By JOHN JAMES MARSHALL, Journal Sports
Before the start of every high school football season, the members of the Northwest Louisiana officials association get together for a meeting to discuss the rule changes for the upcoming year.
The meeting this year was probably a lot shorter than in year’s past.
Care to guess how many on-field changes there are to the National High School Federation rule book for 2024?
Zilch. Nada. Bupkis.
“In a way, that’s good,” said Curtis Graham, the regional coordinator of officials. “That tells us we are doing it right.”
You might have a hard time convincing some coaches and irate fans of that – ah, the pageantry of high school football — but having consistency in the rules should make things easier on everyone.
One of the problems has always been that high school rules are different than college rules and NFL rules. What you see on television on Saturdays and Sundays didn’t necessarily apply to Fridays, which often led to a lot of confusion and rising body temperatures.
Rules regarding offensive pass interference, blindside blocking and intentional grounding have all undergone a change in high school football over the last few years, so having things stay the same should help.
But Graham points out there is difference between a rule and an interpretation of the rule. “There are some things that come up that the rule book just can’t hold all of them, editorially speaking,” he said.
Pass interference is always a good place to start.
“In past times, if (a defender) touches (the receiver) or puts his hand on him or something like that, it would be classified as pass interference,” Graham says. “But in today’s game it’s not. Even though there is contact, our philosophy is that there has to be some effect on his ability to catch the ball. If we see it affect the receiver’s normal pattern of getting to the ball, that’s going to be called.
“But if he is playing the ball, he also has a right to his position on the field to try to get the ball.” he added. “At the same time, he can’t play through the receiver to get to the ball. Coaches get really, really upset about it, but they are not seeing what we are seeing.”
Rules are rules … and then there is interpretation of the rules. Especially when extracurricular activities begin happening after a play.
“We get a lot of personal fouls and some are flagrant and some are not,” Graham says.
“Sometimes it looks like fighting but it’s just a reaction to a play or player. That’s an area where we as officials have to make a discernment on that. Just because a player swings in reaction to something an opposing player did, we don’t want to construe that as fighting. That’s not in the rule book, but that’s an emphasis for us this year. If it’s just a reactionary thing and that’s all that happens, we don’t want to penalize that as fighting.”
That’s because there’s a difference in the punishment. A reactionary foul will result in an ejection from the game, but not cause the player to miss the next game as well.
Graham, who was an official in the Big 12 Conference for 13 years, took over as coordinator last year (it was previously known as assignment secretary) and said the change in terminology is quite appropriate.
“Coordinate is exactly what it is,” he said. “We have officials who want to work high-level games and we are trying to get them to realize that what gets them on the field for a game like that is what you have done prior to that. You earn your way into a high-level game. You don’t get them by virtue of your tenure. If you are not working a game like that, there’s a reason why.”
If you want to get technical, there is one item listed under NFHS Rule Book Changes: “The jerseys of the home team shall all be the same dark color(s) that clearly contrasts with white.”
That’s rule [1-5-1b(3)], in case it comes up on a Friday night.
Contact JJ at johnjamesmarshall@yahoo.com