A few timing questions
 

Hello all,

I'm not a referee. I do play-by-play for a high school in Georgia. But I'm glad I found this forum so I can better learn the rules. Coaches and fans aren't the only ones who think they know the rules when they don't. :o

I'm hoping to make the football broadcasts more organized, and I'd love to get your help. Is there a set time limit for the following:

change of possession? It seems punts take a little longer than interceptions/fumbles from the time the play is blown dead to the first snap of the new series.

charged timeouts?

between 1st/2nd and 3rd/4th quarters?

between end of regulation and overtime?

between overtime periods?

I'm trying to figure a way to get the commercials in without asking the referee to make the game last as long as a televised SEC game, which I'm sure none of us want.

Thanks.

According to the NFHS rules, halftime may be anywhere from 10-20 minutes. The interval between 1st/2nd and 3rd/4th quarters is one minute, and charged timeouts are one minute. Overtime is governed on a state-by-state basis; however, the suggested OT procedure in the rule book has 3 minutes between end of regulation and first OT, and two minutes between each OT period (that's one series for each team - there's no delay between team A's series and team B's series).

One minute is allocated after a score, but there is no delay after a change of possession - as soon as the officials have the chains set and the ball spotted, the referee should blow the whistle to start the play clock.

That last is an important point - the referee has the discretion to hold the ready-for-play whistle, and if the officials take more time to, say, set the chains than is specified, then that's how long it takes. (Usually this is only an issue when switching sides at the end of 1st & 3rd quarters.)

Also, the rule book says that each state association sets its own policy for TV timeouts. You'll probably want to contact someone from the state high school athletic association and also a representative from the local officials' association to get the rules for Georgia.

Thanks. Maybe I can talk the referee into taking his time in the first half, especially in the mercy rule games. Squeezing in the commercials is sometimes an adventure.

Thanks again.