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I and another official got into a discussion during a junior high game regarding this topic and I want to find out if I was correct in my interpretation of the rules. I had a receiver split wide to my side and prior to the snap he started going forward, but didn't break the plane of the neutral zone. He was going towards the line of scrimmage at the snap and no member of the defense was drawn offside. I threw my flag and allowed the play to continue. The referee was adamant that I should have blown the play dead. Later in the same game, he had a running back start forward and he blew the play dead immediately. I told him that both fouls occured at the time of the snap and they should be penalized as live ball fouls. I looked at the rule book and case book and I found nothing that doesn't support my interpretation. However, I want some second opinions to insure that I haven't lost my mind.
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