Is it a touchdown? Continued

[mtridge]

Here is the play scenario I was given.

a 3rd and goal at the b 5, a22 jumps up from 2 yards deep in the endzone and controls a forward pass before a 22 comes to the ground b12 contacts a22 and knocks him back into the field of play where he lands on his feet at the b2 and is tackled at the b1.

Here is the ruling I was given by a person, not a rule book


irst, in order to have a catch you must first understand the elements of a catch. They are possession of the ball AND contact with the ground, and the player must maintain possession through the catch. If the ball comes loose at anytime then you can't have a catch. So, we were talking about a player that is air-borne with possession in the end zone and is contacted while still in the air and knocked back into the field of play. Now there are several different situations that can come up and several different was to officiate this type of play and none of them are the same. So, to make life simple for us when we get into situations that we can't be consistent on there are what is call officiating philosophies. This is what was discussed, if you have an air-borne receiver and he has control of the ball and is contacted while still in the air and is knocked back into the field of play here are two simple philosophies that will help you be consistent when making this call. If the contact puts the player on the ground in the field of play then you would give this player forward progress and this would be a TD, now lets say that this player lands on his feet in the field of play, this player must now get back into the end zone on his own and we would not give him forward progress, because it is very hard to sell a TD to anyone when the ball carrier is standing on the one or two yard line and is not in the end zone.

The end zone is a little different when dealing with progress and these two mechanics will help you be more consistent and they are both simple to work. Contact sends player to the ground TD, contact and player stays on his feet make him get back into the EZ.


do you agree the latter half is not a touchdown?

[CT1]

Originally Posted by mtridge

do you agree the latter half is not a touchdown?

With my understanding of the forward progress rule, I would have a TD in both plays. Since the goal line is a vertical plane, there IS a difference between FP in the field of play and FP in the EZ.

Consider the case where A22 dives for the EZ. If the ball comes loose after penetrating the GL plane, it's a TD no matter what happens. If it comes loose prior to crossing the GL plane, WYSIWYG.

[JRutledge]

In the second situation the player would have to maintain control to the ground for me to give them a TD. If they maintained control then they would get the FP spot and that would be in the EZ. But if the ball pops out when the receiver was hit or hits the ground then I got an incomplete pass or no catch as it relates to being in the EZ.

Peace

[mbyron]

Originally Posted by mtridge

do you agree the latter half is not a touchdown?

No. The play described is one where the covering official rules that progress was stopped, with possession, in the EZ. By rule, that's a TD and the ball is dead.

The person seems to be worried about "selling" the TD when the receiver lands on his feet in the field of play. But once you have (a) possession, (b) forward progress into the EZ, and (c) a completed catch (the player must return to the ground with possession, even in this play), the ball is dead and it's a TD.

The covering official would sound this whistle, signal TD, and move in toward the players. If I were white hat and the coach challenged this ruling, I'd simply show him 7.5.4G (in Ohio this year, we have to have the rule book, case book, and our mechanics manual on the field and be prepared to back up any ruling we make).

And, mtridge, whoever sent you that ruling has a cluttered mind.

[gtwbam]

mtridge: I agree that the latter half is not a touchdown, as long you're saying it was the players momentum that carried him into the field of play, then subsequently downed, before reaching the goal line.

In addition this play is almost identical to a case play in the 2011 high school federation case book supporting the ruling. It's listed at the top of page 14, situation 2.15.1 which reads as follows:

It is first and 10 for A at B's 12 Yard Line. A1 sprints near the end line and then buttonhooks. He jumps and possesses a forward pass while in the air above the end zone. (a) A1's momentum carries him back into the field of play and he lands and is down on the 1-yard line:

Ruling: It is A's ball first and goal at B's 1 yard line.