Had this in a 5th/6th grade game Saturday. I was Ref because the usual one was out injured. So I'm not very experienced wearing the "crown".

QB takes direct snap and pops a quick pass to his wideout. Pass was very obviously a backward pass. Both myself and the wing made eye contact, pointed backward. Players just stood there. Probably 4-5 seconds pass, a B player picks ball up throws it toward me. I step out of the way. After another second or two, the light goes off and theres a scramble, B recovers.

Just wondering how some of you guys might handle/ have handled this.

(Also, could you throw a flag for illegal forward pass on the B player for throwing me the ball?)

1.) I would have done the same thing as you
2.) Yes you could throw a flag against B for IFP. The penalty against B would only be a 5 yard penalty so it wouldn't be severe.

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Thanks. I know it was only 4-5 seconds, but man it seemed like an eternity.

How long would you wait before deciding nobody is going figure out what's going on. Then if you had to intervene, would it be a dead ball not in player possession, ball goes back to the team who last possessed it?

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Yep.

Check out rule 4-2-2e2
The ball becomes dead...when any loose ball is on the ground motionless and no player attempts to secure possession.