In what was one of the worst officiated games I have ever seen williamsburg vs cambellsville a wr for burg caught a pass and then hurdled over a defender diving to make a tackle and cleared him and ran another 8 yards. The playwas called back for unsportsmanlike penalty for hurdling over a player. The official made a gesture like pass interference. Now I have never heard of this and I have seen this happen at least 5 or 6 times during the season and this had nkt been called. Am I crazy and is this a misinterpretation of the the rule that disallows a defender from jumping over the linemen to block a kick.
Not sure what rule book there reading or not reading but its football the game is played to not get tackled.
Sounds like a mis interpitation. Your not allowed to jump over the linemen when you are on defense. But hurdling a player is part of the game. Was the defender standing up or laying on the ground?
I have heard that it was a new rule this season that a bal carrier could not hurdle a defensive player but I have not seen it enforced. I couldn't find it on the KHSAA site. The site info is too confusing to find much without a lot of searching.
Well after going back and looking apparently it is ILLEGAL for a runner to hurdle an opponent.
Rule 9-4-1 Article 3d.
ART. 3 . . . No player or nonplayer shall:
a. Swing the foot, shin or knee into an opponent, nor extend the knee to meet a blocker.
b. Charge into or throw an opponent to the ground after he is obviously out of the play, or after the ball is clearly dead either in or out of bounds.
c. Pile on any player who is lying on the ground.
d. Hurdle an opponent.
e. Position himself on the shoulders or body of a teammate or opponent to gain an advantage.
f. Throw a helmet to trip an opponent.
g. Make any other contact with an opponent which is deemed unnecessary and which incites roughness.
h. Grasp an opponent's face mask, any edge of a helmet opening or the chin strap.
i. Initiate illegal helmet contact. (butt block, face tackle or spear)
That BS. I see that stuff all game long kids maybe jumping over a tackles and stuff.
This must be new. I have seen it a lot this year, but never saw it flagged. It must be one of those rules that most people are going to overlook since they feel its been a part of football since the beginning. I guess i must say kudos to the official that was on top of his game/rule book. However, I still dont think I personally would make the call.
What I was told the penalty was mainly for when a ball carrier on a dead run tries to hurdle a defensive player that is running at him. When the defensive player is on the ground it's not such a big deal. We had a player at Harlan who tried to do that on a kickoff return and he was warned by the official for it. I guess he could have gotten himself hurt if the defender clipped his legs and sent him into a overhead spin in mid air like that.
It is only hurdling if the hurdled player is on their feet standing. If the hurdled player is on all 4s or down on the ground it is not hurdling.
Can't hurdle an opposing player with two feet on the ground in high school. Don't agree with it but the refs made the right call this once I guess.
i dont know the last few games ive watched ive learned about rules i didnt even know existed...
PEOPLESCHAMP Wrote:Well after going back and looking apparently it is ILLEGAL for a runner to hurdle an opponent.
Rule 9-4-1 Article 3d.
ART. 3 . . . No player or nonplayer shall:
a. Swing the foot, shin or knee into an opponent, nor extend the knee to meet a blocker.
b. Charge into or throw an opponent to the ground after he is obviously out of the play, or after the ball is clearly dead either in or out of bounds.
c. Pile on any player who is lying on the ground.
d. Hurdle an opponent.
e. Position himself on the shoulders or body of a teammate or opponent to gain an advantage.
f. Throw a helmet to trip an opponent.
g. Make any other contact with an opponent which is deemed unnecessary and which incites roughness.
h. Grasp an opponent's face mask, any edge of a helmet opening or the chin strap.
i. Initiate illegal helmet contact. (butt block, face tackle or spear)
I don't know about you guys, but I am looking forward to someone trying to break part F. I mean really?
I thought the same thing when I saw this. I guess you really have to cover everything in the rules?
This has been in a while now. It's a stupid rule, and I've seen it done in many games and not get called. It's actually in quite a few states, including all of the big HS football states except maybe TX.
Just a dumb rule, in my opinion. That's like outlawing a certain basketball move..like a certain, popular crossover, lol. Just stupid.
The only rule that might be worse is not being allowed to bring the ball out of the endzone on kickoffs.
vundy33 Wrote:This has been in a while now. It's a stupid rule, and I've seen it done in many games and not get called. It's actually in quite a few states, including all of the big HS football states except maybe TX.
Just a dumb rule, in my opinion. That's like outlawing a certain basketball move..like a certain, popular crossover, lol. Just stupid.
I just don't understand the point of it. Who is it trying to protect? The runner who obviously commits himself to the hurdle on his own accord, or the would be tackler from getting embarrassed? I agree, stupid rule. There's nothing better in football than a runner selling out like that for extra yardage IMO.
Bluegrasscard Wrote:It is only hurdling if the hurdled player is on their feet standing. If the hurdled player is on all 4s or down on the ground it is not hurdling.
Exactly! If the defender is on his feet it is a penalty, if he on the ground or on has hand on ground it is legal.
Bluegrasscard Wrote:It is only hurdling if the hurdled player is on their feet standing. If the hurdled player is on all 4s or down on the ground it is not hurdling.
Exactly! If the defender is on his feet it is a penalty, if he on the ground or on has hand on ground it is legal.
lol. sucks to be too athletic.
The rule is there to protect the ball carrier. Going airborne mean's he temporarily out of control, and a hit from anyone/anywhere could cause him to land wrong and suffer a neck/head injury.
A rec. jumping for a ball isn't going to have enough momentum to get turned upside down if he's hit mid-air, generally because any defender in the area is jumping, too. A runner has more than 1 guy and 1 angle to worry about.
Stupid rule. This is no different than a WR jumping to catch a pass, where he could get under cut. Are they gonna come up with a rule for that, or will they tell defenders that they cant make contact with the WR until he has both feet on the ground? Lol
Back to original description - "...hurdled over a defender DIVING to make a tackle...".
If the defender was 'diving' then he was not 'hurdled'. He was jumped over. As posted above. Hurdling only applies to a player who is on their feet and standing. It is very, very rare to see an actual hurdle.
Here is a hurdle:
http://rivals.yahoo.com/highschool/blog/...ool-272992
I posted highlights of the game in another discussion you can see it there. The was on both feet trying make the tackle so they got it right.
The hurdle rule is a safety rule. There have been players who never walked again for the rest of their lives after attempting to hurdle a defender, only to get upended and land on their head. Jumping over players is part of the game and players get hurt doing other things, but I do agree with this rule! I'd rather save one broken neck because of a stupid rule, then to see a single 16, 17, or 18 YO be stuck in a wheelchair for the rest of their life!