Football stats question

I have encountered this twice this season and both coaches have different interpretations:
A quarterback completes a pass to a wide-receiver, who then pitches the ball to another player who runs for a score. Does the quarterback get credit for a touchdown pass or does the player who received the lateral get credit for a touchdown run? I spoke with a rules interpreter for the state public schools athletic association and he agrees with the interpretation that the player who received the lateral gets credit for a touchdown run, not the quarterback. However, one of the coaches I covered gave credit to the quarterback for a touchdown pass. While I am going with the state official's interpretation of the rule, I still have some uncertainty.

 

At the NFL level, the QB gets credit for the TD and the WR who catches the first pass gets credit for all the yards.

 

I've counted the pass and the yardage to the receiver. The trailer gets rushing yards from the spot of the lateral and the touchdown run. No touchdown pass.

 

From the NCAA statisticians' manual:

SECTION 4—LATERAL PASSING
Article 1. The recipient of a lateral pass (a backward pass or one that travels
parallel to the line of scrimmage) is credited with the yardage he gains from the
point he received the lateral, but he is not credited with an attempt, reception
or return on the play. Exceptions: Run-option plays (see Section 2, Article 5) and
laterals or handoffs by a player making no attempt to advance a kick (see Section

8, Article 4). (See also Section 2, Article 6.)
A.R. 1. Team A’s ball on Team B’s 40. Adams advances to the 20 and laterals
to Allen, who receives the ball on the 22 and scores. Credit Adams with a
rush of 18 yards. Credit Allen with no rush but with 22 yards under “Rushing”
and a touchdown scored by rushing.

A.R. 2. Team A’s ball on Team B’s 30. Adams passes to Allen
on the 20. Allen laterals to Adler, who obtains the ball on the 21 and advances
to the 15. Credit Adams with a pass attempt and a completion of
15 yards. Credit Allen with a reception of nine yards. Credit Adler with no
reception but with six yards under “Receiving.”

A.R. 3. Team A’s ball on Team B’s 30. Adams completes a forward pass to
Allen on Team B’s 35. Allen laterals to Adler, who obtains the ball on the 36
and is downed on the 37. Credit Adams with a pass attempt and a completion
of minus seven yards. Credit Allen with a reception of minus six yards.
Credit Adler with no reception but with minus one yard under “Receiving.”

A.R. 4. Adams receives a kick (or intercepts) on the 10, advances to the
30 and laterals to Allen, who obtains the ball on the 28 and returns to the
50. Credit Adams with a return of 18 yards. Credit Allen with no return but
with 22 yards under the appropriate returns category (i.e., punt, kickoff,
interception).

 

Great, thank you.

 

Screw what the coach says. You're the reporter, you're the paper of record.

 

If you're referring to a HS game, the National Federation manual stats manual says this:

Provision 7: Any backward pass beyond the LOS (line of scrimmage) during a passing play following a completed pass causes two players to be credited with receiving yards, but only one player may be credited with a pass caught. The player receiving the forward pass is credited with a pass caught and the receiving yards from the LOS to the spot where the backward pass is caught. the player receiving the backward pass is not credited with a reception, but is credited with receiving yards from the spot where the backward pass is caught to the spot where the ball is declared dead in teh player's possession.

From the 50-yard-line, Player A passes complete to Player A2, who advances to Team B's 35 yards line where Player A2 passes backward to Player A3, who catches the ball on Team B's 38-yard line and advances to Team B's 20-yard line before being tackled. Credit Player A with a completed pass and 30 passing yards. Player A2 is credited with a pass caught and 12 receiving yards. Player A3 is not credited with a pass caught, but is credited with 18 receiving yards.

There's nothing in there specifically saying if it is or isn't a touchdown pass.

 

Slight threadjack -- where did you get that manual? I've looked on the Web site and all I can find are rule books.

 

Some states, though, like Texas use the NCAA rulebook and not the National Federation of High Schools. So, it can depend on what state you are in.

 

I don't think the manual is online. We bought a copy from the national federation last year. Here's the link to the catalog:

http://www.nfhs.org/Core/ContentManager/uploads/PDFs/Publications/PublicationProducts.pdf

The stats manual is on page 18.

 

wrong

 

THan

Thank you! The $6.50 will be well worth it, but it would be nice if it was available online like the NCAA one.