Weekly Bull 9/8/21

SAN DIEGO COUNTY FOOTBALL OFFICIALS ASSOCIATION

 WEEKLY BULL – September 8, 2021

No Meeting This Week – Don’t show up this week…no one will be there!!!  We will be meeting next week September 15th. 

Coach Thompson – We will all miss his talent and personality within our football community and our thoughts and prayers go out to his family and the Mira Mesa school and football community.  Our SDCFOA youth fund has donated $250 to the fundraiser for his memorial services.  Thank you for continuing to support the SDCFOA Youth Fund! 

Change of Dates for Two Meetings –

Meeting on Sept. 29th changes to Sept. 22nd (due to Back to School Night)

7-Man Workshop & Make Up Meeting switch dates – Make Up Nov. 10th & 7-Man Workshop Nov. 17th 

Other Calendar Items:

Game Check Weekend – October 7 - 9

SDCFOA Golf Tourney and Banquet – Nov. 3

7-Man Workshop – Nov. 17

CIF Semifinals – Nov. 19

CIF Finals – Nov. 26 & 27

CA State Regionals – Fri./Sat. Dec. 3 & 4

CA State Championships – Fri./Sat. Dec. 10 & 11

Alex Spanos All-Star Game – Sat. Dec. 11

Player Equipment – How are we doing?  Players and coaches seem to be understanding what we are enforcing and the anger level seems to be decreasing.  Biggest problems I’ve seen are the pants not covering the knees, and the T-Shirt hanging out.  Always, always look for this to be corrected in pre-game, but if we see legal equipment not being worn properly, or adornments like face painting, send them off and have them. Report huge problems to me.

Horizon Prep Has a 90-Yard Field – This has been approved by the CIF and we will not have to make any changes from a 100-yard field.  Kickoffs from the 40-yardline.  Touchbacks and Safeties from the 20-yardline.  And the Team Box extends from the 25 to the 25.

Table Summarizing Penalty Enforcement for the Six Illegal Substitution Fouls:

Illegal Substitution

Live-Ball Fouls

from the

Previous Spot

Replaced player or substitute unsuccessfully attempts to withdraw. (3-7-4, 3.7.Cmt 1

Entering substitute not on his team's side of the neutral zone at the snap and does not participate. 3-7-5, 3.7 Comment 4

All-but-One Fouls

None.

Dead-Ball Fouls

from the

Succeeding Spot

Replaced player does not leave field within three seconds. 3-7-1, 3.7 Comment 2

Replaced player, substitute, or player leaves field before the snap other than on his team's sideline. (3-7-2, 3.7 Comments 3 & 5)

Substitute becomes a player and withdraws or replaced player withdraws and re-enters during the same dead-ball interval. 3-7-3

Live-Ball Foul from the

Succeeding Spot

Substitute enters the field during down, but does not participate.

Nonplayer foul. (3-7-6, 3.7 Comment 6)

Items From the Observers –

  1. Referees should be pushing the tempo with their winding of the clock following 1st We no longer wait for the chains to be set.  We have confidence in our head linesman and the crew to get into place.  Obviously, there are situations which prevent us from achieving a quick tempo, but that is our general goal for our games.

  2. Referees signal quickly to the head linesman to move the chains. For first downs, just signal 1st down quickly and the HL knows to move the chains.

  3. The instructions to the clock operator should include the starting/stopping of the game clock takes precedence over the down, distance, yardline, etc. Only update those AFTER the clock is functioning properly.

  4. Referees signal change of possession from the actual dead ball spot if it can be done quickly.

  5. Flanks must have a progress spot for the referee when there is a sack. We used to rely on bean bags thrown at the spot, but found that flanks can get a more accurate spot while the referee stays with the QB and the dead ball action.

  6. QB near the LOS when he throws a forward pass…umpire, and flanks must be ready to help the referee with that call. Umpire must also be ready to help the flank officials if the runner is beyond the LOS and throws a forward/backward pass.

  7. We are hustling well as a crew. The tempo remains high as clock stoppages following PATs, penalty enforcements, time outs, injuries, etc. are accurately timed and the referee’s wind is quick.

  8. Are we hitting our spots when the enforcement is from the spot of the foul? Adjust your flag every time!

  9. Sideline control can be very challenging. Start early and don’t lose your control and try to gain it back.  Use a sideline warning to clean it up.  Then we penalize.  Be consistent with both teams.

  10. Penalty for helmetless player participating after losing his helmet is illegal participation penalty.

  11. Reminder – K can block on a free kick as soon as the ball has traveled 10-yards, Team R has touched the ball, or Team R initiates a block within the neutral zone.

Swinging Gate Formation – If they are going to run a play out of the swinging gate the team must have 5 payers numbered 50-79 on the line of scrimmage.  The umpire most line up in close proximity to the linemen in the swinging gate to verify a legal formation while still having a good view of the legal snap.  If they shift into a scrimmage kick formation and kick the PAT or field goal, then the numbering exception will be in effect.

Group Unsportsmanlike Fouls – Team A scores an exciting TD and the player who scored the TD poses while 4 teammates pretend to take pictures of him in his pose.  By rule you might just penalize the player who has scored and is posing…one UNS penalty to that one player.  Or, if this type of thing grew in its complexity or the number of players involved, and the referee felt the action warranted a stronger penalty response, he/she might go to the other end of the spectrum and invoke rule 10-9-5 the “making a travesty of the game” rule and assess 1 UNS penalty for the group celebration and assess each of the participants a UNS penalty signaling that another unsportsmanlike act by any of those individuals will be a second UNS requiring disqualification.  Here’s another play that really happened.  Team scores a TD and the entire bench goes down to the EZ to celebrate.  In this case the officials enforce Rule 9-8-1j for nonplayers being on the field which is a 15-yard penalty. 

Food For Thought -

  1. Play: Fourth and 12 from team K's four yardline. The snap to punter K1 is high. K1 first steps on the end line with his right foot while his left foot is inbounds. K1 leaps with both feet leaving the ground, controls the snap and lands with both feet in the end zone. He gets off a kick that lands out of bounds at team K's 37-yardline.

    1. Ruling: The team K player is guilty of illegal participation if he goes out of bounds and returns to the field during the down unless blocked out of bounds by    an opponent. Team R will score a safety by accepting the penalty. (2-29-1 ; 9-6-1)

  2. Play: Team K's ball, fourth and 10 on its own 20 yardline. K1 is illegally in motion at the snap. The covering official properly throws a flag but blows his whistle before K2, who is at his own 10-yardline, can get off a punt. How is the play handled?  

    1. Ruling: Team R can accept the penalty for illegal motion from the previous spot, in which case the inadvertent whistle is ignored, the five-yard penalty is enforced and fourth down is replayed. If team R declines the penalty, team K will likely choose to replay the down (4-2-3a through d).

  3. Play: Team K 4th and 8 on the K 9-yardline.  4th Q, 0:14 remaining, clock stopped as R uses final timeout.  K leads 20-16.  K sets up in scrimmage kick formation with punter K22 waiting to receive snap in his end zone.  At the snap, all K players, obviously and blatantly hold the R players, while punter K22 runs around in his end zone.  None of the holding penalties are in the endzone.  After the clock hits 0:00, K22 steps out of the back of the end zone for a safety.

    1. Ruling:  Referee enforces the holding penalty which is farthest back from the basic spot and extend the period one untimed down.

Weekly Bull 9 8 21
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