Is a ball carrier down by contact...

[mbyron]

Originally Posted by Kajun Ref N Texas

...when he lands on an opponent who is lying on the ground, but his forward progress is not stopped?

"Down by contact" is not a HS or NCAA term. It's used in the NFL to distinguish a runner who falls to the ground on his own from one who is knocked to the ground after contact with a defender. In HS and NCAA, the cause of the runner going down is irrelevant, so there's no distinction.

The NFHS rule states (roughly) that a runner is down when any part of him touches the ground other than his hands or his feet.