Interlocked Blocking or Not

[blandis]

Play: Team K in Field Goal Formation for a Try. At the snap each team K member turns and faces their teammate to their inside gap and place their hands upon the back of their teammate. Is this interlocked blocking or must grasping be involved?

[CalhounLJ]

Rule says grasp or encircles, so I'm assuming laying on of hands (while may invoke the power of the Holy Spirit) does not make a player guilty of interlocked blocking. IMHO.

[AlUpstateNY]

Play: Team K in Field Goal Formation for a Try. At the snap each team K member turns and faces their teammate to their inside gap and place their hands upon the back of their teammate. Is this interlocked blocking or must grasping be involved?

,

Rather than get into a Funk & Wagnall discussion regarding "grasp". you might consider NFHS 2-22-9:  "A Lineman is any player who is facing his opponents goal line with the line of his shoulders approximately parallel thereto and with his head or foot breaking an imaginary plane drawn parallel to the LOS through the waist of the snapper when the ball is snapped,"

[NVFOA_Ump]

,

Rather than get into a Funk & Wagnall discussion regarding "grasp". you might consider NFHS 2-22-9:  "A Lineman is any player who is facing his opponents goal line with the line of his shoulders approximately parallel thereto and with his head or foot breaking an imaginary plane drawn parallel to the LOS through the waist of the snapper when the ball is snapped,"

?

[CalhounLJ]

Relax, he's my shadow poster...

[Ralph Damren]

The act in the OP would be considered a shift, but unless they set and were parallel to the LOS with their shoulders at the snap , they wouldn't be considered lineman and a flag for illegal formation should be tossed.

[AlUpstateNY]

Relax, he's my shadow poster...

Far be it from me to burst your bubble, but it's more of a "clean up" effort.

[CalhounLJ]

Far be it from me to burst your bubble, but it's more of a "clean up" effort.

Case in point. Wait for it….


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[camcw]

This is neither a shift or illegal formation.  This is a movement by the linemen just after the ball is snapped.  We did it when I played, and it is legal as there is no grasping of the other linemen.  The guards simply snap to the inside and put their helmets against the leg of the center.  The tackles do likewise with the guards.

[CalhounLJ]

The act in the OP would be considered a shift, but unless they set and were parallel to the LOS with their shoulders at the snap , they wouldn't be considered lineman and a flag for illegal formation should be tossed.

Ralph I think he’s talking about action at or immediately after the snap. If that’s the case then the action is legal.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[HLinNC]

No, its not.

There, easy peasy.

[CalhounLJ]

Far be it from me to burst your bubble, but it's more of a "clean up" effort.

Fair enough. Please explain how your definition of a lineman fits into the discussion in a way that “cleans it up.”


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[NVFOA_Ump]

As the OP is written here this is a legal play.  It or several very similar versions have been used for many years in RI where I started doing NFHS rules and it was clearly told to us that this is a 100% legal play when it was brought up in our 1st RI post game report as a question.  Also, no coaches ever asked about the legality of the play.  If it's a foul, please cite the specific rule(s) being violated.