Intentional Grounding

[JugglingReferee]

Originally posted by MI Official
Fourth and 5 from A's 40. A2 rolls out and runs from B1. while scrambling A2 throws the ball away, clearly intentional grounding. WH throws flag and signals appropriately. He informs B's coach that he must decline the penalty to gain possession of the ball. This was a HS game. I was watching this game. ISn't this penalty a yardage and loss of down penalty, such as OPI? NFHS rules.

Intentional grounding in Canada is a loss of down at the point of release. Declining the foul results in an incomplete pass, so a turnover on downs, B 1D/10 @ PLS (A's 40). Accepting the foul gives yards not gained at the point of release, which is of course behind the line of scrimmage. So, B 1D/10 @ point-of-release, which is better (by definition) than A's 40.