PAT scrimmage line

[Cobra]

Originally Posted by MikeStrybel

I attended a HS varsity game last night with several coaches from our league and saw the ends positioned at angles to the line and the RB/wings even more so. Neither team drew penalties for this.

You are really off on your definitions, you really should study up on them. The parallel to the shoulders is a requirement to be a lineman. How is running back a lineman? The requirements for a lineman and a back are completely different. A wing is not a defined term but he is probably a back not a lineman.

I doubt you know what an end is. The end is not the player nearest the sideline. If the widest player is a back then he is not an end. The end is a lineman.

It's possible that what you claimed actually happened, but it is extremely odd for a varsity team to have a lineman set up with his shoulders not parallel to the line. The fact that you claim that both teams were doing this makes your story almost impossible.

Originally Posted by MikeStrybel

A quick trip through YouTube showed similar formations that don't comply with the rule. Yes, even Ohio officials can be seen ignoring the parallel to the line rule in kicker highlight videos. In a few, I saw five players behind the center - two wings, a blocker between the center and guard, the holder and kicker. Is that acceptable too? My goal is to have our players compliant but not at a disadvantage.

Can you post links to these videos of illegal formations?

Everyone has to be behind the snapper. The snapper's body is in the neutral zone (possibly his hand is all the way through the NZ and is actually on the defense's side of the ball). If anyone is lined up even with the snapper they would be encroaching.

All you need to do is have the snapper line up. Then have at least 6 more players line up with their head or foot breaking the plane of the snapper's waist. They must be facing forward with shoulders parallel to the goal line. These players are called linemen.

Everyone else should line up so that they are not breaking the waist plane of the nearest lineman. These players are called backs.

It is possible for a player to line up as neither a lineman nor a back. You do not want the team to line up like that.