Question on kickoff after safety.
- Thread starter Kzar
- Start date
I thought that in high school if the ball hasn't touched the ground the receiving team had to be given a fair opportunity to catch the ball before the kicking team could try to recover it ????
Happened a few years ago in State Semifinal Lamar vs. Malden. Malden recorded a safety and Lamar had to free kick into the wind. The free kick made it to the second line of returners about 26-30 yards. The Malden player did not call for a fair catch and had trouble catching the ball. He fumbled and Lamar recovered and it killed any momentum that Malden had after the safety.
Here's one for you from Harrisonville vs. O'Hara from 1981 District playoff game.
...Moments later Richards scrambled out of the pocket again and raced 19 yards to the Wildcat 26. Six and two yard pick-up by Brown and another quarterback sneak gave the Celtics a first at the Wildcats 16-yard line with less than 2:30 minutes to play.
Things again were looking grim for Harrisonville, as O'Hara has all-state kicker John Tyler in reserve for a field goal, if necessary. "That (field goal) was a chip shot for them down there," Harrisonville Coach Bob Barrett said.
Then the "impossible" happened. The Celtics, who hadn't committed a turnover all night, fumbled. Brown coughed up the ball inside the 15 and Wildcat linebacker Mark Wilson quickly covered the ball at the Harrisonville 12 with 1:23 remaining.
Harrisonville would have been content to run out the clock, so deep in their own territory, but the Cats couldn't get a first down and had to punt. O'Hara called a fair catch at the Wildcat 42-yard line with 34 seconds remaining.
The next few moments were filled with confusion, as Celtic mentor Paul Monteil reached into his bag of tricks and pulled out a free kick. O'Hara lined up like a kick-off and Tyler prepared to give it his best boot.
"When I saw that I thought, 'oh shoot he knows about the rule'," Graber said. "It was a heck of a call."
The seldom used free kick play allows the offensive team an attempt at drilling a boot through the goal post without a rush from defenders. And with a kicker like Tyler, who has several 40-plus yard field goals, the 52-yarder was a remote possibility.
Fortunately for Harrisonville, the boot wasn't up to Tyler's standards. It landed far short of its mark. Overtime was apparent.
Harrisonville would kick a field goal in overtime to defeat the defending Class 3A state champion O'Hara Celtics 10-7.
...Moments later Richards scrambled out of the pocket again and raced 19 yards to the Wildcat 26. Six and two yard pick-up by Brown and another quarterback sneak gave the Celtics a first at the Wildcats 16-yard line with less than 2:30 minutes to play.
Things again were looking grim for Harrisonville, as O'Hara has all-state kicker John Tyler in reserve for a field goal, if necessary. "That (field goal) was a chip shot for them down there," Harrisonville Coach Bob Barrett said.
Then the "impossible" happened. The Celtics, who hadn't committed a turnover all night, fumbled. Brown coughed up the ball inside the 15 and Wildcat linebacker Mark Wilson quickly covered the ball at the Harrisonville 12 with 1:23 remaining.
Harrisonville would have been content to run out the clock, so deep in their own territory, but the Cats couldn't get a first down and had to punt. O'Hara called a fair catch at the Wildcat 42-yard line with 34 seconds remaining.
The next few moments were filled with confusion, as Celtic mentor Paul Monteil reached into his bag of tricks and pulled out a free kick. O'Hara lined up like a kick-off and Tyler prepared to give it his best boot.
"When I saw that I thought, 'oh shoot he knows about the rule'," Graber said. "It was a heck of a call."
The seldom used free kick play allows the offensive team an attempt at drilling a boot through the goal post without a rush from defenders. And with a kicker like Tyler, who has several 40-plus yard field goals, the 52-yarder was a remote possibility.
Fortunately for Harrisonville, the boot wasn't up to Tyler's standards. It landed far short of its mark. Overtime was apparent.
Harrisonville would kick a field goal in overtime to defeat the defending Class 3A state champion O'Hara Celtics 10-7.
