Personal foul: auto 1st down?

[voiceoflg]

NFHS (GHSA). 1st and goal from just inside B's 10. Quarterback scrambles 15 yards behind LOS to B's 25 and runs out of bounds. He is a couple steps out and is shoved by a defender. Flag comes followed by a 15 yard stepoff to the 10. It is now 2nd down, correct?

The visiting team's radio guy (not me, my team was off this week) was screaming that it was an automatic first down since it was a personal foul. I have seen 15 yard facemasks before that wasn't an automatic first down so I tell him during the next commercial break that it is not an automatic first. He said I was wrong. He came back from break and repeated his team was robbed of a first down every chance he got that drive. Was I wrong?

[AndrewMcCarthy]

The only auto first downs are roughing the passer, the snapper, the kicker, the holder, or defensive pass interference.

You had a dead ball personal foul. Second down!

[Rich]

Originally Posted by voiceoflg

NFHS (GHSA). 1st and goal from just inside B's 10. Quarterback scrambles 15 yards behind LOS to B's 25 and runs out of bounds. He is a couple steps out and is shoved by a defender. Flag comes followed by a 15 yard stepoff to the 10. It is now 2nd down, correct?

The visiting team's radio guy (not me, my team was off this week) was screaming that it was an automatic first down since it was a personal foul. I have seen 15 yard facemasks before that wasn't an automatic first down so I tell him during the next commercial break that it is not an automatic first. He said I was wrong. He came back from break and repeated his team was robbed of a first down every chance he got that drive. Was I wrong?

Well, it should've been half-the-distance to the goal from the 25 to the 12.5 -- and second down. Like the post right above me says, only five automatic first downs in NFHS football and this isn't one of them. Since it's a dead ball foul, the down counts.

[DJ_NV]

Almost all personal fouls by the defense are automatic first downs in NCAA, but not NFHS. Is that what he was thinking of?

[cougar729]

Another example of thinking about saturday rules on friday night... actually if he's a radio guy, hes probably not doing a lot of thinking about rules...