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(1) NUMBER OF PLAYERS ON THE FIELD
Teams will
play with 10 players on the field. The
offence must have at least 5 players on the line of scrimmage; two less than for 12
player football. The "Tackle" position has been eliminated.
(2) GAME LENGTH
Games will consist of 4 quarters of 12 minutes each,
timed in accordance with the Canadian Rulebook for Amateur Tackle
Football.
(3) NUMBER OF DOWNS
For all games
teams will play 4 down football with
the one yard neutral zone. The offence must
throw a legal OVERHAND forward pass on at least one of the
first three downs in each series of downs.
Failure to do so will result in an
"Illegal Procedure" penalty. Officials will not stop play until the
ball is dead. Attempting to pass and getting sacked or being forced to run will
not satisfy this rule. The ball must be thrown as a legal forward pass. A
lateral pass will not satisfy this rule. Officials should point this out to a
team that has just thrown a lateral pass. A five yard penalty will be applied
and the down repeated. The offensive team will still be obligated to pass the
ball again after the penalty has been applied.
The defensive team has the option to decline the
penalty, let the play stand and bring up fourth down. The offensive team can run
the ball on fourth down.
In order to avoid this penalty teams
are strongly advised to pass on either first or second down.
The
offence is not required to pass the ball in any set of downs that starts inside
their own 15 yard line.
(4) BLOCKING RESTRICTIONS
Initiating
blocks below the waist is not permitted. Illegal blocks below the
waist are a 15 yard penalty. Any player penalized twice for this infraction in
the same game will not be permitted to play the remainder of the game.
(5) PRESSURE DEFENCE RESTRICTIONS
Defensive players may rush from any depth inside "The
Box". Players outside "The
Box" are not allowed to blitz. The defence
can send the same number of players as the offence has inside "The
Box" (minus the QB) at the time the QB
starts their cadence.
Example: If the offence has 3 interior
lineman and two running backs inside "The
Box" the defence can rush 5 players.
Players on both sides of the ball are
considered to be inside "The Box" if
their inside foot is in line with or inside of the outside foot of the
outermost interior down offensive lineman (C, G, TE).
There is no restriction on where defensive
players can line up. In order to blitz defensive players must be in "The
Box" at the time the QB starts their
cadence.
If this rule is violated the defence will
be penalized 5 yards for "illegal defence".
This rule is not in effect when there is
two yards or less to go for a first down or when the offense is scrimmaging
inside the defensive team's 3 yard line.
This rule also
applies to special
teams.
Notes from
officials:
Any
End player lined up on
the line of scrimmage
must be at least 3 yards outside the G at
the time the QB starts their cadence to NOT be
classified as a TE for the purposes of this rule.
Once
the cadence starts, it finalizes the number of players that can go
from the defense. For example, if there are 3 on the line and 2 backs, and
the offence motions a player out of the back field after the cadence has begun,
the defense can still send 5 players. It works the same if there are 3 on the
line and 2 in the backfield and the offense
brings an extra player in the box after the cadence starts the defense can still
only send 5 players.
All players must come from inside the box. There is no one coming from the
outside corners. As in previous years, once it is determined a run anyone can
come and meet the player outside.
(6) HASH MARKS
If there are
no hash marks on the field nearest
goalpost will be used as the "hash mark".
(7) MINIMUM NUMBER OF PLAYERS
A team
must have a minimum of 15 players dressed and capable of participating in order
for a
game to be played. Any team unable to meet this requirement will forfeit.
(8) CONVERTS
AND FIELD GOALS
A kicked convert is
worth 2 points. A convert by pass or run is worth 1 point.
(9) MERCY
RULE
When a team has
taken and maintained a lead of at least 30 points, the remainder of the game
will be timed "straight time"
if agreed to by the coach of the trailing team. The coach has the option
of having the game continue to be timed in accordance with the Canadian Rulebook
for Tackle Football.
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