Fumblerooski banned from high school play

[gridironmike]

This is a freakin' shame. I am a WVSSAC (NFHS) official and a youth league (9 & 10 year old) coach. We ran this last year for a two point conversion and the kids absolutely loved it. We follow NFHS rules, so I guess this won't be an option anymore. Too bad.

http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/news/story?id=2407322

New rules eliminate scoring opportunity for guardsESPN.com news services

High school offensive linemen looking to score will have to beg their coaches to call tackle eligible plays or insert them as fullbacks at the goal line next season.

The football rules committee of The National Federation of State High School Associations has banned the fumblerooski, the Los Angeles Times reported in Thursday's editions.

In a successful fumblerooski, the quarterback sets the ball on the ground after the snap. The offensive players fake a play one direction while a guard picks up the ball and runs the other way.

The NFL banned the trick play in the 1960s, and college football followed suit more than 10 years ago. Among the memorable plays before the ban was a 29-yard run by Sooners guard Mark Hutson, who scored a touchdown with two minutes to go in Oklahoma's 20-14 loss to Miami in the 1988 Orange Bowl.

more at link

http://www.latimes.com/sports/highschool/la-sp-hsreport13apr13,0,1750261.story?coll=la-headlines-sports-highschool

National Group Bans Football's `Fumblerooski'

Eric Sondheimer; Martin Henderson, From Times Staff Reports

April 13, 2006

One of the wackiest, most entertaining trick plays in high school football, the "fumblerooski," has been banned starting with the 2006 season.

The decision, made by the National Federation of State High School Assns. football rules committee, will deny offensive linemen in Southern California and across the nation their best opportunity to score a touchdown while making a desperate, sometimes comedic dash toward the end zone.

"The times we practiced it, the times we ran it, the kids had a blast," Thousand Oaks Coach Mike Sanders said. "The players absolutely loved it."

The fumblerooski was banned in the NFL in the early 1960s and was outlawed in college football in 1993. But it has flourished at the high school level, particularly at Westlake Village Oaks Christian, where Coach Bill Redell has made it almost a trademark.

more at link

[Mass_SkinsFan]

GOOD!!!

I've seen it run in person TWICE. Both times against my high school and both times for 50+ yard TD's.

The first time was by Stratford (CT) High School my Junior year and every single one of us in the press box KNEW it was coming. Everyone except our Defensive Coordinator. Cost us the game.

The second was by our arch-rival Berlin (CT) High School the year after I graduated. It was a last ditch attempt by Berlin to try and pull the game out. They scored but missed the 2 pt. conversion they would have needed to tie the game.

I believe the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference (CIAC) uses the NFHS rules so that should be the last we see of that. Thankfully.

[fight_on_til_you_have_won]

I don't have an opinion either way, I just think this is very telling:

But Jerry Diehl, assistant director of the National Federation of State High School Assns., said the play was seldom used and put a burden on officials because teams had to inform the referee before running the play.

"It eliminates confusion in a ballgame," Diehl said of the ban.

So basically, the play is outlawed because officials get confused? Come on, these are the guys that are supposed to know all the rules backwards and forwards. :doh:

[gridironmike]

There is no confusion if the play is reported. Duh! The referees EXPECT it after it's reported.