A case for encroachment as a live ball foul.

[sloth]

I had a situation occur tonight at a JV game that I handeled a certain way. I want the input if the hive mind here to help me sort it out. Down and distance are of little consequence.

I have a long run by A for a TD. Prior to signaling TD (I was the referee) I look for flags. LB has a flag. Apparently he has encroachment on B but neglected to blow the play dead. Now I have three options.

First, I bring the ball back and asses the penalty...by the book. Second, I could wave the flag off. Or third (which I did) follow NCAA rules and give A the option of accepting the penalty or declining it and taking the TD.

In retrospect I should have used the second option...but for some reason the first really didn't seem like an appropriate course of action.

[HLin NC]

Just because one official doesn't do what he's supposed to do means you throw the book out. Stuff happens

[MJT]

I don't think you should have done what you did. You cannot waive it off either. You have no other choice than to tell the offensive coach that the official screwed up and the play never happened. When B encroached, the play never started. It was the officials error that allowed players to procede, but that doesn't change the fact that the play really was dead before it started.

I have done the same thing when an official in a lower level told me after the play he had a FS on the offense, but forgot to blow it dead. The coaches are not real happy about it, but they go on like they do with an IW.

[Jim D]

Call it "tough love" or whatever, but having you're rookies own up to their mistakes rather than covering for them will be the best in the long run. If the play comes back and the new guy has to go with you when you explain to the coach what happened, he'll never make that mistake again.

[sloth]

I should also add that I'd relatively new to this (5years). I'm trying to develop as a referee and continually find that every game I have the pleasure of wearing the white hat provides new opportunities to learn.

When I first started I found myself calling everything. I knew the book backwards and forwards and was what y'all would dub a book official. I was then enlighetened by the practice of being more a game manager instead of rules enforcer. I'm sort of working through that right now. That was my logic in doing what I did. My descision had to be made fairly quickly. My rational was that unlike an IW, the play was NOT stopped. None of the player realized the play was not supposed to be occuring. So in my mind, from a fairness-advantage gained standing, this was not like an IW. I felt that I had at my discression an opportunity to rectify an officials mistake. Since no advantage was gained by the foul and the actions in the play.

I understand I lost an opportunity to show the LJ a "tough love" and teach him a lesson and I probably gave the coaches fodder to say the next time this happens "well the referee we had last week did this...". In retrospect I'm not trying to justify my actions. I'm trying to tweek my sense of how to be a great game manager while not completely trampling the guiding rules of the NFHS.

[wisref2]

Cool - a chance to use my favorite saying, something I say to my crew all the time as a whitehat:

"You're gonna get yelled at anyway, so you might as well get yelled at for the doing the right thing."

[kraine27]

In my first varsity game, I failed to blow a play dead where the tight end didn't place his mouth piece in his mouth at the snap and that play went 85yds for a touchdown. We brought that play back and I'm sure I won't make that mistake ever again.