Be the Referee: Football Rules Similarities
By
Sam Davis
MHSAA Director of Officials
August 30, 2023
Be The Referee is a series of short messages designed to help educate people on the rules of different sports, to help them better understand the art of officiating, and to recruit officials.
Below is this week's segment – Football Rules Similarities - Listen
Last week we highlighted some major differences between high school football and the college and pros. This week — how about some of the things that are similar?
New as of last year is the addition of a tackle box when judging intentional grounding. In high school, like college and pros, the QB must be outside of the tackle box and throw it past the line of scrimmage for it to NOT be intentional grounding.
Horse collar tackles are penalties at all three levels of play. The ball carrier must be pulled down backward or to one side for there to be a foul … but if there is, it’s 15 yards.
And a receiver at the high school level needs to have a body part down in bounds, the same as in college. But the NFL requires two feet in for a catch.
Previous Editions
Aug. 23: Football Rules Differences - Listen
(PHOTO by Douglas Bargerstock.)
Flashback 100: Future Baseball Pro Led Escanaba's Legendary Football Title Run
November 8, 2024
The MHSAA 11-player Football Playoffs have awarded 332 Finals champions over their first 49 seasons, and the total will grow by eight later this month.
However, only 22 of those titles have been claimed by teams from Michigan's Upper Peninsula. And of those, just one came in the state’s largest division.
That honor belongs to Escanaba, which won the Class A title in 1981, marking the first and only time a U.P. team has claimed the crown in either Division 1, Class A, or Class AA.
The 1981 Escanaba team, coached by the legendary Jerry Cvengros – who would later be inducted into the Michigan High School Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame – was led by Kevin Tapani. A dynamic two-way player, Tapani starred at both quarterback and safety. The Eskymos finished the season undefeated at 12-0, outscoring opponents by a combined 345-67. They shut out six opponents and defeated Fraser 16-6 in the title game at the Pontiac Silverdome.
While Tapani excelled in football, his true passion was baseball. He was a standout in high school and went on to become a four-year starting pitcher at Central Michigan University. In 1986, Tapani was selected by the Oakland A’s in the second round of the MLB Draft. He went on to enjoy a successful 13-year career in the majors, earning a 143-125 record, with a 16-9 season in 1991 when he helped lead the Minnesota Twins to a World Series title.
In recognition of his athletic achievements, Tapani was inducted into the Upper Peninsula Sports Hall of Fame in 2012 and named one of the Minnesota Twins' 50 all-time greatest players.
The 22 U.P. teams to win an MHSAA 11-player football championship:
1975 – Ishpeming – Class C
1975 – Crystal Falls Forest Park – Class D
1976 – Crystal Falls Forest Park – Class D
1979 – Ishpeming – Class C
1979 – Norway – Class D
1980 – Munising – Class C
1980 – Norway – Class D
1981 – Escanaba – Class A
1983 – St. Ignace – Class D
1992 – Lake Linden-Hubbell – Class DD
1993 – Kingsford – Class B
1993 – Iron Mountain – Class C
1997 – Lake Linden-Hubbell – Class D
1998 – Menominee – Class BB
2000 – Iron Mountain – Division 7
2002 – Negaunee – Division 6
2006 – Menominee – Division 5
2007 – Menominee – Division 5
2007 – Crysal Falls Forest Park – Division 8
2012 – Ishpeming – Division 7
2013 – Ishpeming – Division 7
2015 – Ishpeming – Division 7
Previous "Flashback 100" Features
Nov. 1: Flashback 100: Michigan High School Baseball Trio Provide World Series Voices - Read
Oct. 25: Flashback 100: Before Leading Free World, Ford Starred for Champion GR South - Read
Oct. 18: Mercy Links Legend Becomes World Golf Hall of Famer - Read
Oct. 11: Fisher Races to Finals Stardom on Way to U.S. Olympic First - Read
Oct. 4: Lalas Leaves High School Legacies on Ice & Pitch - Read
Sept. 27: Tamer's History-Making Run Starts in Dexter, Continues to Paris - Read
Sept. 20: Todd Martin’s Road to Greatness Starts at East Lansing - Read
Sept. 13: James Earl Jones, Dickson High Hoops to Hollywood Legend - Read
Sept. 6: Pioneers' Unstoppable Streak Stretches 9 Seasons - Read
Aug. 30: Detroit dePorres Rushes to 1995 Class CC Football Championship - Read
PHOTOS (Top) Escanaba's 1981 Class A championship team, Tapani is in the second row, fourth from the right (#18). (Middle) Kevin Tapani from his Escanaba Wall of Fame Plaque. (Photos courtesy of Escanaba High School, and the MHSAA archives.)