Welcome to Art of Officiating’s “Weekly Dozen”, comprising plays through November 8th, 2025. This is the final Weekly Dozen video for the 2025 season.
Thank you for watching each week, for sharing feedback, and for pointing out my occasional mistakes. A special thank-you to DJ Bremser for the countless hours he’s spent reviewing Hudl clips, and to Mark VanGampleare, Randy Hodges, and Tim Firks for contributing plays and insights from their games.
These videos are from Colorado games, so I’ll reference the Colorado 5-person mechanics manual and Colorado rules interpretations and modifications. Please consult your state’s mechanics manual and rules interpretations if I say something that doesn’t match what you do in your state.
1 – As I’ve mentioned in previous videos, I really like seeing active umpires and back judges. The middle officials should always be working hard to improve their sightlines in their coverage area and then to close down on players when the play ends.
Let’s watch the back judge in this clip. Notice he starts in the middle of the field rather than on the same hash as the ball. This is where you want to start, and we’ll clearly see the “why” as this play develops. The ball is snapped from the B-20, so he’s correctly positioned on the goal line.
We see the back judge move down the goal line toward the sideline, improving his look by about 9 yards. The back judge is responsible for the goal line, so the line judge does not need to move quickly toward the goal line. He should stay at about the B-15 to have a better field of view and to best bracket the players between himself and the back judge.
The back judge hustles out of bounds to help with the pile. And the line judge faces out of bounds as he marks forward progress. 99 times out of 100, the players will stand up and move back toward their huddles. It just so happens that the defender, B34, is not satisfied with running all the way across the field from his left cornerback position to make the tackle. He has to get up and taunt A29, resulting in two flags.
I don’t think we need to toss our flags this high. I think this makes us look agitated or angry. I think it’s funny that the line judge looks up at his flag, maybe to determine if it will land on his head?
I’d like to see the referee in the video a lot sooner than this. When the runner goes to the opposite sideline, the referee needs to sprint to stay connected to the play. He should be about here at this point in the clip. The umpire has hustled to be closer to the players.
2 – We need the middle officials to work hard to close down on players at the end of the play, providing both proximity and voice.
By contrast, when a play ends near the sideline, wing officials must deliberately maintain a cushion—making a conscious decision to stay back and keep space between themselves and the players.
The line judge correctly remains on the line of scrimmage as the play develops. There is no reason to move downfield. Some wings habitually drift downfield when they read pass. This unnecessary movement often reduces the field of view to the players.
In this case, the line judge advances a few yards, but then must step backward when B10 lands at his feet. Stay put at the A-21. You know exactly where you’ll mark forward progress; you don’t need to move to that spot until the players get up.
A12 went backward, or at least sideways out of bounds. His forward progress was stopped inbounds, so we need to keep the game clock running.
Watch the back judge and umpire. Have I ever told you I like active middle officials?
2a – There are four in the backfield near the middle of the formation. That means A2 will be on the line of scrimmage. The ball is snapped on the A-47 and A2 is on the A-48. If we took out our micrometer, I’m sure his foot doesn’t intersect with the imaginary plane through the snapper’s waist. Don’t be overly technical, and don’t attempt to move A2 closer to the line of scrimmage. He’s on the line.
A7 takes the handoff and runs toward the sideline. The line judge should be looking at this block and the back judge should look at this block. The umpire should turn his gaze to the action ahead of the runner. He shouldn’t dwell on the interior linemen. Everything behind the runner is the responsibility of the referee and the linesman.
I’d like the line judge to remain stationary on the line of scrimmage. There is a chance B5 could collide with A7 and both head directly toward the line judge. So it’s best just to stay put, or even back up to guarantee safety and maintain a wide field of view.
Here’s the pure gold in this play. The line judge doesn’t look down the line or at the ground as he marks forward progress, he looks directly at A2 and B24 and uses his voice to compel them to separate and return to their huddles. And he winds the clock to clearly show the game clock operator that the runner was downed inbounds.
At the end of the clip, notice how the back judge and umpire hustle toward the sideline. It’s the simple, fundamental habits like this that create almost perfect coverage of what looks like an ordinary play.
3 – The formation is unbalanced to the linesman’s side. When players are stacked, the back judge selects the player on the line of scrimmage as his passing play initial responsibility, and the linesman takes the player behind him.
The linesman takes a step downfield, but then correctly decides he should not move and moves back to his original spot.
Please don’t take this the wrong way. My intent is not to pick on a single high school football player. But this is the third Weekly Dozen video where we see A54 go headhunting.
The back judge flags this unnecessary hit. He saw this contact because he wasn’t ball watching. A54 continued to sprint as B22 began to slow down.
This is a dead-ball foul. The down counts. It will be third down following penalty enforcement. And oh, by the way, this is not a 10-yard block in the back foul, this is a 15-yard illegal personal contact foul. Rule 9-4-3g says it is illegal personal contact to make contact with an opponent which is deemed unnecessary or excessive and which incites roughness.
4 – When the umpire reads pass, he needs to try to advance toward the line of scrimmage instead of backing up. I realize he has quite a bit of traffic to move around, but he’s now 12 yards from where he needs to be when A2 releases the ball. When the pass goes far downfield, he should keep his eyes on the linemen and not turn to watch the result of the pass. He’s just a spectator at this point.
A77 grabs B8 and throws him to the ground. In my judgment, this warrants a flag. B8 gets up and contacts A2 just as he releases the ball, so in my judgment, A77’s hold materially impacted B8’s rush.
The formation is unbalanced to the linesman’s side. The back judge will key on the two outside players and the linesman will key on the inside player at the end of the line. The line judge will key on A13 at the end of his side of the line.
A13 and A10 cross. This may result in what is commonly referred to as a pick. The NFHS rules book doesn’t use the word “pick,” but if A13 were to collide with B1, he could be guilty of a blindside block if he didn’t use open hands. If he did use open hands and the ball crossed the neutral zone, we could have offensive pass interference if the pass went to A10.
That’s why the wings and back judge should stick with their passing play initial responsibilities until they move to zone coverage. The first few seconds after the snap are critical as players run their routes.
The linesman correctly remains near the line of scrimmage. The back judge’s key races downfield. The linesman cannot focus on that player. This is what I really like. When A2 throws the ball, the linesman doesn’t walk. He hustles! He advances 10 yards before the defender intercepts the pass.
Now let’s look at why the linesman and back judge throw flags. While one defender reaches for the ball, the second defender grabs A31 and prevents him from moving toward the ball. This is defensive pass interference.
The line judge does a great job trying to get the coaches off the field. The Colorado Mechanics manual says, “The head coach should be allowed to take no more than two steps onto the field in between plays to communicate with a player. If the coach gets half the distance to the bottom of the numbers (3.5 yards), he has gone too far and must be advised to stay back. Repeated violations will draw a flag for unsportsmanlike conduct. This privilege is only for the purpose of talking to his players and is afforded to the Head Coach only.” We should not allow coaches to habitually move onto the field to react, either positively or negatively, to a play; or to berate an official.
Wings, don’t hesitate to put the kibosh on this behavior as the line judge is doing here.
5 – The formation is strong to the line judge’s side, so the back judge’s passing play initial responsibility is A8 and the line judge will key on A37. A35 goes in motion and is outside the tackle at the snap. According to the mechanics manual, the line judge has a new key, A35 and the back judge will now take the two receivers outside the formation.
I’d like to suggest the line judge deviate slightly from strictly adhering to the manual. A35 is alone in the backfield, so there is no threat of holding or illegal use of hands from B3. I think the line judge can stay with A37 for a few seconds until A35 is more closely guarded.
I like how the line judge hustles down the sideline when the pass is thrown. If he was lazy, he’d be at about midfield. He can better officiate the play as B2 begins to return the ball.
Is B4 guilty of a block in the back? Does he make initial contact from the side and then complete the block as A37 runs past him? The linesman tosses a flag.
This is a tough position for the back judge. He has multiple players approaching from different angles. I think backing straight up to the B-15 would be the best escape route. He almost gets run over.
The back judge has only one player behind him, so he should stay focused on the colors near the B-35. Watch those colors separate. You won’t have any conflict when you have a single player behind you. It would be appropriate to turn and face mixed colors.
6 – Here’s a quick reminder for umpires. Don’t be on the line of scrimmage when the ball arrives. The ball is snapped from the B-5, so the umpire should be 2 or 3 yards in the end zone, and he should not move forward.
The umpire is blocking the linesman’s view. The umpire doesn’t get to rule on forward progress, so he needs to be out of the way.
7 – The ball is snapped from the A-41. The center, A56 snaps the ball and then pulls to the right. I’m not sure what the umpire witnessed, but he tossed a flag at the A-40. We can’t be overly technical with holding flags. I don’t see material restriction here.
I like how the umpire stays focused on the pile. He doesn’t immediately turn to report the foul to the referee. I’d like to see him give the stop the clock signal.
But that’s not the real reason for showing the clip. The spot of the foul and the end of the run are both beyond the line of scrimmage. The spot of the foul is behind the end of the run, so the 10 yard penalty will be enforced from the spot of the foul.
The line judge must remain at the start of enforcement until enforcement is complete. The linesman must move to the spot where enforcement ends. Let’s see how they do.
We can see the umpire speaking into the radio. I’m assuming he is communicating the distance. He starts walking off the penalty from the A-40.
Line judge, don’t move! You need to remain at the enforcement spot in case something goes wrong.
The linesman initially moves only 5 yards, then he moves an additional yard. That’s only six yards. The linesman then steps onto the field and points toward the A-35. He shouldn’t point, he should be standing at the end of enforcement.
The ball is next snapped at the A-36, so the enforcement was only 9 yards. Line judge, stay at the enforcement spot and subtract 10 yards in your head. Linesman, walk the 10 yards. Back judge, you should also stay focused on enforcement as another cross-check.
Here’s another quick observation at no extra charge.
When both wings have a flag, their first action must be to check with each other before signaling or communicating with the referee. The line judge is signaling encroachment. The linesman is running toward the referee. With radios, the wings can communicate verbally before reporting the foul. Without radios, they should hustle to the middle of the field to have a conversation before reporting the foul.
8 – I like the line judge’s initial eye-discipline here. He should be looking at the four outside Team K players on his side.
This is 5 person mechanics, so the line judge has the goal line if the runner breaks free. Also, the line judge has the umpire behind him, so he needs to attempt to remain ahead of R7 instead of stopping and letting him pass.
We now have two officials on the sideline only nine yards apart, with one official running at close to top speed.
K12 piles on R7. He didn’t lose his balance and fall on R7. This was renewed effort. The line judge observes the foul and tosses a flag.
Here’s the referee who didn’t take the play off. He hustles down the field. Did I mention I like to see officials hustle to mixed colors on the sideline?
I’m not sure what happened there, but it looked like the nonplayer shoved K26 right at the end of the clip. It would be difficult to detect that with so much going on at the sideline.
Bottom line, the crew flagged the late hit and correctly officiated the mixed colors near the team box.
That’s your weekly dozen for games through November 8th, 2025. Thanks for watching!
I look forward to seeing you again in 2026!