Here is a good one for a back judge. Had this one last night.

K is kicking a scrimmage kick. R muffs it at R-5. R tries to pick it up again at R-3. The ball is now lying at rest inside R-1. K dives to recover the ball at that point. The ball is not possessed until it has crossed the goal line. Who's ball is it where?

Touchback. All kicks going into R's end zone result in a TB. If can't be K's ball unless they recover it before it enters the EZ.

That was my call. However another official on the field signalled TD. He was deep on this play in a 7th grade game and he couldn't see where the ball was. I came in blowing it and signalling TB. Well the K coaches weren't that happy but they were up 33-6 at the time so they weren't loud for very long. This was just another reminder to this other official that K can not score a TD if they recover any kick. The best K can hope is that they recover the kick in the field of play.

Definitely a TB, that was an easy one, although I have heard people mess it up and have errantly given K a TD. :(

Touchback is correct.

With the caveat that this is not a word one should generally use, it is <i>impossible</i> for K to score a TD on a kick that is recovered beyond the line, without R having had possession first (at which point it's no longer a kick).

REPLY: Good call, warrenkicker. But let's twist it a little: Suppose everything else is the same except that R never muffed it. Would the call be different?

If the ball was at rest prior to K touching the ball then the ball became dead when it was first touched inside R-1. If the ball was still moving then you have first touching at R-1 and the result is a touchback.