25 second count....
 

NFHS Who times the 25-second count in 4 man mechanics in high school play? and does he "chop" the last 5 seconds like the BJ does in a 5-man crew?

TIA

The referee and no he does not do a visual count.

Speak for yourself. I chop the last five seconds as the R in a 4-man.

I actually do raise the arm up when I get to twenty. I just did not think it was required. I figure even if the quarterback can't see me maybe the coach can and can call a timeout.

Ohio Ruling
 

Like a basketball official would? Never seen that, but again, I officiate in Ohio and we do things a little different than the other 49.:rolleyes:

Here it's the LJ and NO, NEVER will we chop the last 5 seconds. That's why teams have coaches.

Actually the chop would be more like the chop in the air like the German Army (just a description so please do not make a bigger deal out of it).

This is also the NF Mechanic, but just like any mechanic from the NF a state does not have to accept it and can do something different.

Peace

Just because your area deviates from the FED mechanics (like Jeff said, it's OK to do so as long as it's decided at a state level and you are consistent from crew to crew), doesn't mean we all do.

We don't have on-field play clocks where I live and if they do exist they are not turned on. I like the mechanic as it alerts the coaches (4-man) or the QB (5-man) that we are about to have a delay penalty.

We give a hand above head like the dead ball signal to notify 5 second or less. We don't count each second down.

In Wis, we count like a closely guarded in basketball. I (R) have the count in a four-man crew and I do a visible count. It's become expected - so why not do it?

Perhaps "expected" in your area, and even in many areas, but like Ref in SoCA said, around here there is no visible countdown of the 25 and I have yet to hear any coach even mention it. Of course, there are a number of NFHS mechanics we do not follow.

Fine, but perhaps the tone of superiority in the last sentence of his post could be edited out, then.

I'm still looking for the "tone of superiority".

I specifically said "here" so no one would think I was mandating it for the whole country. We don't do it and we will never do it because that is a coaching function.

My problem with all this is I started officiating when we actually officiated--before we became the PC Police and Self-Esteem Managers.

In California, we have no "state" to mandate what we do. CA is broken up into 10 sections and each sections' officials associations have their own mechanics. We have a Mechanics Committee that revises our Mechanics Manual each year. Our Pres, VP, Assigner and Liason sit on a Committee with coaches-- the Football Advisory Committee. It's a great way to hash things out. We have very few problems with coaches.

As is oft-times mentioned on these boards, you do what your local people tell you to do. I enjoy reading all of the differences, including the Canadian rulings