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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

More Championships Come to MHSAA TV

October 31, 2017

By John Johnson
MHSAA Director of Broadcast Properties 

Championship action in two sports plus the second week of PrepZone gridiron coverage will provide fans of MHSAA action lots to choose from this weekend.

Coverage begins with four District Final games in the MHSAA Football Playoffs – powered by the Michigan Army National Guard – on the PrepZone on FoxSportsDetroit.com and FOX Sports GO! on Friday (Nov. 3) at 7 p.m.:

  • Canton at Belleville (Div. 1)
  • Grand Rapids Catholic Central at Wyoming Kelloggsville (Div. 4)
  • River Rouge at Chelsea  (Div. 4 – Also available on FOX Sports Detroit Facebook page)
  • Pewamo-Westphalia at New Lothrop (Div. 7) 

On Saturday (Nov. 4), the four championship games of the Lower Peninsula Boys Soccer Tournament will have live streaming video on MHSAA.tv and live streaming audio on MHSAANetwork.com, and the Finish Line Cam at Michigan International Speedway returns at the L.P. Cross Country Finals on MHSAA.tv.

All four PrepZone games feature clashes of highly-ranked teams in the final Associated Press polls for 2017. Belleville was ranked second and Canton ninth in the final Division 1 poll; Grand Rapids Catholic Central and Wyoming Kelloggsville were 1-2 in Division 4; River Rouge and Chelsea were 7-8 in the final Division 3 poll; and New Lothrop finished the season atop the Division 7 rankings with Pewamo-Westphalia in third.

The River Rouge at Chelsea game will receive bonus coverage, streaming live on the Fox Sports Detroit Facebook page. That game drew 49 percent of the votes in a Twitter poll conducted Monday.

All PrepZone games will be archived on MHSAA.tv.

Saturday’s Boys Soccer Finals will be live on MHSAA.tv with games at Noon and 3 p.m. The games will be played at Rochester Hills Stoney Creek and Comstock Park High Schools, with divisions at each site to be announced after the Semifinals on Wednesday (Nov. 1). All of the games will also have live streaming audio at MHSAANetwork.com.

One Soccer Semifinal game will be Live on MHSAA.tv on Wednesday – a Division 3 matchup at Cedar Springs between Ludington and Grand Rapids South Christian, at 6 p.m.

MHSAA.tv will also offer a free live video stream on Saturday of the finish line at the Lower Peninsula Cross Country Finals at Michigan International Speedway. The stream will include audio commentary from announcers around the course throughout each race.  The morning session with the boys and girls races in Division 3 and 4 begins at 9:30 a.m., and the afternoon session with races in Divisions 1 and 2 starts at 1:30 p.m. Live timing of each race will also be available on the Cross Country page of the MHSAA Website.

A month’s subscription to watch live on MHSAA.tv is $9.95 and allows access to the full schedule of MHSAA Tournaments during the month of November:

  • Nov. 4 – Boys Soccer Finals
  • Nov. 11 – Selected Football Playoff Regional Finals
  • Nov. 16-17 – Girls Volleyball Semifinals & Finals
  • Nov. 18 – Lower Peninsula Girls Swimming & Diving Finals
  • Nov. 18 – Football Playoff Semifinals (12 games) 

Live coverage of Football District Finals and Girls Volleyball District games also takes place this week on MHSAA.tv, being produced by SBP schools:

In its ninth year, the School Broadcast Program gives members an opportunity to showcase excellence in their schools by creating video programming of athletic and non-athletic events, with students gaining skills in announcing, camera operation, directing/producing and graphics. Pixellot is used by schools wishing to stream games but which lack the ability to staff the events. The SBP program also gives schools the opportunity to raise money through advertising and viewing subscriptions.

All sporting events – Live or On-Demand - 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.

A complete list of participating schools can be found on the School Broadcast Program page of the MHSAA website.

A weekly staple on the MHSAA.tv website and the MHSAASports Channel on YouTube is back for another year with highlights of selected games last week produced by members of the Association’s School Broadcast Program. 

This week’s highlights package consists of clips from Pre-District football games Parma Western at Haslett and Oscoda at Breckenridge, and a boys soccer Regional Final match with Petoskey at East Lansing.

Schools interested in becoming a part of the School Broadcast Program should contact John Johnson at the MHSAA Office.

More than 15 football games are featured each week on the State Champs! Sports Network Extra Point – powered by the Michigan High School Athletic Association – Saturday at 10 a.m. on FOX Sports Detroit.

The half-hour program features highlights from more than a dozen games each week, including clips from games produced by MHSAA School Broadcast Program members. The program airs multiple times each weekend on FOX Sports Detroit and on Comcast Channel 900, and will be archived on the State Champs YouTube Channel. Consult your local listings for additional playback times.

Here are some of the games to be featured this week on State Champs! Extra Point:

  • Canton at Belleville
  • Macomb Dakota at Clinton Township Chippewa Valley
  • Warren DeLaSalle at Port Huron Northern
  • Grand Rapids Catholic Central at Wyoming Kelloggsville
  • River Rouge at Chelsea
  • Grant at Muskegon Oakridge
  • Kent City at Montague
  • Laingsburg at Ithaca
  • Pewamo-Westphalia at Ithaca
  • Petersburg-Summerfield at Ottawa Lake-Whiteford
  • Morrice at Deckerville

PLUS - Additional coverage from Grand Rapids, Lansing, Flint, Upper Peninsula and School Broadcast Program games.

The MHSAA also has a presence on other State Champs! Network programs throughout each weekend. The MHSAA Minute is a weekly part of the State Champs! High School Sports Show on FOX Sports Detroit at 9 a.m. every Sunday – with multiple replays on FOX Sports Detroit and Comcast Channel 900 throughout the week. That program also is archived on the State Champs YouTube Channel. Consult your local listings for additional playback times.

This week’s MHSAA Minute on State Champs talks about The Scholar-Athlete Award.

The MHSAA also has content on the State Champs Scoreboard! High School Football Radio Show on Friday nights during the football and basketball seasons, originating on WXYT-FM (97.1) in Detroit and carried on more than 10 radio stations across the state. This Week In High School Sports and Be the Referee are weekly features on the program.