A Commentary from USA-365.com

10 Rule Changes for Prep Football

By Mark Smith

9-4-2004

 

PROPOSED CHANGES TO HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL

The problem with high school football is tradition. Some rules are made for no reason or reasons that are obsolete. I'm not saying that any of these changes will be adopted. Especially in Indiana high school football. Indiana traditionally is as out of date and out of touch with the times as Alan Keyes.

Games must be updated. Basketball has been.  College football has. High school football should be.  It's just about making it a better game for fans and players. Nothing else. No game is perfect.  The same way as players who played 50 years ago could not play today, the rules of the Korean War era should not limit players of the 21st century.  You know I'm right; we just differ on what should be changed.

Consider the following:

1.) Run back all kickoffs

In high school, a kickoff that carries into the end zone, cannot legally be run back. That is a rule that is 20 years behind the times. The only logic I have ever heard is that the rule exists for the safety of the players. To run a kick back from the five is no more dangerous than running one back from five yards deep. Some teams have talent running back kicks and they should not be handcuffed from using them by the rules.

This rule is craziness. It's like saying you cant pass from your own end zone or punt from your own end zone. No one even has a strong feeling for continuing this. Most people don't understand why the rule exists.
This change can be done immediately. There is no reason for this rule.

 

2.) All first downs in the final two minutes should earn an automatic time out.

College football has a similar rule. This takes the game out of the hands of the clock operator. You don't want a game to be decided because the old guy in the press box didn't stop the clock fast enough. You don't want the visiting team to get cheated and that can happen in high school football. I don't think every first down should earn a time out. That would urge teams to use time outs early in a game without much thought. It's part of football to run out of time outs. That's okay.

I want teams to EARN the extra time outs by gaining first downs. The extra earned time outs in the final two minutes will make for much more interesting finishes and make the outcome more fair. It will not make the game longer. You can only get so many first downs in two minutes.

But I want the defensive team to stop a rallying offense in a close game. I don't want them to win because the time ran out. This is not a drastic change. It would help referees, time clock operators and offensive coordinators who will not decide the game based on how fast they pull the trigger.

 

3. Play the fifth quarter

Who ever thought up the high school overtime should be taken outside and shot. It is an absolute offense to the game. Anyone who is honest will admit that overtime football is not the same game that is played during the first four quarters. When both teams get a first down at the 10-yard-line, punting does not matter, kickoffs do not matter, zone defense is not possible in the secondary and an excellent field goal kicker is neutralized because a chimp could make a 17-yarder.There is absolutely no reason not to play a 5th quarter. The game will go longer, but guess what? It's Friday night. That's not a problem. If the game is tied after 5 quarters, play a sixth quarter. Where is it you have to go? They play basketball overtimes on nights other than Friday. The length of the game simply is a bogus issue.

A 5th quarter creates a REAL winner. Even if someone scores on the kickoff, the other side has a chance to rally. You want a fair outcome and a full 5th quarter produces a righteous winner. A winner at real 100-yard football.

Not Mickey Mouse, 'girlie man' 10-yard football.

 

4. A kickoff out of bounds should come to the 50 yard line

Giving a team the ball at the 35 on a kickoff that travels out of bounds is not a penalty. If I have the lead and am facing a great kick returner, I'd gladly kick the ball out of bounds and give the other side a 1st-and-10 at the 35. I'm not sure why the 35 was chosen but, if the idea of a penalty is to make the kicking team boot the ball inbounds, the 35-yard line doesn't get it done.

I want the ball kicked to the kickoff returners. That's a big part of football. The kicking team can risk dribbling it out of bounds but there's a cost. If they miss, give the receiving team the ball at midfield. You'll get more returns and fewer balls kicked out of bounds.

 

5. Five men on the line of scrimmage

I have never understood why, if there are five eligible receivers, there needs to be more than the five ineligible receivers (the linemen) on the line of scrimmage. This is another rule made during another era that isn't valid. Imagine the creative formations that could occur with six men in the backfield. Football is a very conservative Republican game and any change to liberalize it up is good. Only linemen need be on the line. Receivers should be able to line up anywhere. That seems obvious.

 

6. Missed field goals should come back to the 35-yard-line

You want to discourage endless field goals attempts. The game is played to score TDs and teams should be encouraged to go for the gold. You don't want to eliminate field goals but you should punish misses. Teams will think twice about using a field goal as a pseudo-punt when they are at the 30 or 35 yard line. The 20-yard line is an arbitrary location decided on in another era. A low percentage field goal should not be able to be used to pin the other team deep in their own territory. It's not fair to the defense for a 45-yard field goal to count three pints if it's good and then back the defense up to the 20 even if it's no good. If you want to punt, then punt. If you want to try for three, you better make it.

 

7.  A safety should be four points.

Many of the changes I've suggested here are to get the teams to play the game. There is nothing lamer than seeing a team run back into its own end zone to give away two points so they can get a punt off. A team leading 21-15, with a 4th-and 12 from their own 3-yard-line takes an intentional safety so they can maintain a lead larger than a field goal and punt uncontested from the 20-yard-line.

That's what's known as a loophole in the rules and it's not playing the game.

Stopping the offense in their own end zone is a lot tougher than booting a 20-yard kick through the uprights. Reward the defense. Four point safeties eliminate the intentional safety and adds excitement when an offensive team is backed up late in a game. Teams need to play their way out of trouble and not run out through the back door like scared kittens.

 

8.  Allow regular season games to end in a tie

For some reason, we've decided that even if the winner isn't fair and just, that we MUST have a winner. Quickly, explain to me why a regular season high school event must have a winner? Amateur sports is about doing your best. Not about winning and losing. What better example of that could there ever be but a four quarter football game followed by an extra period... and ending in a tie.

Teams can share the decision and if necessary, share a conference or league championship. In the state tournament, you must play until there's a winner, but we are all obsessed with winning. A tie allows both sides respect and satisfaction. There is no respect in the 'Looney Tunes' overtime system that is used in high school and college. There used to be ties in football and they were not disappointments.

 

9.  The 2-point conversion should be from the 5-yard line

The 2-point distance of 2 ½ yards is again a dinosaur from another era. With spread offenses, it's just too easy. The 2-point conversion is good for the game, but it needs to be more than a run off tackle. Make the offense earn those two points. A first down is 10 yards but a two-point conversion is just 2 ½. That's not equitable. Give the defense a chance. Remember that most of football's rules go back decades and they are not symmetrical like baseball. They are totally, 100% arbitrary.

 

10.  A player who slips and falls should be able to get up and run again

This is the rule in pro football. I'm not saying a player who kneels down. That player is down. But I don't understand why a player who slips and falls in the open field and is not touched, cannot be allowed to get up and continue. What is the purpose of this rule? Safety? 

A shoulder or helmet hit to a prone player is already a penalty. Football is played on wet fields more often than not. Players slip down. If they can get up before they are touched, of course they should be allowed to continue. Its just crazy to rule them down. Remember, lots of football rules were made during the Cold War. They're about as up-to-date as Chesterfields. This change is just obvious.

 

Care to sound-off on this subject?  E-mail us with your comments on these or other prep football rules changes you'd like to see in the state of Indiana:  usa365@ameritech.net

 

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Revised: September 04, 2004 .