Hey, high school football fans: It isn't the NFL you're watching

By GREG AUMAN

© St. Petersburg Times, published November 23, 1999

If you're going to yell at the officials, make sure you're right. The Times asked local officials what rules high school football fans and coaches have the most trouble understanding, and the first thing we heard was, "Hey, REF! REF!"

"When you're walking around the field, they're yelling "Ref!' They're not yelling anything else," Brooksville's Sandy Semegen said.

There's only one referee on the field. He's the one with the white hat, the one who has the final say on all rulings. And while "Hey, BACK JUDGE!" doesn't roll off the tongue quite as well, it seems that fans, like officials, should strive for accuracy.

Many of the misunderstandings with the rules of high school football stem from the fact that fans may show up every Friday night, but they're largely educated about football on Sunday afternoons, and there are quite a few subtle differences between high school and the NFL.

"Every week, there's somebody in the stands that still wants the 2-minute warning," said Luther Buis, president of the Sunshine Officials Association, which primarily serves Pinellas County. "There are enough small things that are different that you might be well-versed about one set of rules, but that doesn't mean you know this one."

For instance, NFL officials can penalize a player who grabs a facemask just 5 yards for an "incidental" infraction or 15 yards for something more severe. In high school, there is no "incidental" version. If it's called, it's 15 yards.

Pass interference penalties in the NFL are marked off to the spot of the infraction -- on a 60-yard pass play, you can have a 60-yard penalty. But in high school, just as in college, pass interference is only a 15-yard penalty, whether the ball went 60 yards or 16.

"The rules are not the same as the rest of the sport," Semegen said. "Pass interference in pro football, you get the ball at the spot. We march it off. You've got people screaming up in the stands, and they don't have a clue."

Another pass interference problem: In the NFL, pass interference cannot be called if the pass is deemed uncatchable. In high school, there's no such asterisk. The pass can sail into the stands, but if there was contact downfield, interference can be called.

"I'll have coaches and players screaming "Uncatchable! The pass was uncatchable!' " said Clem Brooks, who has four decades of officiating experience and is president of the West Coast Officials Association in Tampa. "I'll look at them and say, "You're right, but so what?' In high school, it doesn't make a difference where the ball lands."

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