What is the call

[ajmc]

Originally Posted by chapmaja

Heard about this today. What's the call. NFHS rules.

K kicks off and R touches the ball at the 1 yard line (no possession), and thinking the ball is going to go into the endzone just lets the ball roll away. K attempts to recover the football and in the process the ball ends up in the endzone where K recovers the ball.

One KEY to this situation is to remember that ANY and ALL kicks that break the plane of R's goal are touchbacks, so in essence K can NEVER (EVER) score on a kick that enters R's EZ.

The other KEY is that a kick REMAINS a kick until someone POSSESSES it. Muffs, multiple people touching a kick DOESN'T END the kick, so the instant it touches R's Goal line plane, it's a touchback.

Of course, after being muffed or touched by R, K can recover the kick IN THE FIELD OF PLAY, BUT THEY CANNOT ADVANCE IT, so if K recovers a kick touched by R in the field of play, they keep it, 1st and goal (or 10). If that kick touches the goal line plane, it's R's ball 1st and 10 on their 20 yl (touchback)