from the previous spot.
b. Fouls by Team B on a try:
1. When the try is successful Team A may accept the score with penalties for personal fouls and unsportsmanlike conduct fouls enforced from the succeeding spot.
2. A repeat of the down after a penalty against Team B may be from any point on or between the hash marks on or behind the yard line where the penalty leaves the ball.
c. Fouls by Team A on a Try:
3. After a foul by Team A on a successful try, the ball shall be put into play at the spot where the penalty leaves it.
4. If Team A commits a foul for which the penalty carries a loss of down, then the try is over and the score is cancelled, and no yardage is assessed on the succeeding spot.
5. If before a change of team possession Team A commits a foul that is not offset, and during the down there is neither another change of team possession nor a score, the penalty is declined by rule.
d. Dead-Ball Enforcement:
1. Penalties for fouls occurring after the ball is ready for play but before the snap are enforced before the next snap.
2. Penalties for live-ball fouls treated as dead-ball fouls occurring during the try are enforced on the succeeding spot. If the try is replayed, those penalties are enforced on the replay.
Fouls During a Try After a Change of Team Possession
ARTICLE 4.
a. Penalties against either team are declined by rule. (Exception: Penalties for flagrant personal fouls, dead-ball unsportsmanlike conduct, dead-ball personal fouls, and live-ball fouls treated as dead-ball fouls are enforced on the succeeding spot).
b. A score by a team committing a foul during the down is canceled. (Exception: Live-ball fouls treated as dead-ball fouls).
c. If both teams foul during the down and Team B had not fouled before the change of possession, the fouls cancel, the down is not repeated, and the try is over. (Exception: Penalties for flagrant personal fouls, dead-ball unsportsmanlike conduct, dead-ball personal fouls, and live-ball fouls treated as dead-ball fouls are enforced on the succeeding spot).
ARTICLE 5. Penalties for fouls occurring after a try are enforced from the succeeding spot. However, if the try is repeated, these penalties are enforced before the repeat.
ARTICLE 6. After a try the ball shall be snapped by the opponent of the scoring team at their own 14-yard line, unless moved by penalty or to begin overtime.
ARTICLE 1. It is a safety when:
a. A runner carries the ball from the field of play to or across their own goal line, and it becomes dead there in their team’s possession. This includes when a player's backwards pass or fumble from inside their own end zone lands or goes out-of-bounds between the goal lines.
Exception:
It is not a safety if a player between their own team’s five-yard line and goal line:
(a) intercepts a pass or fumble; or catches a kick; and
(b) the player’s original momentum carries that player into their own end zone; and
(c) the ball remains behind that team’s goal line and is declared dead in the team’s possession there. This includes a fumble that goes from the end zone into the field of play and out-of-bounds.
If conditions (a)-(c) (above) are satisfied, the ball belongs to this player’s team, at the spot where that player gained possession.
b. An accepted penalty for a foul leaves the ball on or behind the offending team’s goal line.
ARTICLE 2. After a safety is scored, the ball belongs to the defending team and shall be snapped at their own 14-yard line, unless moved by penalty.
ARTICLE 1. It is a touchback when:
a. The ball is out-of-bounds behind a goal line, except from an incomplete forward pass, or becomes dead in the possession of a player on, above, or behind the players own goal line or when the ball becomes dead not in possession on, above, or behind a team’s own goal line and the attacking team is responsible for the ball being there.
b. Team A’s punt breaks the plane of Team B’s goal line and Team A is responsible for the ball being there.
ARTICLE 2. After a touchback is declared, the ball belongs to the defending team at their own 14 yard line, unless moved by penalty. The snap shall be midway between the hash marks, unless a different position on or between the hash marks is selected by the team designated to put the ball in play before the play clock is at 30 seconds or before any subsequent ready-for-play signal. After the ready-for-play signal, the ball may be relocated after a charged team timeout, unless preceded by a Team A foul or offsetting foul.
SECTION 6. RESPONSIBILITY AND IMPETUS
ARTICLE 1. The team responsible for the ball being out-of-bounds behind a goal line or being dead in the possession of a player on, above, or behind the goal line is the team whose player carries the ball or imparts an impetus to it that forces it on, above, or across the goal line, or is responsible for a loose ball being on, above, or behind the goal line, or incurs a penalty that leaves the ball on or behind the goal line.
ARTICLE 2.
a. The impetus imparted by a player who kicks, passes, snaps, or fumbles the ball shall be considered responsible for the ball’s progress in any direction even though its course is deflected or reversed after striking the ground or after touching an official or a player of either team.
b. Initial impetus is considered expended and the responsibility for the ball’s progress is charged to a player;
1. If that player kicks a ball not in player possession.
2. If the ball comes to rest and that player gives it new impetus by any contact with it, other than through forced touching.
c. A loose ball retains its original status when there is new impetus.
