no captain on field/penalty declined automatically?

[thebigmo]

Was at an Alabama high school playoff game last night and saw this happen and couldn't believe it. There was a roughing the punter that would have given my team a first down but as the punting team was leaving the field and the offense was huddling up with the coach getting ready to go back out, there were no players that stayed out on the field. The ref looks toward our sideline for a few seconds then signals that the penalty is declined and first down for the other team. After the game someone told me that one of our coaches told him that the ref explained that since no captain was on the field to accept the penalty then it was an automatic decline. Anybody ever heard of this? In that situation where it is obvious that the penalty will be accepted, does he even have to ask someone?