High School football 2017 Rules Changes

[WarTiger 3,902]

I'll post this again in the football forum once we hit July or so as a reminder and to coincide with the rules/interpretations thread.   But, I thought some might like an early look at the rule changes for 2017.  There aren't many but still worthy of discussion.

1. A blind sided block is now ILLEGAL and carries a 15 yard penalty for a personal foul.   Here's the explanation/definition of what the National Federation considers a blind sided block:

The definition of a blindside block established by the committee is “a block against an opponent other than the runner, who does not see the blocker approaching,” and now results in a 15-yard penalty.

The committee stated that the blindside block “involves contact by a blocker against an opponent who, because of physical positioning and focus of concentration, is vulnerable to injury. Unless initiated with open hands, it is a foul for excessive and unnecessary contact when the block is forceful and outside of the free-blocking zone.”

2.  Single hop kick off a tee (onside kick driven into the ground so that it hops once) is now ILLEGAL.

Another significant risk-minimization change was elimination of a pop-up kick in new Rule 6-1-11. A new definition of a pop-up kick in Rule 2-24-10 is defined as “a free kick in which the kicker drives the ball immediately to the ground, the ball strikes the ground once and goes into the air in the manner of a ball kicked directly off the tee.”

The committee implemented this change in an effort to reduce risk of injury due to the increased use of the pop-up kick on onside kickoffs. Such kicks will be penalized as a dead-ball free-kick infraction, as noted with new Rule 6-1-11 PENALTY.

They also expanded the definition of a defenseless player:

The NFHS Football Rules Committee also expanded Rule 2-32-16 regarding a defenseless player by adding specific examples of a defenseless player. Those examples include, but are not limited to:

a)      A player in the act of or just after throwing a pass;

A receiver attempting to catch a pass who has not had time to clearly become a runner;

c)      The intended receiver of a pass in the action during and immediately following an interception or potential interception;

d)      A runner already in the grasp of a tackler and whose forward progress has been stopped;

e)      A kickoff or punt returner attempting to catch or recover a kick, or one who has completed a catch or recovery and has not had time to protect himself or has not clearly become a ball carrier;

f)       A player on the ground including a ball carrier who has obviously given himself up and is sliding feet-first;

g)      A player obviously out of the play or not in the immediate vicinity of the runner; and

h)      A player who received a blindside block with forceful contact not initiated with open hands.

Encroachment change as well:

Changes to Rule 7-1-6 expand on the situations required for encroachment to occur after the ready-for-play and after the snapper has placed his hand(s) on the ball. The rule previously stated that encroachment occurred if “any other player breaks the plane of the neutral zone.”

In addition, now defensive players are restricted from contacting the ball prior to the end of the snap or making contact with the snapper’s hand(s) or arm(s) until the snapper has released the ball.

There are others below but the article offered no additional details on those.  I'm especially interested in the change surrounding post-Scrimmage kick fouls.  

Oh, they did mention the Forward Pass interference change.   Effective 2017, FACE GUARDING is NO LONGER considered pass interference.  They are going to the college rule on that in that there must be contact for interference to occur.   Face Guarding as been pass interference for at least the last 30 years in high school football.

The remaining changes approved by the NFHS Football Rules Committee touched on a new ball specification (1-3-1h), uniforms [(1-5-1b(3)], game officials (1-5-4), post-scrimmage kick fouls (2-16-2h), penalty time clock management (3-4-7), prosthetic limbs (4-2-2l) and forward-pass interference (7-5-10), in which the previous foul for non-contact face guarding was eliminated as forward-pass interference.

[lionheartkc 6,150]

22 hours ago, WarTiger said:

The NFHS Football Rules Committee also expanded Rule 2-32-16 regarding a defenseless player by adding specific examples of a defenseless player. Those examples include, but are not limited to:

a)      A player in the act of or just after throwing a pass;

A receiver attempting to catch a pass who has not had time to clearly become a runner;

c)      The intended receiver of a pass in the action during and immediately following an interception or potential interception;

d)      A runner already in the grasp of a tackler and whose forward progress has been stopped;

e)      A kickoff or punt returner attempting to catch or recover a kick, or one who has completed a catch or recovery and has not had time to protect himself or has not clearly become a ball carrier;

f)       A player on the ground including a ball carrier who has obviously given himself up and is sliding feet-first;

g)      A player obviously out of the play or not in the immediate vicinity of the runner; and

h)      A player who received a blindside block with forceful contact not initiated with open hands.

So... basically everyone other than a ball carrier who has taken at least a couple of steps. So much for sacking the passer as he throws or knocking the ball loose from a receiver with a well timed hit.

I particularly love the "has not had time to" parts.  By all means, let's make it as subjective as possible, so no one calls it the same way.

I don't envy you your job WarTiger.

[AU64 10,122]

Gonna make it interesting trying to evaluate defensive ballplayers while they are still in high school . Seems like most of the attributes that college coaches are looking for will now be illegal . 

[WarTiger 3,902]

First time on the field with the new rule changes this week as Spring Jamborees are going on here.  Mine is wednesday evening (which is an odd night for a scrimmage).