Swatting the Snap? (NFHS)

[AndrewMcCarthy]

I got burned by this last year. Head coach asks in the pregame if they can swat at the snap since the long snapper usually brings it forward. The R on our crew that night tells him he can't think of a reason why not so if he'll allow it. I suggested to the R that we should at least have an illegal snap if this happens but he thought that would be a nit-picky call.

So of course the first long snap gets swatted and dribbles back to the punter where he gets ambushed. The head coach on my side is going ballistic. "how can anyone be that fast?!?!?" And of course- he's been snapping that way all year- just like everyone else!!

I retrospect if I was the R would have just told the coach in pregame that they can't do it. Short of that I should have flagged for illegal snap and put the responsibility on the snapper or perhaps his replacement.

It wasn't worth the trouble of waiting for all hell to break loose on every long snap for the rest of the game. I learned to call my own game after that night- if the R thinks it's nit-picky then let him put his butt on the line and waive it off.