Quiz 001 — Stump the Expert (mixed)

Source: 2025 NFHS Football Rules Book + Case Book
Level: Expert
Questions: 10
Scope: 11-player football, no state adoptions in effect unless stated.

Questions

1. The kick that never landed

K free kicks from its 40. The ball is untouched by anyone in the field of play, crosses the sideline in flight at R's 35, and is caught by R1 while R1 is standing out of bounds. Ruling?

2. Momentum, revisited

B1 intercepts a pass at his own 4-yard line and his momentum carries him into his end zone. B1 then runs out of the end zone to the 3, reverses field, circles back into the end zone, and is downed there. Ruling?

3. Two-point conversion, three ways to be wrong

On a try from B's 3, A1 fumbles. The ball is nearly at rest at B's 3-yard line when B1's muff is judged a new force, sending the ball into B's own end zone, where B2 recovers and (a) downs it, or (b) advances to B's 10. Ruling in each?

4. Post-scrimmage kick, wrong direction

K2 punts from the 50. The kick crosses the neutral zone, bounces at R's 45, and rebounds backward to K's 48, where R4 recovers. Prior to the end of the kick, R6 clipped K11 at R's 40. K accepts. Exact result?

5. The three-pointer that isn't

Following a safety and then a couple of dead-ball penalties against R, K is free kicking from R's 40. K1 place kicks the ball squarely between the uprights and over the crossbar. Ruling?

6. Numbers game

It is second and 12. Team A shifts into a scrimmage-kick formation and snaps with a player numbered 27 at snapper. How many A players numbered 50–79 must be on the line, and what is the snapper's eligibility status?

7. Punt formation disaster

Fourth and 15 from A's 8. A1 receives the snap in his own end zone, fumbles, recovers, and throws a forward pass to ineligible A2, who is also in the end zone. A2 muffs it and the pass falls incomplete. What are B's options and the result of each?

8. Bad box

The ball is on the 50, 10 to go. The down-marker erroneously reads fourth down when it is actually third down, and K punts. R6 returns the kick for an apparent touchdown. Before the try — and before the period ends — the error is discovered. Ruling?

9. No kickoff to carry it to

The fourth period ends during the down. Team A (a) scores a field goal that ties the game, or (b) scores a touchdown leaving A trailing by one. In both, B commits a live-ball foul during the scoring play. Where may A have the penalty enforced?

10. First touching, erased

Fourth and 5 from K's 30. K9 punts; K88 grounds and touches the kick (first touching) at R's 30. R35 picks it up at R's 25, is hit, and fumbles at R's 28; K88 recovers at R's 26. During the kick, R55 held. What are K's options?

Answer Key

1. Free kick out of bounds — a foul by K. The kick did not end until it was touched out of bounds, so the ball was never legally touched inbounds by R. R may take a 5-yard penalty and re-kick, a 5-yard penalty from the succeeding spot, the ball at the inbounds spot 25 yards beyond the previous spot (R's 35), or the ball at the inbounds spot. Case 6.1.9 SIT B(d); Rule 6-1-9 PENALTY, 6-1-10

2. Safety. Once B1 advanced out of the end zone, the momentum exception was cancelled; action thereafter dictates the result. Case 8.5.2 SIT F(b); Rule 8-5-2a EXCEPTION

3. One point for Team A in both (a) and (b). The try ended when B2 recovered. Since in any ordinary down that dead ball in B's end zone would be a safety, A scores one point — and B's advance to the 10 is irrelevant, because only A may score during a try. Case 8.3.3 SIT A; Rules 4-2-2i, 8-1, 8-5-2b

4. R's ball, first and 10 at R's 25. All PSK conditions are met, so the basic spot is the post-scrimmage kick spot — K's 48, where the kick ended. R6's foul at R's 40 is behind that spot, making it a spot foul: 15 yards from R's 40. Case 10.4.3 SIT E; Rules 2-41-6, 10-4-3

5. Touchback — no score. A kickoff, including the free kick following a safety, cannot score a field goal, regardless of where dead-ball penalties have moved the free-kick line. R's ball, first and 10 from its 20. Case 8.4.1 SIT B(c); Table 6-4, Rules 8-4-2, 8-5-3a(1)

6. Four players numbered 50–79 on the line (not five), and the snapper is an ineligible forward-pass receiver for that down unless the pass is touched by B. This first/second/third-down exception applies only to the snapper; the broader "any 0–49 or 80–99 may replace any 50–79" exception is limited to fourth down and kick tries. Rule 7-2-5b EXCEPTION 1

7. If B accepts the penalty for A2's illegal touching by an ineligible, enforcement is from a spot in A's end zone — safety, 2 points for B. If B declines, it is B's ball, first and goal from A's 8. B will take the safety. Case 8.5.2 SIT D; Rules 5-1-3c, 7-5-13 PENALTY, 8-5-2c

8. The touchdown is cancelled. The ball returns to the 50, third and 10 for Team A. (Contrast: had it actually been a fifth down run in error, the score is likewise cancelled but the ball goes to R, first and 10 at the 50.) Case 5.1.1 SIT D

9. (a) A may keep the field goal and have the penalty enforced on the first play of overtime, which is the succeeding spot. (b) A may keep the touchdown but the penalty may only be enforced on the try — it cannot be carried into overtime, because there is no subsequent kickoff. Case 8.2.2 SIT C; Rule 8-2-2

10. If K accepts R55's holding penalty, it is enforced from the previous spot — PSK enforcement cannot apply because K is next to put the ball in play as a result of the fumble recovery — and R's award at the spot of first touching is cancelled. If K declines, R takes the ball at the spot of first touching (R's 30). Case 6.2.5 SIT C; Rules 2-12-1, 2-12-2, 2-16-2h, 6-2-5