Illegal forward pass
 

This conversation came up after tonight's game.

4and 5 A runs the hook and ladder. The pass is 15 yards down field. The latteral is then forward.

We have a foul for an illegal forward pass. 5 yards from the spot of the foul would still give A a first down but where does the loss of down penalty come into play? Since this was 4th down, is it still a first down for A?

In this case, the loss of down portion of the penalty doesn't apply. It will still be a first down for A.

Canadian Ruling
 

CANADIAN RULING:

We penalize the offside pass subject to penalty.

Downs continue at point of origin of pass that was intended to be backwards.

Assuming that the first pass is caught and tossed at the same spot, and this spot is beyond the LTG, Team A 1D/10 @ point of release of the intended backwards pass.

In this particular case, the ruling is the same as the Fed ruling, but without the 5 yard penalty.

Loss of down means the right to repeat a down. If it was 3rd down and the line to gain was not achieved it would be 4th down because the right to replay 3rd down would be lost.

If the team is to be achieves the line to gain after enforcement of the penalty they have earned a first down. All series start with 1st down.

As the basketball geeks would say: fixed it for ya. :p

gracias