The Official JFL Rulebook for 2009-2010 Season
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INTRODUCTION AND DEFINITIONS
i. All rules are for all divisions, unless otherwise noted.
ii. All judgments are subject to the discretion of the referee, whether or not the judgment is regarding a rule explicitly listed in this rule book or not. The referee will have the sole discretion to call and assess penalties on both offense and defense.
iii. “Set” in the following rules means a sequence of 4 downs, or less than 4 downs in the case of a turnover.
iv. “Rush” or “Rushes” in the following rules means crossing the line of scrimmage (either offense or defense).
I No punts or kickoffs. Offense always starts at the 20 yard line.
II To get a first down
A - In Senior Division you need to pass the 50 yard line marker, meaning only 1 first down possibility per set.
B - In Junior and Intermediate Division, 3 completions is a first down. This means more than one first down can be gained on each set. If there is a completed forward pass (see rule X below) but no yardage gained on the play, then it is considered a complete pass for the purpose of placing the ball but not considered a completion for the purpose of the 3 completions needed for a first down. But if there is a completed pass to a receiver on the offensive side of the line of scrimmage and the receiver then runs across the line of scrimmage with the ball and gains yardage, that is considered a completion for the purposes of 3 completions needed for a first down
III Defense can choose whether to have a defensive lineman or not.
A – If there is a defensive lineman, play starts with the defensive lineman holding the ball. Defensive lineman flips the ball to the quarterback when defense is ready. Quarterback calls “Hike” when offense is ready, and then play begins.
B - If there is no defensive lineman, the referee starts the play with the ball and flips the QB the ball after the QB calls “Hike” and the defensive captain says his team is ready.
When QB touches the ball, the referee (not a lineman or defensive player) starts counting to 5 (“1 rush, 2 rush etc.”). At “5 rush”, defense may choose to rush, but does not have to rush.
IV If defense rushes when the count reaches “5 rush”
A - In Senior Division, QB can rush with the ball only 1 time per set. If QB has already rushed 1 time in the set, he can not rush again and can only throw the ball to a receiver. (This does not apply to when Defense utilizes a Blitz as per Rule VI below, at which point QB may rush even if he has rushed once in the set)
B – In Junior and Intermediate Division, QB can rush with the ball at any point when he is rushed by the defense.
V If defense does not rush when the count reaches “5 rush”, the referee will start counting out loud again when the count reaches 15, and the play is dead when the count reaches 20.
VI Defense is able to Blitz once per set. There is no limit on the number of people who can Blitz. To Blitz, the QB must already have the ball and the defense must call “Blitz” loudly, and then is allowed to rush. The blitz can be used right away or can be delayed. If the defensive team calls blitz then a blitz is in play even if no defensive player crosses the line of scrimmage. When defense utilizes a Blitz, QB is always allowed to rush.
VII Offense does not need to have an offensive lineman. If Offense does have an offensive lineman, he is an eligible receiver for the play.
VIII A maximum of 7 players are allowed on the field at one time in the Intermediate and Senior divisions, while in the Junior division all 8 players on each team are allowed to play.
If a different amount of players for each team show up
A- 8 players vs. 7 Players (only applies in a game with the team in the intermediate division which has 8 players) – one person rotates from the 8 person team.
B- Any other one player difference (i.e. 8 vs 7 in junior division, or 7 vs. 6, 6 vs. 5, 5 vs. 4 in any division) – everyone plays, no one sits.
B – Two or more player difference (i.e. 8 vs. 6, 7 vs. 5, 6 vs. 4, 7 vs. 4, 5 vs. 3) - one person rotates sitting from the bigger team.
IX If someone needs to rotate sitting as per rule VIII above, one player sits out one offensive set and the following defensive set, and then re-enters the game and another player sits out one offensive set and the following defensive set, and so on until all players have sat out. When all players have sat out once, the next rotation continues in the same order as the first rotation. If a set ends with a turnover and these were less than 4 downs in the set, still the set is counted for the purposes of this rotation.
A - In Junior and Intermediate Divisions, the coach handles the rotation in accordance with these above guidelines.
B - In Senior Division, the captain and the referee together handle the rotation in accordance with these above guidelines.
X A. No handoffs. No backwards, forwards, or sideways underhand laterals. No backwards, sideways (“screens”), or underhand passes. The only type of pass allowed is a forward pass or a forward shuffle/push pass (when the QB pushes the ball from the chest). As long as the pass is forward and completed you do not need to gain yardage on a play for the pass to be considered complete (however not for the purpose of 3 completions for a first down for the junior and intermediate divisions.
XI Immediately after each game, all players will line up behind their captain (and coach in junior division) and congratulate/shake hands with each player on the opposing team.
XII When defense gets a ‘Safety’ (sacks the other QB in the offense’s end zone), no points are awarded, but the defensive team which safetied the QB gets the ball at the opponent’s 20 yard line, meaning 20 yards to get a touchdown.
XIII After a defensive pass interference call, offense will start the next down at the spot of the penalty and receive a first down. If there is a defensive pass interference in the end zone, the ball will be placed at the 1-yard line for a “first and goal”.
XIV After a play during which time for the half runs out and during which there is a defensive penalty, offense gets one additional final play which starts from the spot of the penalty (or from the 1-yard line if the penalty occurred in the end zone)
XV Each half of the game will be 25 minutes, including 23 minutes of running time and 2 minutes with the clock stopping. There will be a 5 minute half time between the two halves.
XVI If regulation time ends with the teams tied, there will be a sudden death overtime for which there will be a new coin toss. First team that scores wins.
XVII Each team gets two time-outs per game. Each time out is two minutes.
HAVE FUN AND GOOD LUCK!!