"jump ball"

[drinkeii]

I run a flag football league at the High School I teach at. There are about 250 kids playing. We have had an interesting situation crop up this season.

Several times in the last couple of days, two players on opposite teams have come down from a pass with the ball both in their possession. In some cases, at the lower level games, they just sort of stood there. In upper level games, they have tried to rip each other's arms off.

There is very little allowable contact in our league. A small amount of blocking can occur within 5 yards of the line of scrimmage - otherwise, incidental contact is about all that is legal after that.

I am trying to come up with how to handle this, since to the best of my knowledge, there is no comparable thing to a basketball "jump-ball" in football, and i'd rather not have the upper level games turn into wrestling matches, since someone will probably get hurt. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to handle this? I'm open to suggestions! Thanks for any help in advance!

Dave Rinke
PIAA Basketball/Soccer/Swimming
NPCA Intramural Program