It is not a foul if the defender swipes or grabs a passer in the knee area or below in an attempt to tackle him, provided he does not make forcible contact with the helmet, shoulder, chest, or forearm.

Illegal Kicks For an illegal kick such as one from beyond the neutral zone, the penalty is 10 yards from the spot of the foul and the ball is treated as a fumble. For such an illegal kick, the penalty is five yards from the previous spot and loss of down. The ball becomes dead when kicked.

The foul must occur beyond the neutral zone during a scrimmage-kick play in which the ball crosses the expanded neutral zone (the neutral zone may be expanded up to yards behind team R’s line of scrimmage). For PSK to apply, team K would not be next to the put the ball into play.

Are defensive holding calls enforced from the spot of the foul? No. This is another example of where high school rules need to be more structured along college lines since the more experienced college players are getting less penalized for making mistakes.

The succeeding spot by definition (pg 38 NFHS Rules) is “the spot where the ball would next be snapped or free kicked is a foul had not occurred.” The 35 is an enforcement option, not a succeeding spot.

Penalty enforcement –Automatic first downs — All personal fouls or unsportsmanlike fouls on the defense, as well as defensive pass interference, result in an automatic first down. In NFHS, there are only four fouls that carry an automatic first down and they all include the word “roughing.”

10 seconds

Encroachment (5 yards) – Encroachment is when a defensive player crosses the line of scrimmage before the snap and makes contact with an offensive player. False start (5 yards) – Offensive players must remain set prior to the snap. Any movement, other than the player in motion, will result in a false start.