Basic Rules of
the Game
***
Each team should start the game with a minimum of four players to avoid forfeit.
***
First team to reach 16 points win the game. Halftime is reached the first time a team reaches 8 points, and lasts 15 minutes.
*** Opening kickoff
is decided by coin toss and last year's loser calls the toss to decide possession or direction. Kickoffs are made after
each touchdown from a kicking tee on a predesignated spot on the field (usually halfway to midfield).
***
Onside kicks are allowed, but in order for the kicking team to recover successfully the ball must pass the midfield line.
*** If a team verbally agrees to punt the ball, fakes are not an option.
Punting must be done through kicking, no throwing of any kind. Defensive players are not allowed to penetrate the line
of scrimmage on a punt unless they have a blitz call remaining.
***
The defense is allowed to blitz past the line of scrimmage once every series of downs. The defense must count out loud
to 5 Mississippi before blitzing.
***
There will be no buffer zone between the infamous wall and the sideline, so run to that side at your own risk.
*** If a team is tackled in the endzone for a safety, it is an automatic
turnover on downs and the opposing team takes the ball halfway to midfield.
*** Five
yard penalties include: Defensive holding, Illegal
use of hands (most notably after five yeard chuck zone), Delay of game
(offense must snap ball in less than a minute from pevious down), Encroachment,
Excessive time outs (no more than three per half), Facemask (under no circumstances may hands make contact with an opponent's face), False start, Forward pass thrown from beyond the line of
scrimmage, Forward pass thrown from beyond the line of scrimmage after
ball has already passed the line of scrimmage, Illegal return
(a player that signals a fair catch may not try to return the ball), Invalid fair catch signal
(the player receiving a kick must make a noticeable wave of
his hand above his head for it to be a legal fair catch signal), Illegal substitution (a player may only enter the field
of play while the ball is dead), Pass touched by receiver once he goes out of bounds (once a player goes out of bounds he is not allowed to touch the ball on that play), Player out of bounds at snap (all eligible players must be on the field of play at the snap of the ball),
Too many men on the field.
*** Ten yard penalties include: Block from behind the back,
Intentional grounding (a player must be in the area where the ball is thrown, the ten yards is
marked off from where the QB threw the ball), Offensive pass interference.
***
Fifteen yard penalties include: Chop block (no blocks are allowed below the waist from behind),
Fair catch interference (Once a player signals for a fair
catch the defense must give that player 2 yards to catch the ball and cannot touch the player in any way, Roughing
the kicker or passer, Spearing (A player cannot lead with the top of their head when making
a tackle), Striking an opponent with fist, Unneccesary roughness, Unsportsmanlike conduct.
