Help with a High School rule

[ajmc]

It's my understanding that a catch (anywhere) has not been completed until an airborne receiver returns to the ground in possession of the ball. When possession is obtained while ariborne, and subsequently lost before returning to the ground, the pass has not been caught and the pass is considered incomplete, whereas forward progress is irrelevant.

If I follow your second example, that pass would be incomplete as well, for the same reason.

[Mike L]

It seems, upon further reflection, that your position is:
if the airborne player is over the EZ, possesses the ball but is pushed out of the EZ and comes down inbounds then forward progress is ruled whether or not the player is down or held and a TD is awarded. However, it also appears true that if you take the EZ out of the equation and say the catch is at the 20 and the airborne receiver is pushed back but not downed or held then forward progress is not going to be ruled and the now runner is on his own to do whatever he tries to do.
This seems like a totally inconsistent way to rule on the same action just because of where it happens on the field.

Editted to add: in your example of casebook 2.15.1 if the condition of actually being downed is immaterial, why is it even included in the example? Why wouldn't it just say "while in the air in the EZ, he is contacted by B1 and then lands on B's 2 yard line"? But instead, it includes "and is downed". Do we just ignore that condition/implication of the example?

[whitehat]

Originally Posted by ajmc

It's my understanding that a catch (anywhere) has not been completed until an airborne receiver returns to the ground in possession of the ball. When possession is obtained while ariborne, and subsequently lost before returning to the ground, the pass has not been caught and the pass is considered incomplete, whereas forward progress is irrelevant.

If I follow your second example, that pass would be incomplete as well, for the same reason.

ajmc, so in either case, you are saying (I think) that we must see if the player hangs on to the ball when he hits the ground. That to me is consistent and I would agree.

I may be misunderstanding, I thought some were saying, or implying, that "progress" was the determining factor of a catch in the EZ and not allowing for the result of the play (i.e. coming down with or without the ball ) to be the final determining factor.

[HLin NC]

The OP says in both instances that the A player was "downed". The Rule 7 case play I posted that rules TD is identical.

Where in the world does it state that a player must be "tackled" to stop forward progress? The rule and case book both say "contact or contacted". "Tackle" actually has no definition under Federation rules.

If B55 hits, tackles, contacts, or "lights up" runner A20 at the A35 yard line and knocks him back and he is downed at the A32 yard line, where are you going to spot the ball?

If an A receiver possesses the ball in the air at the 50 yard line and then B knocks him back and to the ground and downed or out of bounds at the 47, where are you going to spot the ball?

Here's a hint:
SECTION 15 FORWARD PROGRESS
ART. 1 . . . Forward progress is the end of advancement of the ball in a runner’s possession or the forward-most point of the ball when it is fumbled out of
bounds toward the opponent’s goal and it determines the dead-ball spot.
ART. 2 . . . When an airborne player makes a catch, forward progress is the
furthest point of advancement after he possesses the ball if contacted by a defender.