wow! look at all the yellow
 

Hi guys,

I'm a softball umpire and football broadcaster. I have a play that i saw a few years ago that still sticks in my mind and wondered what you and your crew would do or if anybody has had anything like this happen.
This was a high school game.
Home ball, 1 and 10 from visiting 40.
draw play handed off to running back. white hat and linesman throw flags after RB got the ball. holding on offense. No doubt, we could see the hold from the press box.
RB breaks free thanks in part to the hold and runs about 15 yards. One of the safeties is nearing the RB and BAM a WR or TE that was down field nails the safety in the back. A flag is thrown. Again no doubt about the foul. This was near the 25 yard line.
RB breaks to the sideline. At this time, a defensive player grabs the facemask of the RB and yanks him down HARD. 2 more flags come flying. Whistles blow.
Because of the facemask tackle that was near the sideline, there is some pushing and shoving. A home team player (offense) pushes a player or throws a punch (I didn't really seee what he did) that knocks another player down. A ref that was trying to break up the little extra stuff throws a flag that he had to reach into his pocket and dig a little for (no doubt, he was trying to find his spare flag) I also saw a ref's hat on the field, but don't know if he was using that for a flag or if it just fell off.
anyway, when all is said and done,there are 6 or 7 flags and a hat on the ground. 3 live ball fouls and a dead ball foul that the crew had to sort out.
I think and again...this is just what I figured out during the game from the pressbox,but i think they canceled out the block in the back and the face mask and enforced the hold and the upsportsman. Is this correct?
They ended up putting the ball all the way back to the home team (offense) 35....well closer to the 37, but you get the point.
That seemed like a lot of yards, but maybe not.
just wondered if this was correct and if anybody has had a play like this?

Since there was a live ball foul on both teams, all the live ball fouls should have canceled each other out. The only fouls that should have been enforced on this play as you described it were the dead ball fouls.

all,

basic question here, but what if team A gets 3 live ball fouls and team B gets one? do these all offset/cancel and the down is replayed, or do you just offset one of the 3 fouls committed by A and enforce the other 2?

The live ball fouls do create a double foul, so you will replay the down from the PS. The DBFoul will be enforced from the SSpot, which is the PS. If there were more than one DBFouls, all will be enforced in the order of their occurance.

Bossman72, unfortunately one LBFoul by one team will combine with any number of LBFouls by the other team to create a double foul. The NFL has a 15 vs 5 enforcement which I like a lot. If one team has one or more 5 yard penalty(s) and the other has at least one 15 yard penalty, only the 15 yarder is enforced. I personally like that rule.

Canadian Ruling
 

So we have:

• Team A Holding (10y, PLS)
• Team A Blocking from the Rear (15y, PLS or PBH)
• Team B Facemask (15y, Team A AFD, PBD)
• Team A UR (15y, cancel previous AFD, PBD)

Team B FM and Team A UR will cancel. Team B can (choose one):

• apply the 10y holding from the previous spot, and repeat the down
• apply the 15y BFTR from the previous spot, and repeat the down if the LTG WASN'T reached
• apply the 15y BFTR from the point ball held, and A1D/10 ifthe LTG WAS reached

That's where that rule is from! I was thinking it was a college rule, and I kept looking and looking for it with no luck. Now I know why. Thanks!