High School Game
You know that theory that says if you say something out loud then it won't happen? Like "break a leg". I'm telling you that theory is a load of crap.
So, here's the story... during halftime of the JV game a parent walks up to me and asks, "can I ask you about a play I saw in a game earlier in the season. I don't understand what happened." Sure, no problem.
His explanation goes like this; a short scrimmage kick (i.e., a punt) crosses the expanded neutral zone (more on this is a minute), hits a player on the defense, bounces back over to the kickers side, where they gain possession of the ball, advance, and is tackled short of the line to gain (i.e., they did not make a first down).
"They gave the offense a first down. Was that right?", he asks. I confidently said, "yes, because the defense touch the ball. If they had not touched the ball then the refs were wrong." He believed me. I kinda, more-or-less, believed myself. I thanked the guy for bringing this up, because now it won't happen.
Of course, it did.
Ok, class, now stay with me on this one. (Rule 5-1-3-f) When a scrimmage down ends with the ball in the field of play or out of bounds between the goal lines, a new series is awarded to: F) The team in possession at the end of the down, if the defense is the first to touch a scrimmage kick while it is beyond the expanded neutral zone...
The F) means there are 7 conditions where a new series is awarded; A through G.
Expanded neutral zone? For reference, the normal, none expanded neutral zone is the line of scrimmage. The neutral zone for a scrimmage down is as wide as the length if the football (rule 2-28-1). The NZ may be expanded following the snap up to a maximum of 2 yards behind the defensive line of scrimmage... (rule 2-28-2)
OK, so when MAY it get expanded? You are not going to find some nice paragraph that explains this. Basically, the Expanded NZ exists to eliminate needless flags. For example, rule 7-5-12 says, "ineligible offensive players may not advance beyond the expanded NZ on a legal forward pass play before a legal forward pass crosses the neutral zone in flight...
The point is if a ineligible offensive lineman is within two yards of the original line-of-scrimmage, this is not a foul for ineligibly receiver down field. The same holds true for the punt I described above - ball needs to cross the ENZ.
Does this make sense? If the defense touch the ball beyond the ENZ, (and this can mean some poor kid gets hit on top of the head when he is not looking), whichever team gains possession of the ball will have a new series.
Now don't get cocky and think you understand this yet. Rule 6-2-6 says, the touching of a low scrimmage kick by any player is ignored if the touching is in or behind the expanded neutral zone. IGNORE this touching.
Hold on... there's more. Rule 6-2-3 says, any offensive player may catch or recover a scrimmage kick while it is in or behind the neutral zone and advance...
But....
Let's go back to (Rule 5-1-3-f) When a scrimmage down ends with the ball in the field of play or out of bounds between the goal lines, a new series is awarded to: C) the defense, if at the end of the forth down, the ball belongs to the offense behind the line to gain.
See why this expanded neutral zone thing is important? A mere six feet (two yards) makes the difference if the defense touches the ball and the offense gains possession.
So, please, someone talk to me about lotto numbers because I need this to really, really happen!
