safety/penalty...

[whitehat]

NFHS Situaution:
B down by 6 points with 30 seconds left in game. 4th and 10 on A's 15 yd line. Punter A22 fumbles snap. During the loose ball, as ball is rolling around toward the EZ, there is a hold by A1 at the 10 yard line and. . .
a) ball recovered by A2 in EZ. (Force is A's fumble.) Or . . .
b) ball kicked out of EZ by A4 while ball is in EZ. (Force is A's fumble) Or . . .
C) ball kicked through and out of EZ by A4 while ball is on 2 yard line.


Options for B? and any commentary is welcome...

[ump33]

Since Team A is responsible for putting the ball in the EZ in each play, Team B may take the Result of the Play = Safety. Or they can accept the following All-But-One enforcement:

a) The Holding by A1 happens during a Loose Ball Play, Enforce 1/2 Distance from the 10 yard line Replay 4th Down - Snap Clock

b) 2 Fouls by A and they happen during a Loose Ball Play. B can take the Hold by A1 (same as Play a) or the Illegal Kick by A44. Since the Illegal Kick happened in the EZ, the enforcement is a Safety (there is no "carry-over").

c) 2 Fouls by A and they happen during a Loose Ball Play. B can take the Hold by A1 or the Illegal Kick by A44. If either is accepted, they would be enforced from the spot of the foul 1/2 Distance and Replay 4th Down - Snap Clock

[whitehat]

Unless I am missing something I believe you are correct ump... with the addition of choice to decline the penalty in each case.

This is one of those at first glance, because it is 4th down, that B might hope somehow that declining the penalty would give them the ball near the goal line (instead of the results of the play = safety) with a better chance of scoring a TD. However, because the result of the play is a safety and this is not a loss of down penatly that ends in the field of play the best B can get is the 2 points and the ball after the safety/free kick.

Also, this is another one of those plays (b and c)that seems to favor the team for doing something illegal, like kicking the ball through their own endzone in order to gain an advantage.