[mikesears]

Originally Posted by DrMooreReferee

A's ball with 10 seconds left in the game. B22 intercepts A's pass at midfield and is returning it when time expires. B22 hands the ball forward to B33 at the 10 yardline of A. B33 then scores a TD.

Now, we know that we have a foul for illegal forward handing. And we know the TD won't count. Question is, do we have an untimed down? I think its a good question and I'm unsure what to think here. Yes, the foul by B has a loss of down aspect to it. However, that LOD aspect won't be in effect here, because we had a change of possession. So, do we ignore the LOD aspect of the foul for the purposes of deciding whether B gets an untimed down or not?

After much deliberation within myself, I think that we have no untimed down here.
3-3-4B is the rule I'm looking at. It says... fouls that SPECIFY a loss of down. It doesn't say that the LOD aspect has to be enforced, it just says fouls that SPECIFY a LOD.

Would be very interested to see what everyone thinks about this.

I asked the Illinois High School Association (IHSA) last year for a ruling on this. According to the Mr. Dave Gannaway at the IHSA, team B would be entitled to an untimed down because the foul does not specify a loss of down for B. I don't agree with the IHSA on this but must live with the ruling given to me. I don't know if they sought a ruling from the NFHS on this.