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Originally Posted by Hartsy
The timer should be watching the official for the "chop", not watching to see when the ball is touched. Are we supposed to start the clock on the kick, whistle it dead, and give the stop clock signal all at the same time?
Surely this has been dealt with in a case play somewhere.
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It's dealt with under NFHS rule 5-9-4 very explicitly. You start the clock on the "touch". If you then deem that "touch" a violation, you stop the clock. That's rule 5-8-1(c).
It's not a matter of agreeing or disagreeing with any concept. You work with what you have. What we currently have is those two rules along with the explicit language contained in those rules.
Again, if you do change the rule so that it reads a "legal" touch, how does the timer now know whether that touch is legal or not, and when to start the clock? Whether the touch was "legal" or not can only be decided by the official, not the timer. If the timer waits to see that the official did
NOT blow the whistle for a kicking violation, then the timer is going to be late starting the clock.