The National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) is amending its intentional grounding rules and “chop block” rules as two of seven changes for the 2022 high school football season.
Rule 7-5-2 Exception 2 will now allow a player to intentionally throw an incomplete forward pass without intentional grounding penalty if the passer is outside the “pocket” (boundary around the free-blocking zone) and the pass reaches the neutral zone or outside the sideline Expansion of territory.
“The question (with this rule) has always been, ‘If the defense can play well, will we bail out the offense by throwing the ball to the quarterback?'” Said Richard McWarter, chairman of the NFHS Football Rules Committee. Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association Assistant Executive Director. “This year, I think the committee felt good about the passers-by and was about to change the rule that they should not suffer any additional injuries.”
A change in Rule 2-3-8 addresses the new definition of a chop block, which is now described as a combination block by two or more teammates against an opponent other than the runner, with or without delay, where one of the blocks is below the waist. And a block above the waist. ” Previously, the defensive player’s knee was used to determine the high and low elements of a chop block.
“It’s going to strengthen the rules and it’s going to help game officials as well,” McWarter said. “I think they will be able to apply this rule better than in the past because it is difficult to determine ‘below the knee’ and ‘above the knee’. I think it will really improve the game.”
Players will be able to wear the number 0 as a jersey number starting 2022, as the range of acceptable numbers listed in the 1-4-3 rule has been extended from 1-99 to 0-99. However, any number before the digit zero will be invalid.
State associations now have the option to extend sideline team boxes outside of their traditional 50-yard extension (within 25-yard-lines) until both teams are allowed to use the same dimensions. This new note attached to Rule 1-2-3g gives state associations the freedom to decide which individuals may have access to the extended area.
The two minor changes involving the game clock and the game clock method have been made in rules 3-4-7 and 3-6-1a (1) e exceptions, respectively.
In Rule 3-4-7, any foul within the last two minutes of both halves will automatically become an option for the offending team to start the game clock at Snap. Prior to this change, the offending team would have to accept the punishment of its opponent in order to gain control of the game clock.
The Committee edited the exceptions to Rule 3-6-1a (1) e, which clarifies the conditions required for a short 25-second play clock after the game is closed. The rule now includes an exception to Rule 3-5-7i, which mandates that only a 40-second play clock be used after a foul committed by a defensive team.
The final rule change of 2022 is a change in rules 1-3-3 regarding play equipment. Any sports official – not just the referee – can order a change of ball at the bottom.
All changes were made by the National Federation of State High School Association (NFHS) Football Rules Committee, which held its annual rules meeting in January. The NFHS Board of Directors subsequently approved all seven recommendations of the Committee.
The NFHS Football Rules Committee consists of one representative from each of the NFHS member state associations that use the rules of NFHS football, along with a representative from the NFHS Coaches Association, the NFHS Official’s Association and the NFHS Sports Medicine Advisory Committee.
“With this year’s rule change, the committee has again shown its focus on reducing risk in high school football,” said Bob Colgate, NFHS Director of Sports and Sports Medicine, and the NFHS Football Rules Committee. “By extending the parameters for a legal forward pass and redefining the chop block so that it can be more easily implemented by game officials, the committee has taken steps to mitigate two potentially risky situations within the game.”
A complete list of football rule changes can be found on the NFHS website at www.nfhs.org. Click on “Activities and Sports” at the top of the home page and select “Football”.
According to the latest NFHS High School Athletics Participation Survey, 11-player football is the most popular high school sport for boys with 1,006,013 participants in 14,247 schools across the country. Also, there were 31,221 boys who played 6-, 8- and 9-player football and a total of 1,039,828 with 2,604 girls in four editions of the game.
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