Be the Referee: Most Important Line
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
MHSAA TV Features Grid Showdowns
September 5, 2018
By John Johnson
MHSAA Director of Broadcast Properties
A trio of football games pitting schools with 2-0 records highlights this week’s schedule on MHSAA.tv.
In the Upper Peninsula’s West-PAC Large Division, Calumet hosts Ishpeming Westwood on Friday. The two teams are tied atop the league standings with Hancock.
The other games are league openers. Saginaw Swan Valley will travel to Freeland on Friday in a Tri-Valley Conference Central match, and in the Capital Area Activities Conference Red, Williamston is at Fowlerville.
Here’s this week’s MHSAA.tv schedule of video streams being produced by School Broadcast Program members and the NFHS Network:
Tuesday, Sept. 4
- JV Boys Soccer - Ann Arbor Skyline at Saline - 5:30 p.m.
- Girls Volleyball - Iron Mountain at Norway - 6 p.m.
- Boys Soccer - Ann Arbor Skyline at Saline - 7 p.m.
Wednesday - Sept. 5
- Girls Volleyball – Marlette at Freeland - 5 p.m.
- Freshman Girls Volleyball – Madison Heights Bishop Foley at Macomb Lutheran North - 5:30 p.m.
- JV Girls Volleyball - Durand at Ovid-Elsie - 5:30 p.m.
- Freshman Girls Volleyball - Durand at Ovid-Elsie - 5:30 p.m.
- JV Girls Volleyball – Marine Cardinal Mooney at Ann Arbor Greenhills - 5:30 p.m.
- Girls Volleyball - Durand at Ovid-Elsie - 6:30 p.m.
- Girls Volleyball – Marine City Cardinal Mooney at Ann Arbor Greenhills - 6:30 p.m.
Thursday - Sept. 6
- Freshman Girls Volleyball – Grand Rapids Catholic Central at Comstock Park - 4 p.m.
- Freshman Football - Croswell-Lexington at Frankenmuth - 4:30 p.m.
- Freshman Football - Ypsilanti at Saline - 4:30 p.m.
- Girls Volleyball – Brooklyn Columbia Central at Manchester - 5 p.m.
- JV Girls Volleyball – Grand Rapids Catholic Central at Comstock Park - 5 p.m.
- Freshman Girls Volleyball - Clarkston at Grand Blanc - 5:30 p.m.
- JV Girls Volleyball - Clarkston at Grand Blanc - 5:30 p.m.
- Girls Volleyball – Grand Rapids Catholic Central at Comstock Park - 6 p.m.
- JV Football - Bridgeport at Frankenmuth - 6 p.m.
- JV Football - Ypsilanti at Saline - 6:30 p.m.
- JV Football - Ishpeming at Norway - 6:30 p.m.
- JV Football - Chesaning at Montrose - 6:30 p.m.
- Girls Volleyball - Clarkston at Grand Blanc - 7 p.m.
Friday - Sept. 7
- Football - Williamston at Fowlerville - 7 p.m.
- Freshman Boys Soccer - Salem at Saline - 4 p.m.
- Football - Lake Orion at Rochester Adams - 7 p.m.
- Football – Saginaw Swan Valley at Freeland - 7 p.m.
- Football - Sault Ste. Marie at Marquette - 7 p.m.
- Football - Flint at Grand Blanc - 7 p.m.
- Football - Salem at Novi - 7 p.m.
- Football - Saint Thomas Aquinas at Warren DeLaSalle - 7 p.m.
- Football – Ishpeming Westwood at Calumet - 7 p.m.
- Football – Otisville Lakeville at Ovid-Elsie - 7 p.m.
Saturday - Sept. 8
- JV Girls Volleyball – Mustang Invitational at Grand Rapids NorthPointe Christian - 8:30 a.m.
Monday - Sept. 10
- Field Hockey – Bloomfield Hills Marian at Novi - 3:30 p.m.
- JV Field Hockey – Bloomfield Hills Marian at Novi - 5 p.m.
- Boys Soccer - Howell at Fowlerville - 5:30 p.m.
Tuesday - Sept. 11
- Freshman Girls Volleyball - Schoolcraft at Kalamazoo Christian - 4:15 p.m.
- JV Girls Volleyball - Schoolcraft at Kalamazoo Christian - 5:30 p.m.
- Girls Volleyball - Schoolcraft at Kalamazoo Christian - 7 p.m.
All sporting events – live or delayed - are available on a subscription basis only for their first 72 hours online. They become available for free, on-demand viewing approximately 72 hours following their completion.
NFHS Network subscriptions begin at $9.95 a month. Subscribers will have access to all live video and streaming statistics across the country. All content becomes available for free, on- demand viewing 72 hours after being shown live. School Broadcast Program participants also will be selling Season and Annual Passes at a discounted rate. A portion of every subscription sold by a school goes to benefit its program.
A complete list of participating schools can be found on the School Broadcast Program page of the MHSAA website.
Highlights of games broadcast during the past week by the MHSAA School Broadcast Program feature Saline’s 17-7 football win over two-time reigning Division 4 champion Grand Rapids Catholic Central, Allen Park Cabrini’s 3-0 volleyball win over Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood and East Lansing’s 2-1 boys soccer win over Williamston.
Highlights can be found each week on the MHSAA.tv website, the home page of the MHSAA Website, and the MHSAASports Channel on YouTube.