San Marcos High School
Physical Education
Flag Football
Rules / Procedures
A. Games start with a Kickoff. A Kickoff will restart play after each score.
1. The team receiving the kickoff will catch the ball in the air or off of a bounce and attempt to return the ball as far as possible without their flag being removed
2. All balls are considered to be “Live” until ball hits the ground. Once the ball is caught, touched and or dropped it will be considered “dead” at the spot the ball hit the ground (as long as the ball is in the air and has not touched the ground it is a live ball).
B. Each team possessing the ball has four downs to get a first down or score a touchdown.
1. If a team can not score or attain a first down within its first three plays, it may choose to run a play on fourth down or punt the ball.
2. An unsuccessful fourth down play will result in a change of possession at that spot.
C. A First Down may be attained by crossing the halfway point of the field during a four down series
D. Offensive Formations
1. Regular Offensive Formation – The center hikes the ball to the quarterback to start play
2. Shotgun Formation – No center hike – the quarterback calls “Shotgun” then uses an activating word such as “Hike” or “Go”.
3. Punt Formation – Offensive teams declare “Punt” on offensive downs. No retraction allowed – offensive team must then Punt.
E. Defensive Formations
1. For every regular offensive formation, the defensive rush must count “Five Alligators” before crossing the line of scrimmage
2. For every shotgun formation, the defensive rush may Blitz – immediate rush
3. For each punt formation, no defensive contact or rush is allowed until after the punt is executed
F. Kickoff Formations
1. All players in kickoff formation must be even or behind the kicker at the twenty yard line
2. All receiving players may be in any formation on the opposite side of fifty yard line
· All balls that kicked off that go out of bounds without being touched are positioned on the fifty yard line for the receiving team
· All punts that go out of bounds are played on the line of the spot where the ball went out of bounds
· All balls kicked off or punted into the end zones without going out of bounds and are not run out of the end zones shall be placed at the twenty yard line
G. Blocking
1. All blocking (Defensively or Offensively) must be done primarily with the shoulder, with hands across the chest. The penalty for an illegal block is ten yards
2. Blocking areas – must be front to front (Penalty for blocking in the back is ten yards)
3. Illegal use of hands, holding, extension of hands beyond legal area (Penalty is ten yards).
H. Special Rules
1. Each score in coed football will count double when completed by a girl
2. Flagrant violations of the rules may result in suspension, demotion or
expulsion from the game.
3. All decisions of the coach are final and binding. (No Appeal)
Terms/Explanations/Definitions
Kick-Off – The starting act of a football game to put the ball in play
Thrown Pass – The act of throwing the ball by launching it through the air by hand
Live – Determination that the ball is still in play
Dead – Determination that the ball is not in play
Fumble – To loose control of the ball out of your hands
Punt – The act of putting the ball in the by drop kicking it
Offensive Possession – Having possession of the ball for sole purpose of scoring a touchdown
Line of Scrimmage – The imaginary line from sideline to sideline that runs through the tip of the ball, the point where the ball starts for each down.
Hiking – The act in which the center gets the ball to the quarterback
Blitz – Sending one or more members defensively toward the ball carrier without counting five alligator.
Safety – The downing of a ball carrier in his/her own end zone.
Interception – A change of possession by the opposing team with the ball in the air.
Touchdown – The act by which the ball carrier enters the opposing end zone on the run or securing the pass in the opposing end zone with at least one foot in bounds first.
Downed Player – A ball carrier who has had one or more flags removed from their waist either by opposing player or by their own movement.
A. A ball carrier who intentionally uses their hands to block a defensive player from pulling ones flag is down at that spot
B. A ball carrier who steps on the sideline or out of bounds is downed
C. A ball carrier that falls to their knee or knees is downed.
D. A quarterback who intentionally throws the ball away to avoid a sack is downed.
Football History
Historians trace the origins of the game we can call football back hundreds of years. The game we know today, as football is relatively new. Football is basically an American game but is also played in Canada with some rule modifications. American football as we know it today, is a combination of soccer and rugby that evolved slowly in the 19th century as a collegiate game. The game was closer to rugby, in the mid 1800’s, when colleges started to play. Harvard barred the game in 1860 because it was so dangerous. By 1875 Harvard had convinced rival Yale to play with new modified rules, which would bring the game into a new era. Rules changes and modifications continued into the 20th century because of the violent nature of the game.
In 1905 there were 18 deaths and 159 serious injuries, which prompted President Theodore Roosevelt to instruct colleges to make the game safer or not play. New rules were created at this time. The game was still not played in the form we know it today.
Professional football, playing for pay, was not as organized as the college game. The first professional game was in 1895 in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. There was little play for pay until 1919 when what would become the National Football League (NFL) met in Canton, Ohio to organize the sport. Today Canton, Ohio is where the NFL Hall of Fame is located. The NFL did not start to become well known until they started to use television to broadcast their games during the later 1950’s.
Today football is a well-known sport and is arguably the most popular sport in the United States. There are 32 professional teams across America in the NFL. Games are played in the fall mostly on Sundays. There is a Monday night game of the week and some games on Thursday’s. On Thanksgiving there are two games during the day.
Football is also played at many colleges and on High School campuses across the nation.
College football has many Bowl games at the end of their season. Stay tuned to the Television or radio during the Holiday Season to see some exciting football.
(Source: Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia)