I am a new official who played FB many years ago- many years ago.

The QB uses a long snap count that draws a def. lineman through the NZ but he gets back before the snap. However, that lineman's movement makes his opposing offensive lineman rise up. Is this encroachment or a false start?

I think I remember our coaches in HS trying to train us to keep our eyes down the line on the ball because this type of situation is a penalty against the offensive lineman for false start.

Thanks

For NF rules this would be a dead ball encroachment foul against the defense. Welcome to the brotherhood. You better get a rule book. But in the mean time keep asking questions

I also confused NFL rules (we watch too much TV)with High School Rules. Once the ready for play whistle blows and the center places his hand on the ball, anyone in or crossing the neutral zone is guilty of encroachment.

Not true in NCAA. Defense must threaten an offensive lineman and that lineman must react in order for this to be a presnap foul on defense.

Adding to what TXMike said. The maximum number of A players that B can threaten is three team A linemen if he is head up on a linemen, and two linemen if he enters the NZ in a gap. Also, in order for the foul to be on B, the B player must enter the NZ for it to be considered a threat.

MJT-
Good point. For some reason, I forgot all about that. It's instances like that where communication between the wings and the guys in the middle are important.

Less than a week until first scrimmage!

The problem with reading this form is that there a lot of you guys with a lot of years of experience (and we appreciate this), but you like to bring in all this clutter and confusion to the simple basic question. A few years ago when I started my officiating career at the young age of 55, I would read the posts on this site religiously. I quickly found myself confused, bewildered, and questioning myself as to whether I would ever be able to get it right? It appears that things have not changed with this medium. The basic question of this post relates to the application of NFHS rules as they relate to encroachment. I doubt the individual who is begining his officiating career cares about the many times conflicting, NCAA, CFL, or NFL rules. He(she) needs help on the basic NFHS rules, and we all know that learning these are not an easy task for the beginner or seasoned veteran.

I thank you for your ear.
Respectfully,
AJ Kent

The problem with reading this form is that there a lot of you guys with a lot of years of experience (and we appreciate this), but you like to bring in all this clutter and confusion to the simple basic question. A few years ago when I started my officiating career at the young age of 55, I would read the posts on this site religiously. I quickly found myself confused, bewildered, and questioning myself as to whether I would ever be able to get it right? It appears that things have not changed with this medium. The basic question of this post relates to the application of NFHS rules as they relate to encroachment. I doubt the individual who is begining his officiating career cares about the many times conflicting, NCAA, CFL, or NFL rules. He(she) needs help on the basic NFHS rules, and we all know that learning these are not an easy task for the beginner or seasoned veteran.

I thank you for your ear.
Respectfully,
AJ Kent

Being a new season, we may have some new readers or posters on this board. You should just specify "NF" in your posts and read the replies related to NF. Some states use NCAA rules for high school so specifying "high school" may still mean NCAA rules to some folks on here.

If you see the letters "CFL" on a rules post you might not want to continue reading- unless you're up north. Do they have different high school and college rules up there, too?

The only thing that seperates us in the UP of Michigan from Canada is a little lake called Superior. Yes, we still continue to use NFHS rules and speak "youper" which may sound a bit like Canook blended with a mixture of Scandinavian. At least we're not speaking French yet, eah?
It looks like I'll have to break out the longsleeved stripes and jacket for this week's games. 49 degrees and brisk north wind forcasted.
Peace,