4th Down Intentional Grounding Enforcement

[mikesears]

Originally posted by BoBo
Help clear this up for me. High School Rules

4th and 10 on A's 40 and A's Ball

PLAY- A1 goes to pass and while rushed intentionally grounds the ball. The pass is made from A's 35.

RESULT- B declines and 1st down at A's 40
B accepts and 1st down at A's 30 (5 yard penalty from the spot and loss of down)

COMMENT- Generally an accepted penalty can not cause a change of possession. But in this case A has forfeited this right when intentionally grounding the pass and giving up the series on downs.

Right-Wrong-Little of Both??????

I think the loss of down penalties are all good.

When a team drops back to pass, generally, they are taking a greater risk (taking a sack) to get a bigger reward (more yardage). It seems to me that the majority of loss of down penalties are all designed to penalize a team for fouling when they took a greater risk.

I think loss of down on forward handing is good because it prevents a team from cheating in an attempt to reach the line to gain, especially on 4th down. Example:
A32 knowing he is 1 yard from getting to the line-to-gain hands the ball forward to A82 who is beyond the line-to-gain.