No first-and-forever? NFHS changes spots for penalties

A change to the high school football rules for the upcoming season may create a lot fewer “first-and-forever” situations.

The National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS), the governing body for high school sports, announced a package of rule changes Thursday that include changes to enforcement of many offensive penalties behind the line of scrimmage.

In the past, the NFHS release notes, on firstand-10 from a team’s own 40, if an offensive player held a defender back at the 30, the 10-yard penalty was enforced from there, creating firstand-30 from the 20.

Now, that penalty will be enforced from the previous spot, more in line with the NFL’s rule, leaving only first-and-20 from the 30.

“This is an excellent rule change that the majority of game officials and coaches requested and that our NFHS Football Rules Committee members approved unanimously,” NFHS football rules committee chair Richard McWhirter said in the NFHS release. “I believe this change will make the rule clearer for coaches and easier for game officials to administer.”

The release said a complete listing of rules changes will be available at NFHS.org, though it did not appear to be up Thursday afternoon.

“Current penalties for illegal kicking, batting and participation fouls,” the release said, “as well as provisions for offensive fouls occurring in the end zone that may result in a safety, remain intact.”

The NFHS announced a handful of other changes, including strengthened protection for receivers, as well as a tweak to last year’s change to the intentional-grounding rule: The exception allowing a thrown-away pass belongs only to the first player to possess the ball after the snap.