Be the Referee: Most Important Line

Highlights

October 31, 2019

This week, MHSAA officials coordinator Sam Davis explains what the goal line means for offenses, defenses and special teams in high school football.

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 - Most Important Line - Listen

There’s an old saying in football officiating that the most important line on the field is the goal line.

This is certainly true when it comes to touchdowns, as the high school rule is just like that at the college and pro level, where all the ball has to do is break the plane for the score.

One unique part of the goal line under high school rules deals with kicks. Whenever a kickoff or a punt breaks the plane of the goal line, it becomes a dead ball with an automatic touchback. Now, whenever the defense gets possession of the ball in the end zone, it can return a fumble or interception out of the end zone for advancement, except if it’s on an extra point or any time in overtime.

Past editions

Oct. 24: Automatic 1st Downs - Listen
Oct. 17: Catch Momentum - Listen
Oct. 10: Golf Rules Changes - Listen
Oct. 3: No Tackle Box - Listen
Sept. 26: You Make the Overtime Call - Listen
Sept. 19: Swimming Finishing Touch - Listen
Sept. 12: Curbing Gamesmanship By Substitution - Listen
Sept. 5: Football Safety Rules Changes - Listen
Aug. 29: 40-Second Play Clock - Listen

Highlights

Tournament Streams Ahead in 4 Sports

October 29, 2019

By John Johnson
MHSAA Director of Broadcast Properties

It will be a very busy week of live video and audio streaming of MHSAA Tournament activity on the MHSAA.tv, MHSAANetwork.com and FOXSportsDetroit.com websites.

The centerpiece of the next seven days comes Saturday (Nov. 2), when the Boys Soccer Finals will have live audio and video streaming of its championship games from Novi and Comstock Park High Schools. Two games will be played at each site with the game times set for noon and 3 p.m. The finalists will be determined following Semifinal play Wednesday (Oct. 30), with four of those games being streamed live on MHSAA.tv.

Saturday’s coverage also will include the Lower Peninsula Cross Country Finals at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn. The Finish Line Cam will capture the opening 800 meters of the race on the infield of the track and the conclusion of the race beginning between the third and fourth turns on the oval. The Finish Line Cam also will feature commentary throughout each race from reporters on the course. Weather permitting, coverage also may include the awards presentations and a camera showing the runners just past the two-mile mark of the race before reentering the oval at MIS.

Lots of Football Playoff games will take place beginning Friday evening with three featured games on the FOX Sports Detroit Prep Zone. The Prep Zone games can be seen on FoxSportsDetroit.com and on FOX Sports Go! for handheld and streaming devices like Roku. Here are this weekend’s games, all at 7 p.m. Friday:

White Lake Lakeland at Plymouth (Div. 2)
Rochester Adams at Utica Eisenhower (Div. 2)
DeWitt at East Lansing (Div. 3)

MHSAA.tv will play host to 30 Pre-District Football Playoff games over the weekend, most produced by participants in the School Broadcast Program. The NFHS Network is providing bonus coverage of two additional games Friday – Brighton at Holt in Division 1 and Pinckney at Coldwater in Division 3.

On Monday (Nov. 4), a record number of District matches in the MHSAA Volleyball Tournament will have opening night streaming video. Over the course of the first week of the playoffs, action will be streamed from 25 tournament centers.

The unprecedented coverage in Football, Soccer and Volleyball this fall is due to the addition of Pixellot, the NFHS Network’s automated production solution at a growing number of MHSAA member schools. The number of active Pixellot schools now stands at 84, with nearly 30 additional schools awaiting installation at their stadiums, gymnasiums, or both venues. As a result, the number of events produced by School Broadcast Program participants has passed the 2,000 mark already this school year.

Here’s the complete schedule of upcoming events on MHSAA.tv:

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Past editions