Covering Field Goal with 5-man mechanics (NFHS)

[Blue37]

Originally Posted by Ed Hickland

Reading through five man mechanics for a field goal, you place two officials under the goal posts, one official on the line, umpire in the defensive backfield and referee in offensive backfield positioned to view the kicker and holder and watch the ball placed on the ground.

Is that generally the way it is done?

My concern is you can leave a sideline exposed as the manual has you position your umpire toward the uncovered sideline.

What if you get a block and the ball goes toward that sideline?

We have the R facing the holder and fairly wide. The wing official behind the R goes under. The U cheats to the side of the official who goes under. That puts both the R and the U on the uncovered side.

Additionally, if the play explodes, (block or bad snap), the wing underneath moves laterally along the endline until he reaches the sideline then moves up the sideline.

This seems to give us good coverage.

[STEVED21]

Ed,

The picture in the last mechincs book is wrong. The L in the diagram should be under the goal post and the LJ on the line. The mechanic was changed last year but the diagram is wrong. The correct diagram can be found at NFHS.org under the football rules section. Look for the updated interpretations.