Officiating 8 man football

[HLin NC]

My understanding is all of the 8 man NFHS rules are the same except for the differences listed in the NFHS Football Rules Book. What little I have officiated in 8 man was for our state deaf school, we used a 5 man crew. My experience was you could forego a back judge if you needed to.

EIGHT-PLAYER

GENERAL: Eleven-player rules are used for eight-player football with the following modifications.

RULE 1: Each team has 8 players. The field is 80 yards between goal lines and 40 yards wide with *15-yard side zones. 7-yard marks, 12 inches in length and 4 inches in width, shall be located 7 yards from each sideline. The 7-yard marks shall be marked so that at least each 10-yard line bisects the 7-yard marks. These marks shall not be required if the field is visibly numbered. If on-the-field numbers are used, the tops of those numbers shall be 7 yards from the sideline. By state association adoption, the 11-player field may be designated as official, and the dimensions of the field may be altered.

RULE 2: The free-blocking zone is a square area extending laterally 3 yards either side of the spot of the snap and 3 yards behind each line of scrimmage.

RULE 2: The Outside 9-Yard Mark and Between 9-Yard Mark Conferences shall be held outside or between the 7-yard marks, respectively.

RULE 6: a. K’s free-kick line is its 30-yard line and R’s free-kick line is the 40.

b. K is required to have at least three players on each side of hte kicker.

RULE 7: a. At least five A players shall be on their line at the snap and may have any legal jersey number.

b. After the ball is marked ready for play, each player of A who participated in the previous down, and each substitute for A must have been, momentarily, between the 7-yard marks, before the snap.

c. Each A player (regardless of jersey number) who at the snap was on an end of the *scrimmage line (total of two) and each A *player who at the snap was legally behind the scrimmage line (possible total of three) is eligible.

RULE 8: On the eight-player field, the ball is snapped after a touchback and is free kicked after a safety from the 15-yard line.

RULE 10: The basic spot for a foul as in 10-4-6 shall be the 15-yard line.