Rule 8

Rule 8 Scoring Plays and Touchbacks

 

  SECTION 1 POINT VALUES  

The game is won by the team which accumulates the most points. Points are scored as follows for:

Table 8-1
Point values

Touchdown   6 points
Field Goal   3 points
Safety Points awarded to the opponent 2 points

Successful Try

  1. Touchdown
  2. Field Goal or Safety
  

 

2 points
1 point

Forfeited Game

Game score is: 
Offended Team: 1, Opponent: 0
But if offended team is ahead, the score stands

  

  SECTION 2 TOUCHDOWN  

ART. 1 . . . Possession of a live ball in the opponent’s end zone is always a touchdown.

  1. It is a touchdown when a runner advances from the field of play so that the ball penetrates the vertical plane of the opponent’s goal line.
  2. It is a touchdown when a loose ball is caught or recovered by a player while the ball is on or behind his opponent’s goal line.
  3. It is a touchdown when a backward pass or fumble is declared dead in the end zone of the opponent of the player who threw the backward pass or fumbled while no player is in possession (other than because of an inadvertent whistle).

ART. 2 . . . If an opponent of the scoring team commits a foul (other than unsportsmanlike conduct or a nonplayer foul) during a down in which a touchdown is scored and there was not a change in possession during the down, A may accept the results of the play and choose enforcement of the PENALTY:

  1. On the try; or
  2. On the subsequent kickoff.

ART. 3 . . . If an opponent of the scoring team commits a foul (other than unsportsmanlike conduct or a nonplayer foul) during a down in which a touchdown is scored and there was a change of possession during the down, and such foul occurs after the change of possession, the scoring team may accept the results of the play and choose enforcement of the PENALTY:

  1. On the try; or
  2. On the subsequent kickoff.

ART. 4 . . . If either team commits an unsportsmanlike conduct or a nonplayer foul during a down in which a touchdown is scored, the opponent may accept the penalty and choose enforcement of the PENALTY:

  1. On the try; or
  2. On the subsequent kickoff.

ART. 5. . . If after a down in which a touchdown is scored, and prior to the initial ready-for-play signal for the try, either team commits any foul for which the basic spot is the succeeding spot, the offended team may accept the penalty and choose enforcement of the PENALTY:

  1. On the try; or
  2. On the subsequent kickoff. 

  SECTION 3 TRY  

ART. 1 . . . After a touchdown, the scoring team shall attempt a try during which the ball is snapped from a spot designated by A anywhere between the hash marks on B’s 3-yard line, unless moved by penalty. This involves a scrimmage down which is neither numbered nor timed.
EXCEPTION: If a touchdown is scored during the last down of the fourth period, the try shall not be attempted unless the point(s) would affect the outcome of the game or playoff qualifying.

ART. 2 . . . The try begins when the ball is ready for play. It ends when:

  1. B secures possession.
  2. It is apparent a drop kick or place kick will not score.
  3. The try is successful.
  4. The ball becomes dead for any other reason.

ART. 3 . . . During a try, A may score two points from what would be a touchdown or one point for a field goal or safety by B under rules governing play at other times during the game. Only A may score during a try.

ART. 4 . . . If during a successful try, a loss of down foul by A occurs, there is no score and no replay.

ART. 5 . . . If during a successful try, a foul by B occurs, A is given the choice of:

  1. Accepting the penalty and replaying the down following enforcement; or
  2. Accepting the result of the play and enforcement of the penalty from the succeeding spot.

ART. 6 . . . If during an unsuccessful try:

  1. A foul by A/K occurs, the penalty is obviously declined, the results of the play stand and there is no replay.
  2. A foul by B/R occurs, and the penalty is accepted, the down is replayed after enforcement.

ART. 7 . . . If a double foul occurs, the down shall be replayed.

ART. 8 . . . When a try is replayed, the snap may be from any point between the hash marks on the yard line through the spot of the ball.

ART. 9 . . . After a try, the opponent of the scoring team shall designate which team will kick off. 

  SECTION 4 FIELD GOAL  

ART. 1 . . . A field goal is scored as follows:

  1. The field-goal attempt shall be a place kick or a drop kick from scrimmage, or from a free kick following a fair catch, or an awarded fair catch.
  2. The kicked ball shall not touch any player of K beyond the expanded neutral zone or the ground before passing through the goal.
  3. The kicked ball shall pass between the vertical uprights or the inside of the uprights extended and above the crossbar of the opponent’s goal.

ART. 2 . . . After a field goal, the opponent of the scoring team shall designate which team will kick off.

ART. 3 . . . If during a successful field goal, a foul by R occurs, K is given the choice of:

  1. Accepting the penalty and replaying the down following enforcement; or
  2. Accepting the result of the play and enforcement of the penalty from the succeeding spot.

  SECTION 5 FORCE, SAFETY, AND TOUCHBACK  

ART. 1 . . . Responsibility for forcing the ball from the field of play across a goal line is attributed to the player who carries, snaps, passes, fumbles or kicks the ball, unless a new force is applied to a grounded backward pass, kick or fumble.

  1. The muffing or batting of a pass, kick or fumble in flight is not considered a new force; and
  2. The accidental touching of a loose ball by a player who was blocked into the ball is ignored and does not constitute a new force.

ART. 2 . . . It is a safety when:

  1. A runner carries the ball from the field of play to or across his own goal line, and it becomes dead there in his team’s possession.
    EXCEPTION: When a defensive player intercepts an opponent’s forward pass; intercepts or recovers an opponent’s fumble or backward pass; or an R player catches or recovers a scrimmage kick or free kick between his 5-yard line and the goal line, and his original momentum carries him into the end zone where the ball remains in the end zone and is declared dead in the end zone in his team’s possession or it goes out of bounds in the end zone, the ball belongs to the team in possession at the spot where the pass or fumble was intercepted or recovered or the kick was caught or recovered.
  2. A player who is either in the field of play or in his end zone, forces a loose ball from the field of play to or across his goal line by his kick, pass, fumble, snap or by a new force to a grounded loose ball with his muff or bat or illegal kick (when the penalty is declined), provided the ball becomes dead there in his team’s possession (including when the ball is declared dead with no player in possession), or the ball is out of bounds when it becomes dead on or behind their goal line. This does not apply to a legal forward pass which becomes incomplete.
  3. A player on offense commits any foul for which the penalty is accepted and enforcement is from a spot in his end zone; or throws an illegal forward pass from his end zone and the penalty is declined in a situation which leaves him in possession at the spot of the illegal pass and with the ball having been forced into the end zone by the passing team.

ART. 3 . . . It is a touchback when:

  1. Any free kick or scrimmage kick:
    1. Which is not a scoring attempt or which is a grounded three-point field-goal attempt, breaks the plane of R’s goal line unless R chooses a spot of first touching by K.
    2. Which is a three-point field-goal attempt, in flight touches a K player in R’s end zone, or after breaking the plane of R’s goal line is unsuccessful.
  2. Any scrimmage kick or free kick becomes dead on or behind K’s goal line with the ball in possession of K (including when the ball is declared dead with no player in possession) and the new force is R’s muff or bat of the kick after it has touched the ground.
  3. A fumble is the force, or a muff or bat of a backward pass or a fumble after either has touched the ground is the new force, which sends the ball to or across the opponent’s goal line and provided such opponent is in team possession or the ball is out of bounds when it becomes dead on or behind its goal line.
  4. A forward pass is intercepted in B’s end zone and becomes dead there in B’s possession.

ART. 4 . . . The team whose goal line is involved shall put the ball in play anywhere between the hash marks on its 20-yard line by a snap after a touchback and by a free kick after a safety.