Anyone heard of this before?

[bumpy mcgee]

Covered a prep game on Saturday.
Time winding down, trailing team in shotgun, QB takes the ball, spikes it to stop the clock.
Ref throws flag for intentional grounding.
Apparently there is a rule that to spike the ball, the snap has to be hand-to-hand.
I had never heard this rule before, anyone else?
Making it more strange: the RB was standing right next to the QB.
According to the official, it doesn't matter, if the snap is not hand-to-hand and a spike occurs it is intentional grounding no matter what.
Anyone on the rules committee verify this one?

 

[EagleMorph]

I've never seen a team spike the ball out of shotgun formation...that's not exactly hard evidence, but I'd have to say there's a reason for that.

 

[spnited]

Another rule that has to be done away with...it should be intentional grounding no matter what but the NFL needed an artificial way to keep games going when teams were out of timeouts.

How about in the first quarter instead of taking a time out because the QB decides the called play isn't going to work againt the defense he sees, he spikes it instead of taking a delay of game or a tmeout. Think they'd call that intentional grounding?

But the rules change later in the game, which is moronic.

 

[cjericho]

Another rule that has to be done away with...it should be intentional grounding no matter what but the NFL needed an artificial way to keep games going when teams were out of timeouts.

How about in the first quarter instead of taking a time out because the QB decides the called play isn't going to work againt the defense he sees, he spikes it instead of taking a delay of game or a tmeout. Think they'd call that intentional grounding?

But the rules change later in the game, which is moronic.

but before that rule weren't QBs allowed to throw it out of bounds and have the clock stopped without grounding?

 

[spnited]

They couldn't just take a snap with nobody else moving and throw it out of bound, no.

 

[Football_Bat]

I'd like to see that rule in writing.

 

[Yodel]

Yes, they could. An Ohio State quarterback (Jim Karsatos, I think) did it on fourth down in a bowl game. He stopped the clock, all right.

The "clocking" of the ball was instituted to save a little time.

The original rule said that intentional grounding was a penalty only if it was done to avoid a loss. In instances of stopping the clock, that's not the case.

Kenny Stabler did that for Alabama against Tennessee many years ago. Left the game in a tie. As my boss learned, asking him about it even now is not a good idea. :)

 

[joe_schmoe]

not sure about prep rules, but ncaa has an approved ruling that covers it that says shotgun is legal formation to consevre time (actually it says in the approved ruling qb lines up 7 yards behind center).
the main thing about the rule is that the action must be immediate.

 

[cjericho]

Yes, they could. An Ohio State quarterback (Jim Karsatos, I think) did it on fourth down in a bowl game. He stopped the clock, all right.

The "clocking" of the ball was instituted to save a little time.

The original rule said that intentional grounding was a penalty only if it was done to avoid a loss. In instances of stopping the clock, that's not the case.

I can't think of a definite specific game but I do remember seeing QBs in NFL games also doing that. and i also never remember grounding being called when QBs threw the ball way out of bounds where it was no way catchable.

 

[deskslave]

The spike only became legal in high school ball in the mid 90s. It wouldn't surprise me that there's a rule like that. I would guess that the underlying reason for it is something along the lines of being in the shotgun making it easier to fake a spike to deceive the defense. I'm not sure that's a GOOD underlying reason, but that's my guess.

 

[Matt1735]

I don't have a high school rulebook in front of me, but the referee was correct. In NFHS play, the exception to intentional grounding is a spike from a hand-to-hand snap.

 

[mustangj17]

Covered a prep game on Saturday.
Time winding down, trailing team in shotgun, QB takes the ball, spikes it to stop the clock.
Ref throws flag for intentional grounding.
Apparently there is a rule that to spike the ball, the snap has to be hand-to-hand.
I had never heard this rule before, anyone else?
Making it more strange: the RB was standing right next to the QB.
According to the official, it doesn't matter, if the snap is not hand-to-hand and a spike occurs it is intentional grounding no matter what.
Anyone on the rules committee verify this one?

I think we had a thread on this same topic a year or two ago.

 

[slappy4428]

Covered a prep game on Saturday.
Time winding down, trailing team in shotgun, QB takes the ball, spikes it to stop the clock.
Ref throws flag for intentional grounding.
Apparently there is a rule that to spike the ball, the snap has to be hand-to-hand.
I had never heard this rule before, anyone else?
Making it more strange: the RB was standing right next to the QB.
According to the official, it doesn't matter, if the snap is not hand-to-hand and a spike occurs it is intentional grounding no matter what.
Anyone on the rules committee verify this one?

I think we had a thread on this same topic a year or two ago.

You'd think that team would have learned from its mistake then.

 

[93Devil]

Covered a prep game on Saturday.
Time winding down, trailing team in shotgun, QB takes the ball, spikes it to stop the clock.
Ref throws flag for intentional grounding.
Apparently there is a rule that to spike the ball, the snap has to be hand-to-hand.
I had never heard this rule before, anyone else?
Making it more strange: the RB was standing right next to the QB.
According to the official, it doesn't matter, if the snap is not hand-to-hand and a spike occurs it is intentional grounding no matter what.
Anyone on the rules committee verify this one?

The ref should have eaten the flag.

Refs are out there to ensure the smooth flow of the game. Not to decide it. That ref thought he would be smarter than the game.

I would ask if grounding out of the shotgun was a point of emphasis at anytime during referee clinics or during coaching clinics. It could of also been mentioned at the coin toss.

"You know coach, I have done your games already this year, and when your qb grounds the ball from the shotgun, the rules compell me to throw a flag."

If that flag came out of the blue, it was wrong. The game is about tackling, blocking and moving a ball across the goal line; not where you take a snap from center.

 

[deskslave]

Rare is the high school quarterback who's calling his own plays, even in that situation. It's on the coach to know the rules. I'm sure in that situation he was told to run a particular play, then spike the ball if the clock was running. Coach has to say, don't spike it out of the shotgun. It's not the referee's job to make sure the team knows every odd rule. If they did that, the pregame meeting would last an hour.

It's a technical rule, sure, but it's still a rule. You might as well say that a center who strays downfield shouldn't be flagged as an ineligible receiver, because he's clearly not down there to catch a pass. But that doesn't matter. He's not supposed to be there. That's the rule.

High-school football has a few strange rules. Doesn't mean you can ignore them to 'ensure the flow of the game.'

 

[93Devil]

I'm sure the teams properly broke huddle before every snap of the game, and the center never lifted the end of the ball before snapping.

I'm also sure all the players on the sideline stayed between the 35's and the coaches never came out onto the field a few feet when there was a live ball.

 

[Armchair_QB]

Covered a prep game on Saturday.
Time winding down, trailing team in shotgun, QB takes the ball, spikes it to stop the clock.
Ref throws flag for intentional grounding.
Apparently there is a rule that to spike the ball, the snap has to be hand-to-hand.
I had never heard this rule before, anyone else?
Making it more strange: the RB was standing right next to the QB.
According to the official, it doesn't matter, if the snap is not hand-to-hand and a spike occurs it is intentional grounding no matter what.
Anyone on the rules committee verify this one?

Actually, that's the right call. The spike has to be done from under center and, not only that, has to be immediate from under center.

If you take more than one step away from the center before you spike, it's intentional grounding.