Force play NFHS
 

This happened in a game this past season. A's ball on their own 5 yard line. The ball is fumbled and there is a scramble for the loose ball. The ball ends up in A's end zone where an A player falls on it. The R calls the crew in and asks "Did anyone see who touched it last?" I was a wing official and did not see who was the last to touch it before the ball went into the end zone. The U saw that a B player was the last to touch it before the ball went into the end zone. The R, without hesitation, promptly rules touchback, A's ball first and 10. I contended that it doesn't matter who touched it last, but if B's touching the ball was a new force. R was steadfast and said because B touched it last, that was the force that put it in the end zone. So does merely being the last to touch a fumbled loose ball that is grounded automatically places responsibility on the player who touched it as far as force is concerned?

No.

The covering official has to rule on which team was responsible for the force that caused the ball to go into the EZ (A=safety, B=touchback). The presumption is that it was A’s fumble, unless there was no way the ball would have gone into the EZ without a new force being added.

Consider, A's ball 4th & 10, on their own 10. A's punt is blocked (choose either side of the EZ) by B and caroms (either into the EZ where A recovers or through and out of the EZ)

The "force" is A's punt, the responsibility for where the play ends (either scenario) is A's, the result for either is a Safety, B's touching (by blocking the kick) is a non-factor.