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Established 1919

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Massachusetts 5-Person NFHS Manual Review Committee

February 10, 2023 by Tommy Brow

The Massachusetts 5-Person Crews NFHS Football Manual Review Committee’s goal was to review the 2023 NFHS Game Officials Manual, make recommendations, educate officials, and promote a unified implementation of its procedures in high school football games across the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

The Committee’s efforts led to the following five position-specific mechanics videos:

The REFEREE’s Mechanics in a 5-Person Crew
https://www.loom.com/share/39221559b8fb473a800854b11f992064

The UMPIRE’s Mechnics in a 5-Person Crew https://www.loom.com/share/11be1eabcfc44c39925da981585551fc

The BACK JUDGE’s Mechanics in a 5-Person Crew
https://www.loom.com/share/759ed026d398463d99bbf71fa5a0bd1d

The LINE JUDGE’s Mechanics on a 5-Person Crew
https://www.loom.com/share/3ec6b90cc7f749c8ad16c135f94dfbda

The HEAD LINESMAN’s Mechanics on a 5-Person Crew
https://www.loom.com/share/8c7349c6a2714026b71b55207f0719e0

Once you start the video, there will appear a [-] symbol in the bottom right corner. It is important that you select the [-] symbol to see the video in full screen. If time is a factor, you can select “1.5X” time (recommended) before you hit play.  The video will play faster and will reduce the viewing time almost in half.

The members of the Committee included: Tom Brow:  Co- Chairman – Association of New England Football Officials (ANEFO); Peter D. Ochs: Co-Chairman – Berkshire County Football Officials Association (BCFOA); James Kearney:  Association of New England Football Officials (ANEFO);  Tom Azevedo – Southeastern Mass Football Officials Association (SMFOA); Mike Byron – Eastern Massachusetts Association of Interscholastic Football Officials (EMAIFO); Dan Case – Cape Cod Football Association (CCFOA); Rich Clark – Western Mass Football Officials Association (WMFOA); Doug Davenport – Mass Independent Football Association (MIFOA); Chris Ferreira  – Southeastern Mass Football Official Association (SMFOA); and Billy Graham –  Nobscot Valley Football Officials Association (NVFOA).

The Committee convened several times between February 26, 2023 – April 16, 2023. Their document is aimed at creating a more unified implementation of statewide officiating 5-person high school football mechanics is below.

At the end of each NFHS Manual Review (Sections 1-16) are the Committee’s recommendations.

NFHS.Manual.Review.1.PreGame.ResponsibilitiesDownload
NFHS.Manual.Review.2.Coin_.Toss_Download
NFHS.Manual.Review.3.After-a-Score.Try-prior-to-Free-KickDownload
NFHS.Manual.Review.4.KickoffDownload
NFHS.Manual.Review.5.Running-PlaysDownload
NFHS.Manual.Review.6.Passing-PlaysDownload
NFHS.Manual.Review.7.Scrimmage-Kick-PlaysDownload
NFHS.Manual.Review.8.Field-Goal-Attempts-or-TrysDownload
NFHS.Manual.Review.9.Goal-Line-PlaysDownload
NFHS.Manual.Review.10.Administering-PenaltiesDownload
NFHS.Manual.Review.11.MeasurementsDownload
NFHS.Manual.Review.12.Time-Out-ProceduresDownload
NFHS.Manual.Review.13.Injury-Time-OutsDownload
NFHS.Manual.Review.14.End-of-Period-ProcedureDownload
NFHS.Manual.Review.15.Between-Periods-ProcedureDownload
NFHS.Manual.Review.16.Between-Halves-ProcedureDownload

If you would like to see the Mass Committee’s 5-Person’s Crew recommendations, without the actual specifics of the NFHS Manual, then select the following:

Massachusetts-NFHS-Manual-ADDENDUMDownload
Massachusetts-NFHS-Manual-ADDENDUM-5.docx-1Download

If you would like to see the NFHS 5-Person’s Mechanics Manual, without the Mass Committee’s recommendations, then select the following:

2022-2023-NFHS-Football-Mechanics-ManualDownload

A special thank you to the Massachusetts 5-Person Crews NFHS Football Manual Review Committee!

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