When is this play over??

[BoBo]

A lines up for scrimmage kick.

It is 4th and 8.

Ball punted straight up in the air and bounces once when A64 recovers the ball standing upright about 3 yards behind the line of scrimmage.

He then looks at me the white hat with the old deer in the headllights look, "What do I do now??" So bad I wanted to yell "Run Forest Run!!"

He stands there which seemed like forever. Nobody is doing anything and people start coming on and going off the field.

Well our first year LJ comes back and cover the short kick and decides this enough and blows the whistle.

I know first off the play was not "officially" over but how long do you let it go on?

We just awarded B the ball first down at the recovery spot and nobody said a word.

Let it be known B- 36 A- 0 with less than 3 minutes remaining in the game. Yes I know that does not matter either.

[Snake~eyes]

You let it go until the ball becomes dead by rule.

[BoBo]

OK then I am going to assume most kids if they do not run with it will do one of 2 things with it.

1- toss the ball to the nearest ref. if to a "forward" ref then incomplete pass; if "backward" to a ref then bag it and we have a fumble. I am thinking when the bag is tossed somebody may figure out what is going on.

2- place the ball on the ground. Here if neither team makes an attempt to advance the ball then after a sufficient amount of time the ball belongs to the team in last possession (A). The result of the play is behind the line to gain and B takes over on downs.

Agree!?!?!?

[mcrowder]

Sounds like - technically - you had IW.

[waltjp]

Once it becomes apparent that nobody is going to make a play on this and teams are making substitions it's best to blow it dead. What's the alternative - start throwing for illegal participation?

I see this like a live ball coming to rest somewhere on the field without any players making a move to secure possession of it.

[mcrowder]

I suppose it depends on the age of the kids too. But at V or maybe even JV, what happens if you blow it dead right as they realize the ball is live? If it's not dead, it's not dead.

On a younger kid, I can maybe see blowing it dead, but don't know what rule I'd use to justify it if someone complained. Kind of taking some liberties with the rules there if you do, but you might get away with it.

[BoBo]

Originally posted by mcrowder
Sounds like - technically - you had IW.

MC that is the first thing that went through my mind but I took the easy way out last night. 50 lashes for me and off to my room but it was a jr high game. Still not a good reason.

At the next timeout we had I discussed with the LJ what had happened and at the varsity level we would have had an IW. He felt bad but told him that is another reason why we do the lower level games to help us see different things so we can learn before the varsity level.

[WyMike]

IW? Inadvertent Whistle, right?

[Snake~eyes]

Originally posted by WyMike
IW? Inadvertent Whistle, right?

Yes. IW = Inadvertent Whistle.